During my first week of classes at Penn State I felt lost within the mass of experienced, veteran students. I felt like Mae as she was "... making her way through all of this, ... trying to look as if she belonged" (Eggers, 1).
Although Penn State is not trying to take over the world of information, there are several similarities between the Circle and PSU. Both value community, innovation, and excellence.
The most obvious salute to community at Penn State is our famous cheer. "We Are...Penn State," although second nature to many, it has some value. It identifies students and faculty with their school. Which in turn identifies each member in the cheer with each other, creating a sense of school comaraderie. Penn State also has many opportunities to get people involved in the college community like clubs, lectures, and debates. All of these opportunities add to our community experience.
While at the Circle there is no famous cheer, there are many parties and events. These events help to bring about the "inexplicabl[e] warmth" (31), felt by Mae on the Circle's California campus. The Circle engenders a sense of community by expecting Circlers to attend these sponsored events. The Circle also expects its followers to be very active and detailed with zinging. This increases each Circler's transparency, which makes Circlers' feel more connected to each other.
An insistence on innovation is another way that Penn State and the Circle are similar. The Circle was built on the innovation of TruYou. And Circlers are always working on big things like creating a submarine to explore the Marianas Trench, designing low-cost housing, and stopping the abductions of children. Penn Staters are working on predicting and treating human disease, advancing national defense systems, and increasing sustainability. Even undergraduates are encouraged to get involved in this research, uncommon at many universities, that will make echoes of innovations throughout the world.
At both the Circle and Penn State excellence is encouraged. However at the Circle perfection is somewhat expected, "At the Circle [each] missing point nags us (Eggers, 56)." After her first day Mae realizes that all that is not the Circle "... was noise and struggle, failure and filth" and that "... [At the Circle] all had been perfected (Eggers, 31)." At Penn State there is no expectation of perfection. One can be the most flawed individual and can still be a Penn Stater.
A major difference at Penn State and the Circle is privacy and independence. The Circle holds that "[a]ll that happens must be known (Eggers, 68)." This is taken into practice when Circlers zing about everything they do. Although this brings about community it decreases the privacy and the independence of the individual. Without privacy, one is not free do anything without censoring themselves for their audience. At Penn State no one is encouraged to sacrifice their privacy and independence for Penn State. Everyone is annonymized, if they please, just like in our cheer:
"We Are ... Penn State"
I agree with you on the point of the similarity between the "We Are" chant that Penn State uses all the time. The similarity of the union between the sense of community because of this and the community The Circle creates is indeed quite similar. The sense of constant self improvement as to achieve perfection in ones self or society is also a strong similar point. Both instutions encourage becoming the best version of yourself and they both provide the infastructure and ablility to do so.
ReplyDeleteI like how you are going off of community, innovation, and excellence but it also makes it seem like a precursor for an essay drawing your reader away.
ReplyDelete