Being a Penn Stater at face value is very similar to being a member of The Circle. “We are” now officially part of what outsiders call the “Penn State cult;” an international group of people connected by a single characteristic—having been a student at PSU or being related to one. Much like Mae and the members of The Circle, we too live in our own little world of State College. I myself have felt the isolation from the outside world while I have been here, but not in a bad way. It’s more of an isolation created by our constant preoccupation with events in the PSU world, while attempting to establish a global perspective.

Much like Mae at The Circle, we as students are given photo id’s, swipe cards, and are provided plenty of places to eat and sleep—on the surface we appear as the college version of The Circle, especially because no one ever wants to leave. Where we differ is that collectively as a group we are not working towards one common goal, rather we each have our own path to follow, but together we support one another. As a collective group we support our school, our teams, and hopefully each other. No matter where a Penn Stater ends up the call of “We Are,” will always be answered with “Penn State!”

We have events to bring together the community and serve the greater one, much like The Circle does. This outlook is hopefully achieved through service and belief of leaving the world better than we found it. This motto, held by both The Circle and PSU is interesting to address because both communities are looking to expand their knowledge of the world around them, while being very concentrated in a certain area. Now that is not to say that either is landlocked, for PSU has many programs nationally and internationally and The Circle developed their “Transparency” program.

For either of these cultures, you are automatically drawn into its dynamic environment because of the appeal and excitement of its atmosphere and the sense of family it creates. But why do we need that security? Is it because being in the crowd is more fun? Or is it that strong sense of pride and a draw to be a part of something bigger that pulls us in and causes us to dedicate ourselves to it?