An enduring and useful outcome of an introductory counseling class is a sense of cohesion, trust, and mutual respect between students. This program emphasizes ways to help students build their own sense of community from their first course. We discuss how to include experiential activities, process work, and discussion of relational issues in coursework, while covering the required material. We present how such an approach leads to active engagement in other aspects of graduate school, including service , professional engagement, and participation in future classes.