Ryan Kwapniowski's FLP Portfolio

Mission Statement

 

In the end, I want to know that I lived my life and continuously grew by opening up and learning to love. I want to take every chance to step up and realize ownership of who I am and what I’ve done by becoming more confident and taking more risks. I hope to develop my relationship with God and strive to put a smile on the faces of those around me by reaching for my dreams and becoming who I was meant to be because I know "the best is yet to come".

 

          I honestly feel like freshman me hit it right on the head. I want to be able to continuously learn to love those around me and open up to show them who the real Ryan is. I constantly need to remind myself of my self worth and take ownership for who I am and what I’ve accomplished so far. I tend to play it safe and not deviate too far outside the lines so I feel as though I could still work on taking more risks whether that is in academics, in relationships, or in activities. A huge part of me choosing to go to Creighton was developing my faith. I still want to work on my relationship with my Christian faith either from within, or actually getting out and joining a group. I know that by reaching for my dreams and aspirations and becoming who I was meant to become will thus in return make those around me happy. Last by not least, I always know that “the best is yet to come.” Even when there’s tough days or days where I just can bare to hold on, I need to realize that in the end everything will work out for the better and resolve for the best.

 

          I feel as though the end goals, or my mission has not changed, but the route at which I will be going forth to achieve these goals have drastically changed. I have realized going forward in my academic career that medical school and becoming a doctor is not in the cards, but I have found a new passion and love for the business side of healthcare where hopefully I can make a difference in the lives of people and leading the administration team that helps to serve the ill.

 

          This year, I used my mission statement to help guide how I would approach mentoring my Freshman Leadership Program family. I knew that during my freshman year I struggled transitioning from living at home to living in a freshman dorm with 59 other rambunctious kids who have one common goal and I wanted to make that as smooth as possible. I used this to remind myself that I personally have problems opening up therefore I need to overcome that myself, but also realize where my mentees might be in this process as well. It takes two to be able to connect; one cannot go at it alone.

 

           I think my favorite part about being a mentor was stepping back and realizing that these 6 kids knew absolutely nothing about each other, but now graduate from this program with so much more than just knowledge about leadership skills. While the point is to be a learning community to learn and explore the various types and styles of leadership and understand how you can apply those to your own life, it also is a living community where you make lifelong friendships and bonds.

 

          I think the hardest part about this position was realizing that you can’t do it all by yourself. In other roles, if I want a task completed I would either delegate it out or just do it myself. In the end you can give all of your mentees the tools to become successful, but it is up to them to use them and create themselves to ultimately finish the goal. There comes a point in your realization where you have to recognize that you have done the best you can and trust in others to step up to the plate. I so loved every minute with my family and cannot explain the love and respect that I give to each and every one of them.