Cliques As Community?

On August 31, I'll attend my first American Christianity class to kick off my second year of seminary. I'm excited to go back to school. Last year was rough for me in a lot of ways, but my field ed experience this summer helped me to get reoriented and re-energized. I have a fresh sense of my vocation and how being at Duke Divinity School is an important part of realizing my calling.

There is one part of my life as a student these days that leaves me with a lingering sense of intimidation. My roommate and I commented the other day that neither of us put as much effort as maybe we should have into making new friends in the Div School. A lot of that was because, having been Duke undergrads, we had friends from college who remained a priority, many of them still in our geographic vicinity. Whatever the reason, both of us want to try harder to be a part of the social life at DDS this year.

The thing is, the Div School is incredibly clique-ish. Especially being someone who has always floated among various friend groups, at first glance, that reality is scary.

Of course, I know that the reason tight, easily identifiable friend groups develop at DDS is because almost everyone in the school is longing for, or has been indoctrinated with the idea of, genuine community. My dad's best friends to this day are men with whom he was in seminary. No one gets the struggles of a pastor more than another pastor. Whether we are pursuing ordained ministry, nonprofit work or a Ph.D., most of us are headed for a lifetime of work that will be fulfilling at times and difficult always. It is vital for each of us that we can begin to build lasting friendships and accountability/support groups now while we're in school, because the ministry can sometimes be an incredibly lonely, isolating vocation, ironically.

I'm not going to whine about cliques in the Div School. This isn't Mean Girls. I do think it's a pattern of which we as seminarians all need to be aware. Fortunately, I have already witnessed a broadness of care and concern within my own class that has manifested itself socially and academically. This past spring, a classmate of mine started a Google Group called DukeDivShare, where countless students uploaded exhaustive study guides, class notes, summaries of readings and more. There are tests I would have failed without the help of my generous classmates. I felt so lucky to be at DDS and not in law or medical school, having heard stories of students hiding or hoarding books to keep other students from affecting their grades. And when spring semester was rough for me, a surprising number of students I didn't know that well would check on me and encourage me.

So, yeah. Let's examine our friend groups. I know I've gravitated toward my friends from Duke undergrad for the most part. I want to branch out more this year. Let's be friends. :)