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

  You and Your Connection to Community
 By: Garrett Bruner
   12th grade

I define community as the people who make up a certain area and come together or fall apart depending on their trust and love for one another. All people feel this community even if they don’t realize it. We each feel community in a variety of ways, from the world community down to our nuclear family.

The world community is the largest community that I’m a part of. I feel like we each make up one miniature part of this whole community, but we each unknowingly have an impact on other people’s lives. I feel world community when I see missionaries helping supply water and food to less fortunate countries. I also feel the trust that no country will start a war using nuclear weapons and keep the peace between our nations.

Many people feel their national community through their pride of being an American citizen and feelings that are generated towards them. This year the nation has had to come together more than ever, with the war in Iraq and the flooding of New Orleans. Even in our own school, we asked for donations of school supplies for children that had lost everything in the flood. I see national community when war veterans are given discounts at stores or even on a bumper sticker that says, “Support our troops”. I see community between neighbors on the fourth of July, where the entire town comes together to watch the fireworks….

My nuclear family has always given me the strongest sense of community and support in all areas of my life.  My brothers have always been there for me and given me advice.  I feel a strong sense of love from my parents and brothers.  This love helped me through tough times. My aunt Sharon died about six years ago, and with the support I received, it made her passing much easier….

My extended families have always shown my family love and support in certain aspects of our lives.  My brother got married this summer, and it was nice to see the extended family all show up and wish my brother luck in his future.  We usually get together on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  The whole family shares laughs and bonds with one another.  My extended family…really came together…to show support…[for a member who was arrested recently]. I believe the [member] will be shown love, support and be accepted back into the family when this ordeal is over.

My ancestors deserve respect for bringing their families to America, where they gave [their descendents] a chance for a better life.  I never knew very much about my ancestors.  When I was asked to do this assignment, it caused me to wonder more about their lives and the impact that they had on their communities.  I do know that I have a lot of Danish in me; I’m proud of that heritage….  [Sometime] I would like to question my parents or grandparents…so I have [an] idea about the occupations [of my ancestors] and the lives they [lived].

I am very fortunate to have such a large group of close friends.  It’s always nice to have [the] feeling that people care about me and place their trust in me.  My best friend is Spencer Baak, who I talk with every day.  We always give each other advice and support about girl and school problems that we seem to have on an everyday basis.  It’s great to have a friend that I can tell anything to.  Without someone that I could trust, life would be hard to handle with all that weight on my shoulders.

At Newell-Fonda, football is a very big thing in our community.  Our coaches always refer to our team as a “family”, they preach to us about looking out for one another and keeping each other out of trouble.  We are role models to the younger children in our school.  We push and support each other through all the lifting and winter workouts that we have to fight through.  On the field this community [shines] by not wanting to let one another down and playing hard on every play.

Everyone feels community in one way or another, good or bad.  Without that sense of love and support from my community, it would be hard to succeed in life.  I am truly blessed with the sense of community I receive from a small town like Newell to the world community, which is made up of all different kinds of people with different personalities and different traits.  I hope I always feel pride in my community and never lose that sense of community that I feel now.

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