Belonging is the need to be part of something, to experience real connectedness for who we are and what we bring to the world. Along with love, belonging is an irreducible need for all people. In its absence there is suffering.
From clubs and societies to year groups and student unions, student life has always been conceptualised as a time of togetherness, affiliation, connection, and kinship. The university in these senses is much more than an abstract ideal. It is a concrete space where the energy of real-life places and rituals is paramount. Indeed, the sense that a person is doing something with others, as part of a broader experience that stretches and unites across time and space, has always been fundamental to the university as institution: from rituals of arrival (orientation and welcoming events) and departure (graduation ceremonies) to university mascots, mottos and generational folklore.
As a chartered psychologist, researcher and a founding member of Jigsaw, Ireland’s national centre for youth mental health, I have a particular interest in the lived experience of mental health and distress, both of which were negatively affected by the pandemic.
I wanted to explore how belonging would manifest in a post-pandemic university setting where the buzz of campus life had been interrupted. The Belonging Project, a joint venture between UCD School of Education, UCD School of Philosophy and the National College of Art (NCAD) began in late 2022, as the UCD community adjusted to being back on campus. The first step was to invite students, staff and alumni to write about a time they felt they belonged on campus.
The initiative struck a chord. We received a huge number of short stories, poetry, essays, reflections and interviews describing how, when and where the writer experienced a sense of belonging. Of these all excellent submissions, 40 writers were chosen to be paired with a student from NCAD who would interpret their written words through their chosen visual medium – graphic design, illustration, video and painting.
In August 2023, The Belonging Project was launched with an exhibition at the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI). Contributors read their pieces and artists spoke about how they interpreted their words. I think belonging was something that people had been thinking about privately and we represented it in a powerful way that people understood. We have excerpted a selection of submissions here.
For more contributions, see belonging.ie
A Lifelong Journey of Belonging
As an undergraduate student of Agricultural Science at UCD, I participated in many college activities including debates, athletics and football. I was also a regular poker player in the dimly lit basement of the then College of Science Building in Merrion Street.
Some of the most cherished events of an Ags UCD experience in the 1960s were the amazingly popular Ags Dances in the Olympic Ballroom, organised and run by final year students in the faculty of Agriculture. The top showbands of the day featured in turn, including the Capital, the Miami, the Dixies, the Clipper Carlton, and dozens more. Proceeds were banked to finance a trip abroad for the final year students as a ‘last hurrah’ before final exams. Friendships and memories made at the dances were everlasting. Of course, alcohol was not then available at dance venues, and many were first lured into relationships on the dance floor of the Olympic by the overture: “Will you have a mineral?”
I graduated in 1964 and worked as an Agricultural Adviser in Louth and Cork. In 1969, I joined the staff of UCD and was awarded a Kellogg Fellowship. I went to the US for postgraduate studies and throughout my time there, was kept fully informed of all the goings-on back home by my colleagues in UCD. Every Friday evening, the local UCD Fellows would meet for a ‘few scoops’. One of the scoopers – a former classmate of mine at UCD – received the Monday edition of The Irish Times by post each week. Who would get to read it first? There was always a scrum.
Returning to Ireland, I was responsible for the research component of the MA degree in UCD’s Department of Agricultural Extension. I also lectured Ags undergrads. Everyday personal contact with the students, and particularly the supervision of numerous masters theses, guaranteed many lifelong friendships.
In recent years, my wife and I have been enthusiastic participants in UCD Lifelong Learning courses, mainly in literature and the arts. I completed the course “Genealogy/Family History” in 2014 and I have continued to make regular use of the James Joyce Library and research faculties. I also value being able to support the UCD Champions ‘Opening Doors’ Alumni Fund.
Dancing Together
Illness meant that I had to stop dancing for a few years, but when a new treatment made me stronger and healthier than I had ever been, I started taking Ballet classes with Aishlingí Academy. I felt like I’d never been away.
I don’t feel like I must pretend to be someone I’m not when I’m there. Everyone is supportive, and when I perform with them, I feel like I’m an essential part of something special.
The Boy
“Are you a fresher,” he said, pointing at the boy’s scarf. “I am, you?” “Ah me too! You just had your tour too?” “Yes. Film & English … you?” “You’re jokin’, I’m on Film & English.” “And which bus …?” “The 7pm 740 to Gorey.” “Wait, what? Okay, this is just unreal.”
Still friends, men now, both work and have a place up in Dublin, so they don’t have to commute anymore. And the boy, now a man, lives happily in Ireland and doesn’t regret a single thing in coming here, working here, and studying here.
Maybe I don’t Need a Thousand Welcomes – I Just Need a Few
The day of my interview for an Access course, in 2019, I felt only shame, loneliness. My social status in Ireland was nothing to be proud of. A female Nigerian asylum seeker living in the direct provision system and oh, I was pregnant, and a mature student. I felt dirty, intimidated, exposed, out of place, with nothing but my need to belong and my passion for education.
When I got to the Access and Lifelong Learning (ALL) Centre at UCD, every judgmental voice in my head quietened. It was as if I had stepped into another world. I was greeted with a warm smile by a staff member who was a truly wonderful and helpful person. I felt a sense of connection to the place and I wanted badly to belong, so I poured my heart into my personal statement and my interview. I talked about a novel I had read a while ago, my plans for the future and how I intended to care for my unborn baby during school term, if my application was successful.
I left the ALL Centre full of hope. I did not feel judged by my interviewer, I felt understood. It was with a different feeling that I walked out of UCD that day. The feeling that I had found my place of sanctuary was very strong, I just needed to get in. My first encounter with the ALL Centre staff and the effects of the environment itself made me feel like I belonged in UCD and this feeling was reinforced by the support and openness I got from staff, lecturers and students, from the day I started classes in September 2019. When my baby was born, they let me bring her to class; they took turns holding her, I was made aware of supports and shown facilities available to me. I saw that I was not crazy to want education as an asylum seeker and a mother. I found my place and my voice with UCD.
The Wrong Coat
I wore the wrong coat On the first day Then couldn’t seem to Shrug it off In my haste It snagged on jagged shoulders Became a farcical cape For my own crusade I could feel it Trail behind me Across the cracked path To this place Swishing around We left no trace The forward foot Erased The back foot In its happy space But in between A fizz and hiss This lit kiss and Cradled candle Handed down the dark To brighten even The brightest mazes
DJ BASKET CASE
I’m autistic. A neurological condition that’s given to loudmouths and freaks. Because of that, a part of myself, specifically my head, can feel about as hollow as a large chocolate egg and twice as fragile. Almost as fragile as the majority of connections I had before third level. More often than not, there is at least a group or person out there in UCD that will be interested in your likes and dislikes. So when and where did I feel like I belonged at my college? My answer is, when I started working at Belfield FM. And I could finally express myself for who I am.