The Truth in Building Community by Sarah Yaroma, 2023 Cohort

 From the moment that I walked onto UD’s campus back in 2019, my tour guide brought

to my attention that for the next four years I would hear one word repeatedly, and that word is

community. Now after living at UD for the past three years, I have been able to explicitly see

the community that has been built and partake in community building through engaging in

parents weekend activities, for example, and seeing how many people come together to

celebrate the gift that we have of being a Flyer. This idea of community has been instilled in us

as Flyers since day one and has been something that I have continued to learn about and

discuss in length for the work that I do as a River Steward.

One of the most memorable meetings that we have had this semester was our

conversation with the Sierra Club, learning about their background as well as their ambitions to

continue building community and promote the restoration of the natural environment. In order

to create a shift in the mentality of millions of people worldwide about the environment and

how it is being cared for, we need to spread the word, and it starts with us. By doing this, the

message will spark passion in like-minded people to where they will come together, forming a

community, for this common cause to find solutions. We see this in the media as different

movements are portrayed, such as Black Lives Matter, that there is power in community; thus,

we have the power as a whole to take charge and redirect the narrative.

There is truth in building community even though it goes against the individualistic

centered culture that our society promotes. It is easy to force ourselves to fit the mold that

society has put into place for us. We need to remember to go back to the basics of simply

listening to ourselves and remember the reason why we all do not act, think, nor look the same

as our neighbor. We were all created to be different and bring different levels of diversity and

ideas into the world and into various situations. Therefore, if there is one thing that we can do

for ourselves and for the world it would be to show up authentically. I believe that concept of

authenticity has to be the most important lesson that I have learned this semester, due to the

fact that is it something most people are not reminded of and tend to forget. Also because of its

applicability to the rest of our lives as the communities we insert ourselves into change.

Regardless of where we end up in the future, we are forever River Stewards, thus we cannot

forget to be authentic, lifelong learners, builders of community, and a pursuer of interests,

which is what this program has taught me these past three years.