STUDENT BELONGING AT EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY AND HOW IT AFFECTS ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Abstract

Student belonging is important to the college experience and more specifically to ECU. Everyone wants to feel as though they belong; as Abraham Maslow states “it is something we as humans crave to feel” (pg. 370), especially when it comes to a college setting. Having that sense of community and feeling as though there are people in one's corner is something everyone deserves to feel. But realistically how many people feel as though they belong at college? More specifically, how many students at ECU feel as though they belong to ECU? Many things go into the college experience that influence belonging in a multitude of ways. What exactly are things that boost the feeling of belonging for students? It is as important to ask questions about why students do not feel like they belong at ECU, and why exactly is that? What has made them feel that way? Was it an experience or other people? When students feel like they belong in college, they have the motivation to live their college life to the fullest. Students go to class, try to make friends within those classes, bond with professors and numerous other things. But on the other side of that coin when students do not feel like they belong, their approach to college is quite different. They may not want to go to class, they stop trying to make connections, and it can be self-isolating and can produce a lot of negative feelings. While student belonging at ECU is an important thing to explore, the impact of sense of belonging on academic success is just as important.