However, I will have to get used to being a part of this new residential community and that means the communal bathrooms. It is just like freshman year in that sense and since the building we are in was built in the 1960's the bathrooms aren't the most pleasing to the eye. I am fortunate in that I am right across the hall from the bathroom so right after a shower I can run across the hall and not have to spend too much time in there. Now that I have filled you in on the bathroom situation I have noticed that this residence hall is rather quiet. Now I am not sure if this indicative of a typical residence hall at a seminary or if it is a cause of the average age of the students here. The average age of seminarians at CDSP is somewhere in the mid forties. Over thirty percent of the students fall into the 55-65 age bracket and another thirty percent fall into 18-34 age bracket. The last third fall into age groups in between the two and those over 65. This of course means that two thirds of the school is considerably older than me. This is a reflection of the current trends of people seeking ordination and the pressing need for the church on a national level to try and cultivate leaders and future priests at an earlier age. So, I am not sure if the quietness of the dorms is attributed to the nature of the school or the nature/behaviors of the age of the student body. In our freshman class there are three people that are roughly my age, with one woman in her mid twenties and the rest over forty.
Now, I am appreciative of the quiet nature of the dorm as it is easier to sleep then if this were a party dorm. It will also make it easier to study and take care of homework with fewer distractions. Jason, who is three years older than me and three doors down and is acting as my unofficial mentor, has injected a bit of life on our floor.
Our class has spent some considerable time together, in orientation, eating meals, at worship, and just exploring the area in our free time. We had that initial stage of forming. We got to know each other and began to feel each other out to see what types of personalities we have. I think that we all have become much more comfortable being together and we are starting to live into our identity as the freshmen class. With this level of ease with each other we are now heading into the next stage of group dynamics dubbed storming.
People are letting down their guard, lowering their defenses, and we begin to see their true identity. It is interesting to see how initial judgements about someone will either become reinforced or dispelled. With this drop in defenses these personalities will inevitably begin to clash. The more time that we spend with each other the more we will begin to pick up on the subtleties of each other and that will lead to conflict. this will be put to the test next weekend. We have a class retreat at a camp and conference center two hours north in the Redwood forests. During this weekend one of our tasks will be to elect officers to various positions. The one that I believe that will cause the most tension will be that of class president. I have already observed several people that have stepped in to help when needed and take on certain responsibilities when asked. You might call it brown nosing or you might call it leadership, it all depends on their intention. if they are doing it so that they will be noticed for it, then to me that is selfish, but if they are doing it because it needs to be done, that is true leadership. I know that there are a few people already eying this position. Now I would throw my hat into the ring except for the fact that I don't think I need all the extra work that will come with it, mainly in the form of meetings with various groups. Plus I also know that there will be other opportunities for me to lead and that there are members of my class who do not have the experiences that I have had over the years.
We will inevitably begin to butt heads and frustrate one another, but this is a phase that we must pass through so that way we can enter into the third phase of group dynamics that is called norming. This is where we all begin find that common ground and from that common ground we will be able to work together towards common goals and support one another during the process. Time will tell how long our forming stage will last and when we begin to enter the storming stage. I think it will happen soon, but I do hope that the storming stage won't last long and that no one takes it personally because no one is intentionally being malicious, or at least I hope that no one is being malicious. Time will tell. Below are a few picks from last night.
This is the clock tower on Cal's campus, we can normally see this easily from our campus, but the infamous fog had already rolled in
This is the main library at Cal, which we have full access to, but last night a portion of the Cal marching band was putting on a performance on the steps
This is a small photo of the incoming class
No comments:
Post a Comment