“Welcome to Bethel College, where academics, employment, faith, service, and community intersect to create an unparalleled educational student experience we call The Thresher Way!” This statement introduces Bethel’s vision for the student experience and is the first thing you see when opening Bethel’s website.
It is well-established that community is a central part of the Bethel experience. In a recent edition of The Bethel Collegian, news writer Adah Hodge wrote, “At Bethel, community is all we have,” but what makes community such an essential part of life at Bethel?
At a small college like Bethel with only 451 students enrolled this semester, community seems to be built into everyday life. Students see the same people every day in class, the caf or at events, creating countless opportunities to build relationships. However, simply being surrounded by the same people does not automatically create a sense of belonging. A strong community depends not on shared spaces, but on whether people feel welcomed and included in them.
Bethel’s community also extends beyond campus, involving local residents, including host families, who help students feel at home. As an international student myself, I have come to appreciate the difference one single person can make in your experience. Studying in a foreign country, or even a different state for many Bethel students, means being far away from familiar surroundings and navigating a place where most everything is new.
Building a strong community doesn’t always require big gestures. Often, small, everyday interactions can make the biggest difference. Talking to someone new and including others can make people feel that they belong. A simple act of kindness that seems minor may mean much more to somebody else. Building community means looking beyond our own circles and recognizing our role in making others feel like they belong.
Community can be one of Bethel’s greatest strengths, but it requires ongoing effort. The Thresher Way begins with community, but people are what make it meaningful. It is not created simply by attending a small college, but by the way people treat each other every day.
Everyone can contribute to the kind of community they want to be part of and can be proud to be part of. Whether it means starting a conversation with that one person who sits next to you at convo every Monday or inviting someone sitting alone at the caf to join you, you can make a difference in somebody else’s experience.
If community is really all we have, it is worth making sure everyone feels that they are part of it.