As I wrap up my last week of classes for my master’s at Georgetown, I can’t help but think about community and what it means to me. I have always dreamed of being a journalist, but as I have grown in my career, I realized it is about human connection and how that leads to a community. Humans are social creatures by nature, which is what has prompted us to evolve in society by helping each other, connecting with each other, and forming a community with each other. My passion for continuing in the communications sphere is my intention to keep shaping communities.

Everything we do is surrounded by communities without even realizing it. Your workplace, your alma mater or your current school, your friendships, your gym or workout group, your family, all of those are communities. Communities extend beyond immediate circles. When you read a good book, you are suddenly in a community of those who read and love that same book. Think of a song you love, and that song also turns into a community.

One of my hobbies is attending concerts, and as I think more about community, I think about why I love concerts so much. The reason is that we are a room full of strangers who all come together for the singular love of artists. We have never talked or seen each other, yet we are all there, happy to share an experience with each other, and for that hour and a half, we are a community.

Communities are what unite us, and we form part of a lot more communities than we realize. Down to where we decide to get our nails done and see the same ladies getting their nails done at the same time as us on a consistent basis.

I always thought that being an immigrant and first gen to study in the US was an isolating process. However, as I have continued my studies, I have seen nothing but the opposite. My Mexican brothers and sisters have created a community for me where I get to call a foreign place my home. Our community of sharing a homeland has united us and led to support that extends beyond our love for Latin America. I look around at my friends and feel joy that although we all come from different places in Latin America, we are united by loving bad bunny, identified with a squeeze of lime making everything taste better, and you can never go wrong with dressing up like it is the met gala for Christmas at a family member’s living rom. Despite being from different places, we all created a welcoming community in a place that sometimes rejects us. That is what community is, where your commonalities create a family.