Discourse Communities Response

1) Inventory of Groups:
Roosevelt University
UC Community
RU Proud
LGBT Community
Vens Family
Delta Gamma Pi Inc. (Pledge)
Women's and Gender Studies Board
Psychology Department
Downtown Chicago Community
The Roeper School Community
Undergraduate Research Program Community
Facebook
Tumblr
Kensington Community Church Community
Female
White
Democrat
Cat Owner
RU Honors Program Community
Lesbian Community
College Student Community
Vocal Performance Community
Dance Community
Housing Community (Roommate and Suite-mates) 
World Traveler Community
White Lake, Michigan Community
2) Membership and Power in Groups:
The Roeper School Community:
          The Roeper School is the school that I attended from 4th grade all the way up until I graduated as a senior. I became a member of this community in 4th grade because my parents found this school to be a better fit for the benefit of my education. The language we used in this community was two complete polar opposites. In the classroom we would have to speak educationally, but when we were outside of the classroom we were allowed to speak in a looser type of educational conversation. The way one behaved as a student in the community was up to them, we were encouraged to be who we are because by being ourselves we were being true to the real us. The main belief that the students had to learn while becoming part of the community was that with freedom comes responsibility. The main focus of our school was fighting for social justice and equality. The most powerful people in The Roeper School Community are the head of the school, the head of the lower school, the head of the middle school, and the head of the upper school. They all came into power by the process of student, faculty, and parent voting. Every time we had a new official come into office it was under the control of the community as a whole. They sometimes restructured the rules of the community, but for the most part they just enforced the rules of the school through The Roeper School's philosophy which was made by the founders of the school. They communicate the rules to the community by making every single student sign an agreement after they read the philosophy at the start of every school year. They also have multiple community meetings throughout the year to reinforce the philosophy to the community as a whole. When one is a newcomer to the community the best way to learn the rules of the community is by watching the philosophy work through the students and the faculty. If anyone would come into the school and just watch how we all interacted with one another they would understand the way of the school right away. If someone broke the rules of the community they would either have to attend meetings, get suspended, or be expelled. The ones who put these punishments into action were the head of the school, the students homeroom teacher, and the head of the grade level the student was in at that time. It was possible for a member of The Roeper Community to not be allowed back in, but this was a very rare occasion and a student would have to break a severe rule in the philosophy. If a student wanted to become more powerful in the community they had to show the school that they believed in everything the school stands for, they had to prove that they were passionate for the bettering of the school, and they had to prove that they were responsible. There were many ways a student could get more authority whether that was over the students grade, over the school as a whole, or in the meetings with the parents of the children attending The Roeper School. It was very possible for a student in the community to gain more power within the community as long as they were proving that they were fighting for the same main goals that the school had.
3) The Definitions Groups Use to Understand the World
          The Roeper School would define "success" in more than one way, it would be a combination of multiple ideas intertwining with each other. The main focuses someone would have to accomplish to achieve "success" in the way The Roeper School would see it fit would be to find oneself, follow their dreams, and find their true inner happiness. Although the communities main goal is to fight for social justice and to show their community members that although freedom is excellent, it comes with consequences; in the end the community just wants what is best for the person involved. The community is very different in the respect that although we are all fighting for the same thing in the end the community just wants what is right for the individuals own growth. It is very hard to define what "success" is for a community that is so open and excepting to everyone. With a community like The Roeper School "success" cannot truly ever be defined because "success" is different for everyone in the community depending on what the individual communities members heart desire.
          A community I do not fit into is the public school community. I feel the public school system would define "success" by achieving an accepted score on the national tests given by the government and by completing a high school diploma. I feel it would have nothing to do with what would be best for the students themselves, but more of the school looking out for the schools benefit. I feel they have to have this as their idea of "success" because if they settled for anything less they would lose their already extremely small amount of money they receive from the government. If I could change one thing about the public school community it would be their definition of "success" although this would not be possible unless the government changed their idea of "success" first. I feel if this community could teach me anything they wanted they would try and teach me how to become more fitted into the box that America has put its children into. I feel they would want me to follow the more cut and dry approach to life instead of living to find my own true happiness.