Mattie Smyth

Part VIII: The Living Learning Community

 

 

I could not have asked for a better experience living on K9 (woof woof). It was so drastically different from anything I ever knew at home. I was used to coming home to a quiet, empty house every night after a long day of school and extracurriculars. Quiet and empty does not exist on K9. There was always someone in the neutral zone willing to chat with you and I’ve become accustomed to sleeping through screaming and running throughout the hallways at night.

 

One thing I was really nervous about for FLP was the fact that everyone was going to be exactly like me. I had this vision in my head that everyone would have the same resume, experiences, and values as I do. This scared me because it would then turn into a competition between the 60 of us. I could not have been more wrong with my initial inclinations. All of us are truly unique individuals and were all exemplify different strengths and weaknesses. This was so refreshing for me to experience because I have truly become best friends with people I would have never dreamt of before. Who would have thought that I would become such good friends with my roommate from the middle of nowhere Nebraska? Or who would have though that I’d be going home with a great friend from Missouri for multiple breaks, or that one of my very best friends lives in Boston? I feel that I have expanded my horizons drastically and realized that is something that FLP will always be accredited for in my life.

 

Some of my favorite memories from the floor involve late night Harry Potter Mafia games, singing duets in the showers, family dinners, random B-Dubs trips on a Friday night, and packing as many people as possible around one table in Becker. It was the little things that made this year great.

 

I have learned about leadership while living on K9 by watching what others say and do. I have seen many people step up and become leaders. While it may not have always been in big traditional ways, I have seen every one of these people take up leadership in some way or another, whether it was by organizing an activity some evening or helping another student with their homework. Without the support of the floor, I probably would’t have taken up some of the leadership roles that I did. I’ve come to realize that everyone has their own way of doing things and we need to be open minded about it all. I have so much confidence in this group of individuals and although we won’t all be living on the same floor next year, I know we will all go on to do incredible things at Creighton.

 

My FLP experience was everything I ever wanted and more. I had good times, bad times, stressful times, funny times, crazy times, but they were all memorable times. The community that we have created is something that no one else can say they have had. No one else shares this special bond that we have. The beauty of it all is that we have so many different types of people and leaders that contributed it and I have learned so much from these people.