Community

On an earth filled with billions of people, one can still feel surprisingly alone. Living in China, I encountered a unique community whose only similarity amongst individuals was in their disassociation with others. The international students of Shanghai American School, children of traveling businessmen and politicians, taught me the importance of building relationships even in environments where differences abound.

The community of international students is ever changing as people continuously come and go throughout the year. Students are used to being uprooted and moved from culture to culture and nation to nation every few years. The vulnerabilities that come with switching schools and finding new friends are so common to all international students that the cliques and the judgmental mindset which I harbored in my American high school was nonexistent in China. Being such a vastly diverse group of individuals, it was inevitable that we all had our disagreements. But because everyone sought acceptance, dissimilarities were easily over looked in order to foster a community who built upon communication.

Arriving in Shanghai, I was at the receiving end of hospitality. The current students reached out to me from day one. With an unexpected warm welcome, I didn’t feel like “the new kid.” I felt included, and after only a week I felt like I had known these people for a long time. After a few months, more new students arrived and my status as a new kid had already worn out. Seeing the familiar face of anxiousness on a new student’s face, I understood why the others accepted me so easily. Every international student remembers the feelings of apprehension that came with entering a foreign school; with an acquired confidence comes responsibility for others. It was then my turn to use the same hospitality given to me when I first arrived.

Going to the school, I wasn’t the most outgoing person, but after being at the mercy of others, I’ve learned to appreciate the...