A Newfound Community and Universal Acceptance

I most definitely have joined a new community through my involvement with the TEFL certification course and the CIES program. My cultural environment at CIES is one made possible by the welcoming staff at the Hecht House, my classmates in the TEFL program, and the curious and energetic international students who come to FSU to study intensive English. Every day I learn something new about an international culture, whether it be from a classmate who is interested in assimilating into that culture or from a representative of that culture. The community at the Hecht House is not a smile-and-wave community, it is so much more. Any given person will have a conversation with you regardless of your past experiences or how well you two know each other. This fact alone has caused me to think about our culture and community at FSU. Many times, people walk by someone they know without speaking a word. Sometimes it feels as if no one has time for one another. I don’t know that you can describe a culture that follows that narrative as a community. I think the community is every member making time for one another and being hospitable no matter the circumstance. I have seen this at CIES and I will carry what I have learned from my experience there into my more broad study body community at FSU.