Coffee Party and More
This page contains my final project for Gateway to University Honors. The assignment was to reflect upon a significant life experience within the first semester at UC and then to create an original work that represents the experience. (The original work is below this text and is followed by three paragraphs describing the significance of the experience). My significant experience was a "coffee party" that my new group of friends decided to hold. As you will discover below, however, this "coffee party" means much more to me than just having lots of coffee in the morning.
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Many people can attest to the wondrous effects of a cup of strong black coffee in the morning—I certainly can. As I’ve come to discover, however, coffee serves as much more than a caffeine boost. Coffee can be an agent for conversation and relationship growth, which leads to a better connection with those around us. This revelation struck me when my relatively new group of college friends decided to have a “Coffee Party” in the kitchen of our dorm building. Our innovation of the “Coffee Party” consisted of making ridiculous amounts of coffee and preparing it in amusing ways: blended, iced, hot or—as was most often the case—somewhere in between. Although the preparation of the coffee was an experience in itself, the real significance of this event comes through the conversations and excitement that coffee precipitated; through that coffee our ever-developing relationships were solidified.
These recently established relationships are really something of a beauty and it was through coffee that I was finally aware of this splendor. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily lives that we cannot sit back and recognize or enjoy the relationships and people that surround us. Although we have only been together for a moderately minute amount of time, my friends and I all feel as if it’s been much longer. It may seem strange to some, but we always joke that we are essentially a family; we do in fact live in the same house at Stratford. These relationships are certainly one of the most significant experiences since my start at the University of Cincinnati. I had never envisioned our relationships evolving in this manner, but I love how it is. My take-away from this revelation is this: always be at least open to conversation and friendship because you never know what beautiful relationships could develop.
My original piece of work (which was created with some technical assistance), is a wordle of the word “coffee” written in various languages. Out of curiosity I translated coffee to several languages and found something supremely intriguing. Although each language has its unique way of saying “coffee,” all of the languages share similar letters and sounds. In an abstract sense, coffee is really the same across all languages and people. As I thought about this association, it seemed to parallel the dynamic of my new friend group. We are have a uniqueness about ourselves, but we also share many commonalities, such as values, interests, and attitudes. It may seem somewhat perplexing, but coffee describes us perfectly. We were all united by coffee during the morning of the “coffee party” for a few hours, and in a strange way, coffee was exactly what united out friendship in the first place.
These recently established relationships are really something of a beauty and it was through coffee that I was finally aware of this splendor. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily lives that we cannot sit back and recognize or enjoy the relationships and people that surround us. Although we have only been together for a moderately minute amount of time, my friends and I all feel as if it’s been much longer. It may seem strange to some, but we always joke that we are essentially a family; we do in fact live in the same house at Stratford. These relationships are certainly one of the most significant experiences since my start at the University of Cincinnati. I had never envisioned our relationships evolving in this manner, but I love how it is. My take-away from this revelation is this: always be at least open to conversation and friendship because you never know what beautiful relationships could develop.
My original piece of work (which was created with some technical assistance), is a wordle of the word “coffee” written in various languages. Out of curiosity I translated coffee to several languages and found something supremely intriguing. Although each language has its unique way of saying “coffee,” all of the languages share similar letters and sounds. In an abstract sense, coffee is really the same across all languages and people. As I thought about this association, it seemed to parallel the dynamic of my new friend group. We are have a uniqueness about ourselves, but we also share many commonalities, such as values, interests, and attitudes. It may seem somewhat perplexing, but coffee describes us perfectly. We were all united by coffee during the morning of the “coffee party” for a few hours, and in a strange way, coffee was exactly what united out friendship in the first place.