University community: background and contributions to school engagement

University Community

The culture of an academic institution is much more than the buildings, books, students, faculty, programs, sporting events, and scholarship. How we define an academic community is a paradigm of how we define our culture, our place in society, the actions we take to become more self-actualized, and indeed, how we interact with everyone involved in the university experience. Community, per se, is an expression of various types of culture -- whether it be from a sociological, anthropological, or in the case of the university system, intellectual model, it is a way for those who have decided that there remains value in higher education, that learning is dynamic, necessary for self-actualization, and ongoing.

Defining an "academic" or "university" community then, can be somewhat amorphous. Many define community as being tied to geographic or physical spaces. In the case of a university, the physical boundaries of the majority of the campus, the major buildings, dormitories, stadium, and university services. However, this is a very limiting definition and does not really go to the crux of what makes a university. Instead, the idea of community within academia should be thought of as an idea of place, an idea of commonality, an idea of possibilities, and an idea of something far greater in wealth and spirit than any brick, mortar, or ivy covered quadrangle.

Attending a university is much like taking a long trip -- it is an adventure unique in and of itself, but the perspective it brings, the encounters it engenders, and the connections it makes go far beyond the original trip. The travel agent, of course, books one into an excursion but cannot control what happens or with whom one encounters during the trip. So, too, one's academic career and university community are more than happenstance, but still unpredictable. The sharing of common interests and common bonds notwithstanding, there is something unique about opportunities gleaned when one shares the passion of adding to the global body of knowledge in a robust and active manner. My itinerary focuses on the world of finance -- the complex world in which numbers, business, and events coalesce with moral and ethical philosophies to help guide the world forward. Particularly in this chronological time, in which people have become jaded and cynical about this world, my experience and desire to provide more than just numerical analysis to my education provides me with the opportunity to interact with a university community and then take those experiences into other situations that will benefit from a broader viewpoint.

Johann von Goethe once noted, "Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world." Thus, conviviality within an academic community, while not easy, helps round out and shape the nature of a university community. This community may not share ethnicity, cultural heritage, or even primary languages, but it does share something that transcends the surface. Namely, the intellectual discipline and desire to continue a tradition thousands of years old -- a tradition based on the ancient cities of the world -- a tradition that shares commonality with some of the greatest minds in the universe.