Jared Crain, Campus Carrier deputy news editor

Julia Kuhn | CAMPUS CARRIER

Freshmen Jake Ward (left) and Andrew Meyers show off their new dorm in the Living Learning Community of Morgan Hall.

Residence Life stirred quite a few reactions among students last Spring when news hit of the “Living Learning Community,” the BCC group of 40 freshmen who would be taking up residence in Morgan Hall for the first time ever during the 2016-17 school year. 

While returning students have heard reactions and rumors from students and upperclassmen not a part of the Living Learning Community (LLC), some have yet to hear what the actual LLC freshman have had to say about it and how they became involved. 

Morgan Hall, which prior to this year housed upperclassmen, now has an entire hall ascribed to a community of freshmen who live and, indeed, learn together. 

However, this single community of freshmen diverges in the sense that, while some knew exactly what they were getting into when they signed up to live in the Living Learning Community, others did not. 

LLC freshmen Madison Pollock, Jacob Bushey and Shelby Worrell explained that when they were investigating BCC options for Berry, they were immediately drawn to classes instructed by Lauren Heller, associate professor of economics, and Casey Dexter, assistant professor of psychology, that corresponded with the Living Learning Community BCC track, for instance the class “Psychology of Poverty.”  

They didn’t realize their interest in the class meant they would be chosen to live together in Morgan Hall.  Bushey explained that it seemed to be a matter of whether to take a normal BCC class or not.  

Freshman Madison Pollock said that it was merely her interest in a class that led to her being chosen.   

“I’m a psych major and saw ‘Psychology of Poverty,’ and so I chose it,” Pollock said. “If I didn’t get selected, I wouldn’t have known I didn’t get selected.” 

Freshman football player and LLC member Andrew Myers also was unsure initially about what the LLC involved. 

“It wasn’t in your face unless you did your research on it,” Myers said.  “I didn’t get the full envelope at first.  I wanted to get the chance to work with Boys and Girls Club, which was a part of it. I got the full scope later on and loved the community feel of it all.” 

Assistant Dean of Students Lindsay Norman is working to bring to light the reasons many freshmen may have been confused with their LLC arrangements. She explained that because the idea for the community was started late last year, “there really was no initial marketing.”  

The option for the LLC was made available to students through the course preference form as one of the choices students could select when registering for Berry.  The form mentioned that by engaging in the LLC there was a residential component, facilitated through Academic Affairs.

However, this residential component was not made apparent until later on when Norman and Heller made personal phone calls to the students who had indicated interest in the community on their forms. Norman said that they “wanted students to feel confident with this new community.” 

And indeed, others of the LLC knew what the community had in store for them early on.  

One such freshman member, Olivia Brown, said it was a phone call from Heller that explained that the LLC was a community of freshmen who would live in the same hall, gather in the same BCC group and have classes together.   

Brown said that having heard all about the community, “the benefits far outweighed the disadvantages.” 

Whether the freshmen of the LLC initially knew what it was that they were getting into or not, most agree that it has allowed them to build friendships with one another and become acclimated to Berry College together, as a community.   

Pollock said that wherever she is on campus, she and others of the Living Learning Community never feel alone. They always have fellow LLC freshmen to talk to and hang out with and laugh alongside wherever they are and whatever they are doing.   

 “We do everything together,” Bushey said 

While the Living Learning Community initially appeared to be just a BCC option to many of these freshmen, they now say they feel more connected to each other and to their community.