Since Mid Terms, my classes have continued to push forward. They are all picking up the pace as we get closer to finals. More information is being presented in class, and I am expected to learn and do more on my own outside of class. The military prepared me well for this increase in workload. While in medic training, I became certified as a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician, or NREMT. Generally, an NREMT course takes at least six months to complete in the civilian world. We did the entire course in 8 weeks, so I am more than accustomed to a fast rate of information presentation. Professors still help as much as they did in the first part of the semester. My classes that are either labs or outside of STEM have turned to final project prep. My Biology Lab final is a group presentation on microbiology, and the Theater Therapy for Veterans final is a skit about PTSD. There is no guide for how the performance needs to connect to PTSD, so there is considerable freedom within the rubric. I have been thrilled with how classes have progressed since Mid Terms this semester.
Overall, Theater Therapy for Veterans has been going very well for me. I have made friends with most of, if not all, my classmates. I enjoy the readings, and Professor Arena makes things as fun as she can, even though we talk about some very intense topics. I can connect with the readings we did in class with many different people because I have heard other soldiers’ stories about their time in Iraq. The readings we have done have mainly dealt with soldiers and them doing things in Iraq voluntarily or something that they had to do because it was their job to do them, and that’s how they were taught to do them. I have heard many service members tell me about things they did overseas. I could tell by looking at their body language and especially their eyes that told me they either regretted doing what they did or wished they could have done it differently. I think I connected more with 9 Circles by Bill Cain. It is a play about a soldier whose actions brought to light a problem with the war. I can almost understand why he did what he did through my dialogues with other service members who deployed to Iraq and the hate they developed for their enemies. This class has enabled me to start understanding my fellow service members’ struggles and how they can help deal with their struggles with PTSD.
I plan to push through the semester and do well on my final exams and presentations. I only have three finals that I need to worry about, which is a good thing because the less spread out my attention is, the better. That way, I can focus on the classes that I need to. Doing well in my classes is very important to my future because it will allow me to achieve my goals outside of undergrad at Geneseo. I also plan to start working in EMS before next semester. I need a way to be able to support myself. I have lived off my savings for this semester; it is dwindling. I hope that the rest of my first semester goes very well and that I can go into winter break feeling like I did the best I could in my first semester.