#belonging

#belonging

A member of our research team handed a five-year-old a crayon and asked her to draw what makes her feel like she belongs at school. She drew herself surrounded by Lego blocks. "I feel like I belong to school when I am playing Lego," she wrote. This wasn't what we expected in our latest study. After analyzing drawings and conversations with 108 children in their first year of school across Melbourne, our research team discovered something important.

'Imagine being in class and a couple kids are laughing when the teacher says, 'OK, do problem 6 and 7.' And they go, '67.' And now all of a sudden, you have a chance to say '67,' Maybe you're not even friends with these kids, but in these moments, right in that second, you feel like you belong. That's not meaningless.

The true hero's journey is the journey home—to each other, to the glow of a shared fire, to the village.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

Consumer culture didn't just take our villages: It left us with parents too overwhelmed to fully show up.

The need for connection is evolutionary. Traveling in packs offered physical protection and emotional support. Ostracism threatens belonging more clearly and more strongly than other unpleasant social responses.

Belonging unfolds in stages from bonding instinct in infancy to complex cultural identities, but fitting in can lead to sacrificing individuality.

"At the K-pop-themed cafe event, I was surprised to see a mixed crowd, including other Black girls, and felt a sense of belonging I hadn’t anticipated. Everyone was friendly, and we quickly bonded over our shared interest."

Stellaluna's journey of belonging reflects the struggles of feeling different, akin to my experiences growing up struggling with social norms as an autistic child.

The Pulse Survey is a valuable tool for assessing how members of our community experience the University and understand their place in it, said President Alan M. Garber.

The lesson came swiftly: China does not bend its will. Instead, one learns to adapt, to alter one's rhythm to the customs of this vast nation. I've found that the answer to most questions is merely, 'because China.'