The International Village Bubble

After taking the tour around campus on Monday, I started to think about which places at Northeastern that I visit to build my social capital.  While this changes year to year, depending on my schedule and where I live, freshman year specifically I would have to say that International Village was the place that shaped my social connections.  I lived in the north tower of IV which was also home to every single freshman in the honors program. 

Being in this situation had both its upsides and downsides.  On the positive side, the people who I lived near were the people I had classes with and the people who ate dinner in the same dining hall.  There was never a night that you could walk into the IV dining hall without seeing at least one face that you recognized.  This was great because it was a way to make connections with individuals that you shared a lot in common with.  At Northeastern, a school of over 16,000 undergraduates, it is not possible for you to know everyone and you are not very likely to make connections with a random person on the street.  In IV, there was a smaller pool of people and a greater likelihood that you knew someone.  This led to the possibility of ties to form between people living in the building because you are more likely to make an effort to forge a friendship with someone that you see on a regular basis.  In a way, IV is its own little world.  You don’t even have to leave the building if you want to eat, workout, or study.  This increases the likelihood that you see people, say hi, and increase your social capital.

There were a few downsides to living in IV as well.  Being on the other side of Ruggles, it was rare that other freshman would venture to that part of the campus unless they were feeling adventurous or it was absolutely necessary.  This made it difficult to make friends outside of the honors program unless you went specifically out of your way to do so.  At the time, I did not realize how many people in my major I did not know, but leaving IV and the all-honors classes has helped me to expand my social network.  It is important to not overwhelm freshman when they are entering college and give them a chance to befriend people on a smaller scale, but it is also beneficial for freshman to be exposed to other parts of campus.