Friendship Week
So I think this would be awesome to do at Mason! I’ve been thinking about Mason traditions…and if I could make one Mason tradition, it would be a Friendship Week and I would incorporate ideas like this Soul Pancake video 🙂
Here at George Mason, we boast about being a diverse campus. However, as many of my peers have argued, our diversity is often segregated, and groups are not always eager to intermingle. Establishing a Mason tradition such as a Friendship Week that would be entirely devoted to stepping out of your comfort zone to meet new people would be a wonderful way to unite the Mason community. Having a week completely devoted to simple and random acts of kindness by hosting events such as a block party for the neighborhoods, intercultural meals, or a ball pit where you can “take a seat and make a friend” on North Plaza, Mason will begin to create a truly diverse campus.
Thankfully, I have witnessed a few Mason students who have gone out of their way to make other people’s days. For example, students stood outside to give free hugs at North Plaza and a group of guys gave every girl in the Johnson Center a red carnation for Valentine’s Day. For me, it meant the world to receive a flower on Valentine’s Day. It made me smile to see people giving out free hugs as well, and I was not even having a bad day to begin with. Imagine the impact these little things can have on someone who is honestly struggling and looking for a friend.
In my time at Mason I have made a conscious effort to seek out friendships with those who are racially, culturally, and religiously different than I. These friendships are what bring me so much joy in my day-to-day interactions, and have ultimately made me love and appreciate Mason’s diversity even more. I strongly believe a valuable Mason tradition such as Friendship Week would inspire people to become bold in seeking out the friendships they have always wanted, but never had the courage to pursue.
March 5th, 2013 at 11:20 pm
Sarah, I could not agree more! This is such an awesome idea. Make this happen, please haha ( I will help you in any way I can) ! You’re right this is just the thing Mason needs. I’ve seen and heard enough people around campus that make me 100% sure there will be people outside of our LLC that would also love this idea.
I don’t know if you saw the post-its outside the bookstore that had a whole bunch of positive, encouraging notes on them. I’m not sure what club did them, but I’m sure friendship week seems up their ally. 🙂
March 6th, 2013 at 4:31 pm
Aw Sarah this is such a great post! On paper Mason is very diverse and has a lot to offer, however once you step on campus you will see that often enough the groups never interact. Friendship week is a great opportunity to help Mason work on the diversity. Actually, the ODIME office works on these issues and I honestly think an idea like this could really take off! I am extremely connected to the staff in the ODIME office and if you’re interested in setting something up like a meting I’d be happy to help you!!
March 6th, 2013 at 11:41 pm
I seriously think this is a really awesome idea! If you feel strongly about this I really encourage you to try and make it happen. Maybe you could talk to Student Invovlement or another campus office?
March 19th, 2013 at 9:57 pm
Am I the only person who thinks it’s a piece of cake to make friends? All you have to do is go to Southside or some other place filled with loads of people, look around, find someone you want to talk to, then talk to them. Is there a memo I’m missing that says “Fact of life: It’s complicated and difficult to make a new friend”?
“In my time at Mason I have made a conscious effort to seek out friendships with those who are racially, culturally, and religiously different than I.”
I get pretty tired of people talking about different races, religions, cultures, etc, I don’t experience any of that talk anywhere but here in Mason too, I took three leadership classes so far, and in two of them these issues come up, and we have “open discussions” about these subjects, and if you say, disagree with the opinion that ‘everyone cares about race, culture, and religion’ then everyone else will argue against you so hard that you are wrong, that there is racial inequality and culture inequality.
What does that do however? Wouldn’t the world be a better place if I were right? Yes, so why the hell argue against that idea? I don’t understand, even foreigners would think a class devoted to talking about “racial differences” and “culture differences” was crazy.
Not that I pay MUCH attention to these things, but if you look around you, the same people preaching these ideas about racial and culture inequality are mostly those that don’t belong to a minor race or a minor culture in the first place. Strange world, right?
March 27th, 2013 at 3:06 pm
I literally could not stop smiling through out that entire video! I think it would be absolutely amazing to have a friendship week at Mason and I agree it would make people come out of their comfort zones and see that diversity isn’t as scary as they make it out to be. I definitely applaud you on trying to get out there and make other friends from different communities and backgrounds, I’m sure its not easy but the benefits pay off. I love the drive you have to want to start a friendship week and have random acts of kindness and I support you all the way! You go Sarah !!!