Summer in Chapel Hill was warm and uneventful for me. I worked, I hung out with the few friends who stayed around, and I took my last German class. I was ready for the semester to start and had been looking forward to the new place, new geography, and new people. This field site had hopefully convened a group of students with diverse backgrounds and a common passion for the environment. I expected my experience at this field site to align with my first two years at Chapel Hill: finding interesting fellow students to create friendships with outside of the classroom. However, our first two weeks here have been filled with introductions and free time. Without structure, the amazing people I have met are within no context other than those that we have chosen. This has allowed for internally driven and rapid community building. While there is so much more I have to learn about these people and this place, this orientation period has shown me that I will have a great community with me for that process. We have had a diverse set of experiences together that have laid the groundwork for a strong community; late nights and early mornings together; intellectual discussions about improving our research and silent appreciation for the ocean; physical exertion surfing and mental feats bringing this group of people together in such a short period of time. When I showed up I found an excited and nervous group of people each seeking different things out of this program and community. I am excited to find out what we will make of it.
