The autumn school festival season is approaching.It seems that more and more universities are holding school festivals this year.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most universities canceled their school festivals last year, and I can imagine the faces of the students who graduated without experiencing the once-a-year fun time and space organized by the students.In order to avoid crowds, many students were unable to spend time with their friends in the same space, and the time passed quietly.
A group is something made up of individuals.Therefore, it is an absolute condition that individual and individual exist in the same space.Due to the corona crisis, this absolute condition could not be fulfilled, and the situation continued in which it was impossible to form a group.
So what is it that groups create?
Since I was a child, I have been taught by my parents and teachers that the basics of my behavior when interacting with people is to be beautiful.Discipline nurtures "reason" such as patience and ethics toward oneself in a group, and consideration and kindness toward others creates "sensitivity".In contrast to the fact that discipline that forms an individual is conscious of honing one's reason, the individual created by a group is sensitive to reason, and by causing a chemical reaction, it becomes hospitality and fascinates the other party.In other words, the individual “creates” the group, and the group “creates” the individual.
Now that daily life is returning to normal, opportunities for contact between people have begun to increase, and events that form groups that create individuals are beginning to revive.I was able to see the happy faces of the students at the school festival, which was held while movement restrictions remained.It was a space where "reason" and "sensitivity" of compassion and kindness caused a chemical reaction, creating a chain of hospitality.
The happy voices of the students I heard from under the mask remain in my head.
"I had a great time with everyone"
Faculty of International Communication Department of Tourism Lecturer Seiji Koyama
