• "In responding to the reading from Sampson, challenge yourself to apply his notions of the importance of place to your own neighborhoods. If it seems that the neighborhood you live in consists of total strangers, explain why. Also, what then are your real communities? To what groups do you really, passionately belong? Why?"
• I grew up in the small town of Ivins, Utah, just outside St. George and about 20 minutes away from the college. Ivins has only about 7,000 citizens and still has a "small-town" feel to it. One of the benefits of growing up in such a small town is that you knew almost everyone in town, or at least those within the half-mile or so surrounding your neighborhood. That being said, the neighborhood was pretty close-knit and mostly everyone knew each other and would help if needed. Add to that the fact that Utah has a high LDS population, and the fact that the majority of our neighbors all went to the same church and activities together, and we had a very close neighborhood, although it was probably smaller than what most people are used to.
• The real communities/groups that I belong to today would still be considered my old neighborhood, among other places. One of the things about my old neighborhood is that most people still live there, and when we go home we are still known and talk to mostly everyone who is still there. Although there have been a lot of people moving in (especially from California) there is still a feeling of closeness around the neighborhood, and plenty of people who are willing to help one another out. Another one of the groups that I belong to is Dixie State football. While I have only been here since December, it is very easy to join a group and feel very much a part of it especially when it involves some type of athletic group or club where multiple members are working towards a common goal. Add to that the fact that communities could be considered "football fans," "college football players," "college students," "students at DSU," etc., and it is very easy to see how one person could be connected to many different groups or at least easily assimilate into a group simply based on mutual interests.

First Blog Response

My name is RJ Best and I am a Junior at Dixie State University. I grew up in Ivins, UT, and went to school at Snow Canyon High School. After graduating high school, I served an LDS mission in California - San Bernardino. Upon returning from my mission, I attended from Snow College in Ephraim, and graduated with my Associate's Degree in the Fall of 2012. I am majoring in Integrated Studies with an emphasis in Biology and Criminal Justice. While I'm not sure what career or field I will pursue upon graduation, I enjoy the ability to receive educational insight into two fields of study that interest me.

The concepts of neighborhood and community could be considered very similar, but could have a different application depending on who it is. While most people would not refer to their neighborhood as a "community" when asked, I think that the concept of community is something that may be felt rather than a general vocabulary use of the word. Community to me is a group of people that may work together towards the same group of goals, or at least have each other's backs when it comes down to it. A neighborhood is more or less a geographical area with a certain mix of people residing there, but it could also be a "community" as well.

The reading so far has been interesting as far as the attempt to form true communities out of neighborhoods that may not have had that in the past. A community could be seen as an integrated group of people with many different skills, talents, and hobbies, etc. working together for the betterment of those around them. The topic of interdisciplinary studies is quite a useful one when dealing with communities due to the nature of a community and the need to have many different skills and types of people therein.