At the beginning of Love Actually, families and loved ones run into one another as they are reunited. They’re welcomed into shaky arms as homemade ‘welcome home’ banners are dropped. I was incredibly fortunate to experience this too; my family and I turned the corner to meet our family in Bolivia, holding their own ‘welcome home banner,’ stuck together by my cousins.
Over the Christmas break I was fortunate enough to travel to Bolivia for the first time, the country my father is from. As we prepared for the over 24 hour journey, my siblings and I realised how significant this moment would be for our understanding of ourselves and our identity.
A home is subjective, it can be a person, your family, your student house and flatmates, or the feeling of ordering your favourite drink at your local cafe. It provides a safe space where you feel comfortable and communities are vital in cultivating these spaces. As with all new beginnings: a new semester, a new year, a new environment and new seminar groups, the temptation to ‘change’ and become ‘better’ can feel intense.
In the three or four years we have at university, it can feel as though there is such limited time, which feeds into the pressure to make the most of it. Being away from home for potentially the first time, finding your feet and friends, whilst simultaneously reviewing your own identity to see what you may have in common with other students is an extensive task. Even students who are not ‘freshers’ experience this; like beginning a new module and looking around hopefully to make that seemingly decisive decision as to where you will sit for the rest of the semester. Ultimately, just like the friendship groups in any film set in a university, we look for a community that makes us feel at home.
Community plays a crucial role in tackling an emotion students know all too well: loneliness. Research published by the government in 2023 showed that 92% of students experience loneliness at some point whilst at university. A BBC comparison of this data has highlighted that this is a significantly higher percentage than adults within the general population.
Though governmental efforts have been made to try and tackle loneliness, many of us will know that community and developing connections are very important. Communities develop within universities, in the corridors and classes we attend and so we all play a role in their development. It is vital that we recognise the role we as individuals play in an environment that sees more division by the day.
Communities are developed and formed at university, but many of us will reflect upon our home communities, often prompting a familiar ache and triggering a countdown until we can travel back home.
In the time I spent in Bolivia, I fell in love with the routine we developed. My cousin’s consistent energy levels never failed to amaze me, and I never stopped feeling welcomed as I met many new members of my family. Although the mosquitoes seemed to have an unrequited love for me, travelling to Bolivia has undeniably altered my understanding of who I am and who I hope to become.
Having now returned to the UK, and sat through another brutal exam season I look around my room to see little pieces of Bolivia that have remained with me: the small Bolivian flag in the corner of my room, my gloves with alpacas on them, and the longing to return to a community I am a part of.
When trying to do yet another reading that doesn’t seem to quite make sense which can make us feel overwhelmed, as is fairly typical, it can be easy to feel alone and lonely. And yet, whilst we may not always get to be physically present within the communities that we are part of it is comforting to know that they are behind us and cheering us on as we attempt to tackle new challenges.
By filling our lives with positive and supportive communities we can feel comforted by the fact that when we do feel down we have places to turn to. It is important to protect these safe spaces and intentionally cultivate them, making sure that we also support one another in return.
