Burlington High School
Burlington, Kansas
Teacher: Devra Parker
Four Syllables
By Melanie Steen
12th grade
Community. Four syllables; large impact. Community may be described in many ways, depending to whom you speak. For instance, many would agree that a community is a group of people living under the same laws. Crudely that is so, however, I think community is much more. That four syllable word means support, love, and growth.
Driving down the main street I am engulfed with the feelings of community. Signs advertising benefit dinners for the terminally ill are everywhere. Different organizations hosting different events to help cancer victims pay bills, buy groceries, and go on a last trip to swim with dolphins. Free clothing centers for the needy help with back-to-school shopping and blankets. I feel community everywhere. The love that pours out and engulfs the community is in my town, in my backyard and in my school.
In fact, I don’t feel that my town could exist if it weren’t for community. Whenever I have had a flat tire in town or on a deserted road late at night, a kind Samaritan always stops and assists with the changing of the flat. On many occasions I am able to assist other drivers on the road—one time I was at my local grocery store, and a woman with two small children had a dead battery in her car. To make circumstances worse, it was snowing. I pulled my 1988 Nissan Sentra in the parking stall next to hers and offered to help. I popped the trunk and fished out a pair of jumper cables. Another person from my community walked to her car and set up the cables. Community is a beautiful thing.
[During calamities, even] world hunger and genocides, the world community is present to aide in the recovery of many nations. I frequently see bake sales in my community to help tsunami victims, hurricane victims, and victims of all sorts. The national community is very like the world community; we support each other when the going gets tough. I remember my local grocery store hosting bottled water drives for the hurricane Katrina victims, bake sales for mud slides, and tornadoes for parts of Missouri and Kansas. Sometimes I think the national and world community rarely applies to me, but I am sorely mistaken; if not for these two, then there would be no basis for a local community, or my nuclear family for that matter.
Currently I live with my mother and a few pets. We have our own community under our roof. I provide support for my mother, and she does to me as well. My mother supports my decisions, anywhere from what I pack for lunch to where I will attend college. I hardly see my father due to a vast mileage difference. My life would be difficult without my mother. The same applies for my extended family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins fill my house for the holidays. We share not only similar DNA but similar thoughts on the world community and life as well. My mother’s side of the family is very liberal, just like me. On the other hand my father, a conservative Christian, is very set in his ways, just like his side of the family. You can imagine the blank faces I get at family get functions when we discuss hot topics such as abortion or same-sex marriage. We don’t get along, but we can eat dinner together without much problem; I guess we have a twisted little community.
My friendships are simple in nature. I talk on a daily basis to peers about difficulties surrounding school, life, and love. I get pure support from my comrades. Even though our views on the world are very different, we still understand each other. Growing up in such a small town is difficult. Many would think it to be easy, but life can get complicated. I have found it is best to be friends with everyone and enemies with no one; this clears the air for school functions, birthday parties, and the lot.
I take community for granted. I never expect to be alone; there will always be someone backing me for my views on the world community, or agreeing with the color I chose for prom decorating. No matter how poor or successful I am, or who I want to be, I will always be part of community, and it will be part of me. It is something no one can escape successfully; I think we are destined to form a support net for each other.
The four Syllables… help life…and ensure pure happiness for all.