Reflections from a Graduating Senior: Collins LLC

It’s hard to believe that my time in undergrad is almost over, these last four years has really flown by. During my time at IU, I have been a part of the wonderful Collins Living-Learning Center community. My experience with this community has been transformative to say the least. I have formed lifelong friendships in Collins, have learned many valuable skills, and have grown into the person I am today. Before I say goodbye to IU, I wanted to talk about how much this community means to me.

Coming to college at the age of 18, it’s really hard to find those people who will support and be with you throughout college. Luckily for me, I was in a place that made a huge  effort to include students and help them get involved on campus. The Collins Living-Learning Center has been home to many during their undergrad years and is a place that cultivates student engagement and empowerment. Through my time here, I have found my voice and have learned what I am truly interested in. I have held many positions, such as Q-Instructor, Visual Arts Coordinator, Arts Council Vice Chair, Arts Council Chair, Cheshire Café Barista, and briefly Cheshire Café Co-Manager. This doesn’t include the many other random things I helped with of course. Through Collins, I was able to get this internship, which I have been doing for about 2 years now. I have gained so much from this place that I would have never been able to do without it.

I would like to speak more to the crazy talented and amazing students of Collins. I have had the privilege to call a lot of my fellow Collinistes my friends and watching all the work they do for the community and on campus has been awe inspiring to say the least. There is a culture of student advocacy and empowerment in Collins like nowhere else on campus. We are encouraged from day one of our Q classes (the Collins intro course), that we hold the power. That we are the ones in charge of our college experiences and that we are able to make change within our communities. I can’t think of any other place on IU’s campus that instills this in students. Often, I think a lot of students feel helpless when it comes to the more systemic structures of their college experiences, but in Collins, we are the ones who have the control over it. We are the ones who are in charge of the art studios, we are in charge of picking the classes taught here, we even have our own completely student-run café! It is insanely impressive what Collins students can accomplish when they put their minds to it. 

I can not thank the people who work in Collins and the students who have learned and lived here enough for what they have given me. They have given me a home and a space where I can be who I am. They have given me an environment to grow and thrive within. And to put in Collins terms, home is where the gnome is, truly.