First Experience of Belonging

Life-Path Interview 01

Purpose: Understand when and where a person first experienced genuine membership, acceptance, usefulness, identity, or community.

Approximate ages are fine. The participant may skip any question.

Participant code: ____________________ Date: ____________________

Interviewer: ____________________

□ The participant agrees to have these responses recorded and stored privately for Union support planning. Questions may be skipped. The participant can ask the administrator to review or correct the record, or discuss withdrawal.

1. First Memory of Belonging

What is the first time you remember feeling, "These are my people," or "I belong here"?

How old were you? Where were you? Who was around you?

2. What Created Belonging?

Why did that place or group feel different?

• People knew my name

• People noticed when I was gone

• I had a role or responsibility

• I was useful or trusted

• We shared interests, struggles, work, food, humour, or purpose

• Other

3. Your Role

What role did you have there?

Were you learning, teaching, protecting, working, organizing, fixing things, listening, leading, helping, or simply allowed to be there?

Did people rely on you?

4. Losing Belonging

Did you lose that community? What happened?

What did losing it do to you?

Did you try to replace it somewhere else?

5. Belonging That Was Both Helpful and Harmful

Have you ever belonged strongly to a group that also caused problems in your life?

What needs did that group meet that other institutions or communities did not?

Without discussing specific offences or identifying people, what kept you connected to it?

6. Finding Belonging Again

Have you found another place where you belonged?

What made that possible?

Was it harder to trust the second time?

7. What Makes Community Real?

What is the difference between being allowed somewhere and actually belonging there?

How can you tell that a group genuinely considers you one of its members?

8. Building It for Someone Else

If someone walked into our community tomorrow believing nobody wanted them around, what should happen in their first hour?

What responsibility should eventually come with belonging?

What should a member be able to expect from the group?

What should the group be able to expect from the member?

9. Participant's Own Interpretation

Finish: "I know I belong when..."

Finish: "A real community does not just give you ________; it asks you to ________."

Interviewer Notes

First belonging experience age: ____________________________________________

Setting: ____________________________________________

What generated belonging: ____________________________________________

Role / responsibility: ____________________________________________

Reasons belonging ended: ____________________________________________

Conditions for renewed belonging: ____________________________________________

Potential role in current community: ____________________________________________