Community. I don’t think it's a secret that the past twelve months’ intense social isolation and political polarization have challenged our personal experience with this word, and maybe even our faith in various communities’ usefulness at all.
But I should probably just speak for myself. From age five to eighteen, ICS was my primary community. Across elementary capture-the-flag games to Jazz Band in middle school to high school’s Speech and Debate, I found many common goals with so many peers and mentors, but the defining experience and glue amidst and through it all was a dedication to each other and God. There were definitely times when that wasn’t felt, but whether through Ms. Potter’s teaching us to respect each other on the elementary playground, a God-delighting attitude in playing music with Mr. Hope, or Mrs. Croswhite guiding us to use Debate as a powerful tool to serve Jesus, it is very easy to see the throughlines. The palpable and utterly consistent chapel throughout my ICS experience easily comes to mind too. In a new way, I miss my specialized and broad ICS communities that could get rowdy at basketball games, equip me well, and love me powerfully. And I also miss chapel.
Both the pandemic and graduation have changed that. In a healthy and exciting way, the past term in college has offered bounties of opportunities for new growth and stretching. I would be lying if I said there was no personal struggle, especially under pandemic conditions where real community seems far off. But by total Providence, and definitely working through my experience in valuing community at ICS, in a real way, I have found it at Dartmouth. Yes, in freshmen rashness, I signed up for far too many extracurriculars, but whether in publishing for The Dartmouth Political Times on my passion of wolf politics, contributing to the college’s science journal, or competing against other Ivy League debate teams, I feel I have meaningfully contributed to the broader Dartmouth community. But, in large part through a freshman, Zoom-powered student bible study we started prior to arriving on campus, I have found deep community built on eternal goals beyond what I could ask for. Outside of our study, but with many of the same people, I have stayed up all night exploring the nature of sacraments in Church history, had the privilege to see a fellow student come to faith, and in a mutual dedication to following King Jesus, felt free to openly explore the deep and even doubt-ridden parts of what I believe.
In many ways, the past few months have been genuinely trying in what was a term like no other. But from my formation as a dedicated community-member at Intermountain Christian, I’ve been provided with an inspiration to continue similar pursuits in college. And ultimately in greater appreciation for my Creator’s nature as a unified Trinity of community through sermons at my Hanover church, I have seen God’s gifts of provision and learning. And as I write this a few hours after my first second term class, I can’t wait to see how I and my communities further progress.
Written by Isaiah Menning, Class of 2020 alumnus