Our dinner discussion with Dr. Alvarez raised a lot of interesting and profound questions about love. Dr. Alvarez started the conversation by asking what love means to each of us and whether it is personal, social, and/or political. He also encouraged us to think about situations when love is pleasant and times when it is difficult or even painful.

I was not taught a formal definition of love growing up so it was interesting and surprising to hear that so many other students were. Some were told to equate love with God or had adults in their lives define love as a particular phrase regarding how to treat other people.

As a group, we touched on the idea that love is learned in the family setting and begins with feelings for family members or even hometowns. However, as we grow up, our experiences change and shape our notion of love.

One student brought up a question that really interested me and the others in attendance. She asked, “If you fall for someone from a very different background as yourself (socioeconomically, ethnically, etc.), what does that mean for your relationship?” It was interesting to hear other people’s perspective on this modern topic because although we agreed it is difficult to get to a deep level of mutual understanding, this situation is becoming more and more common for couples.

Dr. Alvarez facilitated a thought-provoking discussion and I really appreciated how he combined his sharing of poems and speaking about his own research with an open dialogue and participation by the attendees. This event truly accomplished its purpose of being a seminar for discussion on a topic that we don’t often get to think or talk about.