I have been out of the blogging business for quite a while. First it was the rush of the end of the academic year and a wicked travel schedule. Then it was summer and a reluctance to take on anything new. (Actually summer was both relaxing and busy: a welcome change of pace.) But as the arrival of new students approached, I found myself energized by the prospect of new faces and new enthusiasm. On Saturday morning I turned up at Slocum Hall with my very own dolly to help parents unload the mountain of clothes, books, electronics, and quality of life stuff their sons and daughters were bringing to campus. A heavy downpour did little to dampen the excitement that was palpable to all of us.
As I write (on Wednesday), all of the members of the Class of 2010 are off for three days on service trips or wilderness excursions that will take them across the Southwest. This is a chance for them to get to know 12 or 14 of their classmates better, and to interact with a team leader who is an experienced upperclassman (or woman — in fact, 57 percent of the new class is women, a high for CC).
This form of bonding is very different from the electronic instincts of this generation of young people. They have grown up with iPods, cell phones, and computers. They swap music mixes, engage in iChat and exchange text messages intently. Even before they arrive on campus they register on Facebook and reach out to their roommates and others. I wonder whether a tent with three other 2010ers will match MySpace as a community builder.
I would love to know, for example, whether there is a point in time when our new students begin to use their Facebook accounts to be in touch with pals on this campus more frequently than they do to stay in touch with old friends from high school. And perhaps it doesn’t really matter. I was never much good at keeping in touch with old friends as I moved on to new places and new challenges. I realize when I hear about friends from 50 years ago how many unanswered questions there are, how many foregone conversations.
Yesterday our new students gathered with the professors who will be teaching their first block courses. I have heard from several faculty members that the discussions (mostly related to the welcoming lecture given by John Seigenthaler of NBC) were often intense and went on much longer than the professors had anticipated. So clearly, these bright and determined young women and men are eager to engage — and able to do so face to face as well as in bits and bytes.
Perhaps it is wrong to think of the virtual social space as an alternative to flesh and blood engagement. Maybe it enables and extends the “real” thing. I hope so. Because a sense of community is really a key to our success in the intense process of liberal learning in which we invite our students to participate. When the bell doesn’t ring at the end of 50 minutes, when you spend three hours or more with your professor and classmates, when you are required to think deep thoughts (as one of our professors likes to put it) and to articulate them clearly, when you don’t have time to procrastinate – the reality of your “social space” is quite unique and compelling.
It is going to be quite a process for the class of 2010 — integrating their virtual social spaces into intense block sharing and learning. Hopefully the time in tents will help point the way. I will watch with keen interest in the coming weeks.
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Facebook appears to ease some of the anxiety due to anticipation of being far from home without any friends. Being able to connect with future first year classmates before arriving at college is a plus. As with all technology, it presents opportunities for positive uses as well as negative ones.
You can place most of the blame on the powers of viral marketing.
To students, Facebook is cool, MySpace is cool. In some social settings, you’re the weird rebel or internet grandpa if you don’t have a profile online. Meanwhile look at face to face opportunities like student organizations, campus groups, etc. They are pretty lame in their marketing. That wilderness excursion, I don’t know if it was a required event, is the perfect example of the potential that school sponsored activities have. They just need to become mainstream; they need to be “cool”. 