Ryan Kwapniowski's FLP Portfolio

FLP Experience

 

 

        FLP has changed and shaped my life in ways unimaginable to those not involved in the program. Nobody can understand the power and the positive presence it has had over all sixty of us. The opportunities that I was given as a member of this program awe and inspire me everyday to become a better leader and a more confident person. 

Ropes Course: 
        One of those opportunities was the Freshman Leadership Program's Ropes Course. I came to Creighton and the floor as an extremely shy individual leaving behind everything I knew in high school. I didn't have the support base I was accustomed to, and this led to my few weeks at Creighton being slightly miserable. I didn't know anyone and making new friends wasn't exactly my strongest suit, but this rapidly changed once tension started to break on the floor. By the time the ropes course came, most of us members of FLP were already pretty close. Faces became familiar, names became memorized, and a group of people you immediately clicked with were already set in place. Upon arrival to the ropes course, I had in my mind a few people I was positive I wanted to tackle the obstacle with. Little did I know that we were not about to make the choices on who we were placed high into the air suspended from wires with. I can remember the thoughts going through my head as I slowly climbed up to the top of the pole. Why did I sign up for this, why couldn't I have been sick, who in their right mind would ever think this was a "fun" thing to do? We were randomly placed on different wires and row. I distinctly remember that Sarah Greer and I were on the same wire in accompaniment with Mattie, Meg, John, Sam, and Tommy. Immediately after we began our expedition into the wide open air, I remember how difficult it was trying to do things alone. Each of us had to work together as a team using words of encouragement and pure force and balance to help each of us along as a team. I continuously laugh because I had felt as though Sarah and I had never really spoke until this point but in that moment we were holding on to each other for dear life suspended in the air. I learned that day that you honestly never know where assistance is going to come from and sometimes you need to accept it. 

Retreat: 
        Another one of my greatest memories from the past year was at the retreat. This was later in the first semester so bonds between friends had been made and we all had a good overall sense of who each other was. Little did we know we honestly knew very little about each other. We had been living on the same floor, going to the same school, attending similar classes for months and I was amazing how much we knew about each other. But we didn't know what made them, them. We played a game called "step forward and be counted if..." which was not only an eye opener for my accountability and trust of these fifty nine other floor mates but it also illustrated that none of us were alone in any of the problems, worries, stresses, or situations we may have faced in the past. Along with various ice-breaker games, we also were matched up with a partner that we most likely knew very little about. I was matched with Abby Kern. We took a walk and just got to know each other because of our very little previous knowledge about each other. We almost immediately connected. There was almost no need for awkward silence because we had so much to talk about. We led very similar lives and we still do. This activity just proved that you are never alone, you can always find someone to connect with, no matter the situation. During the retreat, we were asked to share openly about various event and aspects of our lives that have made us who we are today. Somethings were hard to talk about, and somethings were hard to hear. After hearing everyones story, it was truly prevalent how much of a wall we put up between who we are and who we were. We very rarely show people the worst parts of us and try to keep others facing towards the good. Although we had though we were aware of how each of us had lived, where we came from, what we liked to do in high school, none of us though about the different hardships we all had to go through to get to where we are today. 

Flipper Dinners: 
        Although never a true sanctioned event hosted by the program, I feel as though some of my fondest memories have come from different dinner events and off campus socializing dinners. Religiously we would all pile into Big Fred, my brown giant 9 seat Tahoe, and head to different dinner locations. I remember many late nights at Taco Bell because the best time to eat Taco Bell is 2am. Actually, I'm almost positive that's the only time they are open. We also loved to visit Buffalo Wild Wings, Dinkers, and the Donut Stop. And while we had to wait quite some time for our food most days, it was always worth it because of the amazing company and memories we were making.

 

 

 

 

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

                    -Ralph Waldo Emerson