Blindspot and community

Hello all!

Well I'm sure the concept of community at Coe has been reiterated here time after time, but I have yet another stunning example of why this place has been such a home to me over the last four years. One of the most important aspects of a future college for me when I was in my college search was a place where I felt I could be well-rounded in. More specifically, I wanted to make sure I'd be able to continue to grow in my love for singing despite my interests in other academic fields. I know that I am never done growing, that I'm a constant work in progress, and I was so happy to find myself in a place where I could continue to grow, continue to expand my interests, make mistakes and hit brick walls along the way, and all the while have a solid safety net in the community at this college to catch me when I fell. I've had some huge experiences over the last four years, both successes and failures, and all the while I've had a foundation of support to carrying me through it all. 

To relate this concept to a specific incident, let's look at the Offstage Players' bimonthly event called Blindspot. Every two Fridays or so, any student from any walk of life with any interest or talent may take the opportunity to sign up for a time slot at Blindspot. The event consists of 5-minute acts during which these students sing, perform their new piano composition, tap dance, read their latest poem, do stand-up comedy, whatever, to a packed audience of their peers. Each show is a huge hit. The thought process behind the name Blidndspot is to imply that the audience is expected to be blind to the flaws of the performers: they are here in this safe and welcoming space to share a part of themselves with the audience, and respect is a given. For the first time in over a year, I performed at Blindspot last Friday. It's so easy as a senior to start to lose that sense of belongingness I once felt so passionately for Coe, but performing on that stage last Friday rekindled the comfort and community that all the joys and memories of the last four years have been built upon. It was such a refreshing experience.

Katie

Well hello all! How do you like the new look? Now that I've safely returned to Coe's campus, the Travel Blog has been set aside to be revisited on my May Term trip to Sicily. For the time being, I've joined my fellow Coe Bloggers in our sazzy Coe Crimson and Gold look. :)

So getting back to campus has been a whirlwind of craziness. Moments of extreme excitement in being reminded of familiar concepts are immediately followed by feelings of awkwardness and naivete, only then to be followed up with something that reminds me of my home I had in Sweden . When you miss a chunk of four months, the rest of the world doesn't stop to wait for you to catch up. Surprising, isn't it?? Haha but my overall attitude has been positive and warm. Coe is a home. It's shocking to find how much I missed just being able to recognize people as I walk the campus grounds. There's a warmth in knowing what's going on around you, as weird as that sounds. When you're grocery shopping, or studying at the university, or strolling the town in a country whose language you aren't familiar with, it feels like you have ear muffs on. The small day-to-day verbal exchanges that we have with one another, the "Saw your article in the paper!"'s, the, "Wow that band is going to be awesome"'s, the, "What do you think of that class"'s, that are so easy to overlook when you're here, go much much further than we realize. I mean I definitely felt like I had a home in Sweden, don't get me wrong, but I have rekindled the sense of belongingness that accompanies being able to actively participate in daily living here.

Well that's all about that. The link to my Sweden Blog is on my page here so if you'd like to hear more I invite you to take a look at that. Let's get to Coe talkin. On Tuesday night I attended the Contemporary Issues Forum with speaker Jared Diamond. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning ecologist who has extensively studied the rises and falls of cultures throughout human history. Our beloved Sinclair Auditorium was packed to the brim with Coe students and Cedar Rapidians alike to hear his reminder of the importance of moderate consumption and consideration for our environment. It was a fun break in my night.

I think I'll wrap this first post up now, but pictures and more posts to come!!! :)
Katie