Newell-Fonda High School
Newell, Iowa
Teacher: Connie Doonan  

How I Feel My Communities
By Chris Duitsman
12^th Grade

Community is not something that you just decide not to be apart of, no matter where you live; you are a part of some type of community.  Even if you try not to be part of a community by doing your own thing, you are still in a community because there are others who try to do that very same thing in every community.  Communities [differ] due to the viewpoints of the people in the community.  Many communities have council meetings in order to make the community more efficient.  I am glad [to be] a part of many communities.

Community is felt in many different ways by many different people.  Most people feel their local community just by interacting in it, by working in a store, by volunteering…time [for] community service, or by helping a next-door neighbor put up Christmas lights.  Everybody feels community whether it is good or bad.  You may not know it, but you do feel community in some way.

Nuclear family is felt by love from your parents.  Even if it seems that parents are always mad at you, deep down inside there is definitely love somewhere inside them, or else they would lock you in your room and never let you out.  Dependability is probably the most important factor in a nuclear family.  In order for a family to function there has to be dependability by both your parents and your siblings. I do not really see my extended family too much so distant would probably be the best way to describe how I feel [towards] my extended family.  The only time I do see them is on get-togethers and special occasions like holidays, graduation, and weddings.  It’s not that I do not want to see them, it is just [that] some of them live far away, or we don’t get along really well.

National community is another one of our important communities.  Our national community really came a lot closer after the terrorist attacks on September 11^th.  Patriotism is just one way that I feel my national community.  The playing of the national anthem at sport events is probably one of [the] most common ways of showing patriotism.  Another way to show patriotism is by having jets fly by at a NASCAR racing event right after somebody sings the national anthem.  Pride is another way I feel community.  Everybody in the United States should feel proud that they can live in such a peaceful country and should feel proud that others went before us to die so that we could have freedom everyday of our life.

Friendship, trust and hope are feelings [connected with] my close friends.  Friendship is self-explanatory while trust and hope is different.  In a friendship, you have to trust one another so that your friend does not stab you in the back, or just run off and never include you in any of the stuff that they do.  You must also trust and hope that they will always be there for you when a parent dies or somebody close to you gets a bad illness.

I really don’t know my ancestors too well, so I would have to say that nationality would probably be the best way to say how I feel [towards] my ancestors.  Without my ancestors, I would not be here today and since I do have ancestors, I want to know where we first started and how far we traveled to get the United States.  Another way for how I feel [about] my ancestors would probably be wonder.  I don’t really know too much about my ancestors and probably never will unless I ask my grandma because more than likely, her parents told her stories about the past.

My extra community would probably be the baseball team here at our high school.  I feel my baseball team through friendship, with each and every player that puts time and heart into baseball.  It is better than sitting at home watching television during the summer because they are interacting in their community and representing their school in a positive way.  Determination is obviously one of the most important things in baseball because without determination, there is no point in playing ‘America’s Greatest Pastime’. If somebody puts determination in baseball, then that means that they can put determination into life and that means that they don’t just give up after missing a curveball.  Lastly, I feel my baseball community through team.  Obviously, team would need to be felt by baseball because you can’t play baseball unless you’re in a team.

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