Bishop Carroll High School
Wichita, Kansas
Teacher: Angie Etheredge

Human Contact
by Alex Johnson
9th grade

A song says, “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold.”  This quote is good because it shows the importance of keeping old friends and staying in touch with them, but it also mentions making new friends, which is almost as important.  However, friendship is not the only characteristic of a community.  A community is any group of people who interact with one another and make any form of contact, good or bad.  Community is more than just people living in the same area, whether it is the same planet, country, city, or house.  Communities can be as big or small as you want, as long as there are at least two people and there is some form of a relationship between them.  I feel community is a process of understanding or misunderstanding people in random situations and then acting on these encounters, sometimes with good results, others with not so good results.  Communities occur on a variety of scales.  Common communities are world, nation, local, nuclear family, extended family, ancestors, and friends.  Another that I am personally involved with is the Boy Scout community.  Many young men in America are connected to this one.

I do not play that big of a role in the world community, but some people like national leaders have very large roles.  The Internet and television have helped connect people on the other side of the world.  Not too long ago, some people thought they would never be able to journey to other countries or even talk to people in different countries.  World interaction is still limited, at least to people my age, but advancements are coming quickly and soon travel will become immensely easier and faster.  In a few years, I will be old enough to study abroad, and that would increase my international community immensely.

The national community in the United States is closer and more familiar than the world community, but common people still do not have a large voice in the government that is easily heard.  Quicker transportation and communication connects the country more than it once was, but many people still will not travel very far out of their own state, except on business trips, just because people's lives are busier.  National crises, like natural disasters and wars, bring the country together and give us more unity.  We also show some unity and national pride when we compete against the rest of the world in sports such as the Olympics, the World Cup, or any other sporting events.  I still do not feel like I have a huge role in the national community.  I am too young and ordinary to stick out yet.  Maybe when I get older and can vote, I will have a bigger say in what our nation is doing.

When you get down to local community, you feel like you are more important and you really know people.  Obviously, there are still going to be strangers and people who want to hurt you, but you just need to realize that not everyone is like that.  I think my hometown Wichita and state Kansas are great places to live.  This city is good because it is not too big or too small.  This community is one of the most important communities there is, next to family and friends.

Sometimes I think my nuclear family is more like a nuclear bomb, just waiting to go off.  Growing up with eleven siblings in such a small area most of the day causes some tense situations, but we are a very close family and get along most of the time.  Your immediate family is the most vital community to our lives.  Without parents, none of us would have ever been born.  Some people’s extended families are as important to them as there nuclear families.  Some people have never met their first cousins, aunts or uncles.  It all depends on the people and the situation.  Most of my relatives live in Wichita or in towns near the city borders.  Every major holiday my family gets together with one side of the family, either my mom or dad’s nuclear family, and enjoys some unity.  My extended family is very important to me.

I, like a majority of people, have not ever really thought about my ancestors or traced my family beyond a few generations.  I know I have German and Swedish roots, but I do not know that much else.  I do not truly think this is a community extremely essential for our survival today.  Without ancestors, there would be no us, but since there are ancestors, we do not need to really thank them besides upholding family traditions and passing down stories.

Friendship is a very big part of most people’s lives.  Sometimes if you are not having a good day, you talk to friends and they kind of help you get through whatever is bothering you.  My friends are important to me, even if we do not do anything except hang out and talk.  Really good friends are hard to get, but you need to realize who your real friends are and keep in touch with them no matter what happens.

There is definitely a community with Boy Scouts, and I met some of my best friends through Boy Scouts.  I get opportunities to do things that other people do not usually do.  Being a Boy Scout is all about being a responsible, mature adult, and the experiences I have received through being a Boy Scout will help me all my life.  This community is a big one in my life and in the lives of boys and men across the country.

Overall, I do not think I could survive without a community.  Human contact is vital to functioning well in the world.  Communities are the biggest parts of our lives, and you would have to be insane not to seek companionship.

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