Broderick Lemke

Honors 101-A
28 September 2014
Bergstrom: We are not Just Smart, We are Intentional!

Intentional communities have existed for a long time, throughout many different communities.

These communities include some religious orders, gangs, and even groups dedicated to

ecological studies. In his book Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction, Lyman Tower Sargent

defines an intentional community as a group of five or more adults and their children, if any,

who come from more than one nuclear family and who have chosen to live together to enhance

their shared values or for some other mutually agreed upon purpose (Sargent 6). With this given

definition, Bergstrom Hall, the housing for the Honors program at Saint Norbert College, is an

intentional community. We live together, promoting a higher level of learning and coming

together to create an understanding of the importance of interdisciplinary studies and how they

can be beneficial.

The part that I find to be most important in Sargents description of intentional communities is

the fact that he emphasizes towards the end of his definition that intentional communities live

together for a mutually agreed upon purpose. It is important for these communities that come

together over similar ideas to remember why they are gathered. They not only have to be

continuously striving to work towards their original goals, but they must also reflect on their

progress and if necessary redefine their goals and find ways to work towards those.

When we begin looking at the community of Bergstrom Hall at Saint Norbert College, we can

see that it fits the basic description of an intentional community. The students that reside in

Bergstrom hall are all adults who come from more than one nuclear family, and have chosen to

live together. While discussing whether or not Bergstrom was an intentional community, some
peers said that we didnt choose to live together, but I disagreed. Because everybody who enters

the Honors program is informed that they will be living with the other Honors students; they

made a conscious decision to be part of a community that supports learning.

Once we begin to look at the reasons that we have chosen to come together, and why Honors

students have traditionally been placed in the same dorm, it can be somewhat confusing. Some

students may feel that the community is there to help promote a healthy first year of college with

like minded friends, while others may feel that they are there to work in a community of other

high achieving and aspiring students. These reasons change even more so when looking at

reasons given by older Honors students and advisors of the Honors program who say that it gives

freshmen Honors students a support group of other individuals with similar work ethics, and the

opportunity to build interdisciplinary studies of topics. Even though there may not appear to be a

mutually agreed upon purpose, by choosing to live together we conform to all of these ideas. As

a group our shared value of learning facilitates all of these goals.

Because Bergstrom residents are living together in the smallest dorm, and arrive before

everybody else, there is a large amount of bonding that goes on between the students. The group

normally comes together quickly and easily, so much so that the Honors dorm residents are often

labeled as a cult. This cult image comes from the fact that groups of students can be seen

walking around in large numbers, which can seem exclusive. This formation of groups in not

intentional itself, but because of the small environment and the extra bonding activities they must

participate in, the Honors students tend to feel closer as a group than the other dorms.

Some students, however, see this as one of the main advantages to being in the Honors dorm.

Even though this idea differs quite a bit from the idea of students working together on weightier
subject matters, it facilitates that environment as well. Students who grow close together are

likely to form small groups to not only study and work in, but also to relax in. A large problem

for college freshmen is dealing with the stress that the workload can bring, but by being able to

relax and hang out with friends in a safe and small environment, this tension can be released.

The second viewpoint that I have seen from students relating to Bergstrom is that it is a

community of students who want to promote learning and studying. In other words, it isnt a

giant party dorm filled with slackers and people who are going to drop out before their

sophomore year. Because the dorm is filled with students who worked hard in high school, it is

understandable that those studying habits would follow through to college, and it would result in

less meaningless distractions. This creates a support net that will help each individual maintain

their responsibilities, a viewpoint which is shared by many Honors students. It is also

understandable that people who have similar mindsets towards their education will naturally

become friends.

The third mindset, the one held by most of the people who told me about the Honors

program stressed, was the ability to create a deeper understanding of subjects using a wide

variety of areas in which students were knowledgeable and interested in. Many students in

college end up meeting people in their disciplines, some even through sports or clubs, but their

friend groups dont always branch out into various subject areas. Even if their friend groups do,

those friends dont always have the same opportunities to work together to learn about something

through each others perspectives the way that Honors students do. Honors 101 and being able to

live together prove amazing resources to get to know other students with many other interests.
 In the first week of staying in Bergstrom, I was approached by another student and was

asked Youre a music major, arent you? Do you want to write some music for a musical? Ive

got this really good idea Events like this have continued to happen, not only with my interest

in music and composition, but also with thoughts on pop culture, and with questions about my

sexuality and how I feel. The community inside of Bergstrom is close and it provides an

atmosphere where collaboration is accepted and encouraged, and makes people feel comfortable

to ask questions. This atmosphere creates strong friendships and provides opportunities to apply

concepts from previous experiences or classes with other students in ways that other students

may not be able to.

These different viewpoints on the common goal of Bergstrom and the Honors freshmen

class dont clash with each other, and instead provide a strong sense of a community that is

working towards the goals of higher education and learning. The small environment and open

personalities facilitate a community that works together and truly sets us apart from any of the

other residence halls. Because of these reasons, I do believe that Bergstrom is an intentional

community. It feels like home, and I can understand the feelings of those who want to join gangs

or the Norbertines to feel like they belong to part of a group working towards a common pursuit.

References
Sargent, Lyman Tower. Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010.