Peck's theory

When looking at Peck's theory, I find I can easily apply it to my experience first joining my student organization, Camp Kesem. In brief, Camp Kesem is a national organization that was created to service the population of children affected by a family member’s cancer. We put on a weeklong sleep away camp for the kids, and then follow up through the year until next camp. For my first year, I was very uninvolved, at least until I got to camp. Upon arriving however, I began to join the community.

When I first got to camp after the 7 hour drive from Chicago, I felt like I wasn't truly part of the community. I didn't know many people, so it was kind of awkward for me, as I was definitely part of a psuedocommunity. We were all very courteous to each other, while also avoiding any type of conflict not to step on other’s toes. As I became more comfortable at camp and with my fellow counselors, there was for sure some chaos. There was some jockeying for power amongst some of the newer counselors, which is too be expected. Luckily, we took the path of emptiness, and we were able to overcome our barriers and communicate for the good of our cabin unit.

Around the second or third day, we were able to set our egos aside and look past our previous first impressions and start to work together. We were able to make a lot of progress towards making the camp a better place for the kids. Finally, by the fourth day we became a full-fledged community. We began to work together to overcome our issues, instead of just trying to solve them on their own. While it was tough, it was necessary, as we became a much better group, as well as more productive.

Once we reached a full on consensus and were all on the same page, our work became much better. We were able to anticipate each other, and jump out ahead of any problems that could have arose. It was also a much better feeling knowing we were all in agreement.