What does community mean to me?

Blog 1 - How much thought have you put into the concept of "community" before this course? Why? How important are the communities you participate in to you? Why or why not? Which ones have influenced your sense of right and wrong the most? In what ways might that influence be negative or problematic?

Before this class, I really never thought of myself as being part of any community. I mean I always thought of communities as being those in the towns near you. When I thought of communities, I always pictured those PTA moms with children who attend each other birthday parties, and always come together for bake sales and soccer games. My family is not that involved to i guess I just assumed I was outside of the community, or maybe even just an individual roaming through the world. Of course i knew there were others out there similar to me. I knew there was another girl, same age, probably identical upbringing, with maybe even the same interests, but I would never imagine "us" being a part of the same community. 
Now that I am older however, and really to took the time out to reflect on what a community really is, and how I could add to a community, I have realized that there is more to me than I thought. I am a woman, I am a student, I am a daughter, a sister, a girlfriend- I am a part of numerous communities. Although I may not be super active in each of these communities, I still leave a mark on them each and every day. For one, being a woman in this wonderful generation is huge. I mean yea we gained rights to vote back in the day, but today women face so many more obstacles and hurdles. Not only do we still fight for equal rights, we're also fighting to keep the ones we worked to hard to gain. Every time I go to work, or apply for a new scholarship, or even pay bills, I am faced with the stats. I am adding to what it is to be a working, Hispanic woman. This is why I think even if you do not realize it, everything you do affects your community or adds to it in some way. Your community ultimately is a reflection of you. 
Overall, I think being a minority has really molded me as a person. Growing up, based on the community I was born into, i saw and had to deal with a lot of discrimination and unfair treatment. Going through these experiences has extremely affected my sense of right and wrong. I tend to think about what others go through and how others feel before speaking or acting on anything. When dealing with other minorities I have a huge bias, one that also leads to a stand off-ish feeling towards some other races and ethnicities. The fact of the matter is, my experiences in this community completely molded my mind. Experiences are different however. Your experiences can also mold who you are, but most things you experience are directly caused by the communities you are a part of, and I have grown to realize this. Every "good" person, and every "bad" person is a product of their environment, and have built their morals and values based on the morals and values shared within their community.