The Observer, September 15, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 3
One Foot Out the Door: Fitting in; a great social experiment
Now one/two/three year(s) and three weeks in, the niche is starting to emerge; whether the people you were randomly assigned to live near (Raymond 3rd floor), your orientation group and leader (In Evan Heiser I trust), the e-mail list you signed up for at the activities fair (Middle Eastern club), the collegiate athletic team you played for (Mike Pilger's Soccer) or the Greek organization you perhaps rushed/pledged/joined (can't narrow just one favorite in this category), your social patterns are formed.
Looking back, there is little control on these shaping forces: housing assignments are fairly random, as are orientation groups. Narrowing down a couple clubs from the 100 booths at the activities fair could likely have played out very differently. Few Division III athletes go on to professional competition, thus their decision to play at the collegiate level is likely secondary to other concerns. And although recruitment lasts a full two weeks, even the most ambitious potential new member will only genuinely meet a handful of the group of the guys they choose to initiate with.
Despite the arbitrary elements involved in forming a social circle, the result of too many options seems to have a very healthy outcome—an eclectic group of friends. If you had to find someone with a different religious, social, educational, or family background than you, they would likely be within the first handful of your closest peers.
I observe (and appreciate) this on the background of spending a year in London where the diversity of 8 million people (~ 40 percent of whom describe themselves as "non-English") is rarely reflected in a social circle of friends. All students are oriented to the university by their academic major, and take classes accordingly. Thus, a mechanical engineer starting at university would meet other aspiring mechanical engineers and take courses for three years along that same set of students.
Of the ethnically diverse 40 percent, most tend to stick to what is familiar; the Egyptians with other Egyptians, Indians with Indians, Spaniards with Spaniards and so on. Of the English 60 percent, the Eton/Harrow bred pupils associate with the same, and other class distinctions can be picked up by listening to the accents used.
The British model I was exposed to seems very intuitive—to fit in you should make an effort to be around people like yourself. However, somehow here at Case, the message (thankfully) got crossed; fitting in happens by being on the receiving end of a few arbitrary decisions that lead to a varied group of friends.
