My name is Bella Goodyear, I am eighteen years old and I am a freshman at SUNY Geneseo. My major is Early Childhood Education with a concentration in music. In this blog, I intend to dive into some thoughts and experiences I’ve had while attending my first few weeks of college. First, though, I feel it is important to introduce myself a bit. I grew up in a family of five with my mom, dad, and two sisters (a family of seven actually, if you count my cat and dog). I love music, nature walks, skiing, spending time with friends, and stickers. My home is Rochester, New York, only a thirty-five-minute drive from Geneseo. Most of my life has been spent in Rochester, but for a few of my childhood years, my family lived in Dallas, Texas. Rochester is very much still my true home, but Geneseo is already starting to feel like my home away from home.
Throughout the summer, I experienced many conflicting feelings about going to college. Every day, I would go back and forth between feeling ecstatic and ready to move on from high school to experiencing absolute despair over moving to a new environment and being away from my family and friends. Luckily, though, I came into Geneseo with one of my very best friends by my side, and knowing her, along with a few others from my high school, has made my first-year experience significantly more comfortable. The first week was orientation, which was a generally beneficial experience. I made many new friends, grew close with my suitemates, and began to learn my way around campus. By the end of orientation week, though, I found myself sick of ice-breakers and waking up early for info meetings; I felt ready to move on. Next came classes; I found it nearly impossible to wake up for my 9:30 class even though you would assume my body would be prepared after years of starting school at 7:45 a.m., five days a week. I’ve been getting more used to it, though, and I haven’t been late to any classes (yet). I have study buddies in many classes, which I’m sure will come in handy, especially during exam season. So far, I don’t particularly enjoy one class, but I also do not particularly dislike any of my courses.
I predict that this class, Writing Seminar INTD 105: Theatre: Therapy for Veterans, will become one of my favorites because it is writing-based. I’ve always preferred English over math, foreign language, history and just about any other class. Some of my favorite classes in high school were AP Language and AP Literature. Through watching my writing improve over time in Lang, and analyzing incredible pieces of literature such as Frankenstein and Hamlet in Lit, I learned lifelong skills and strategies. I am excited to learn even more writing skills through this course while learning about theatre therapy, a topic I know little to nothing about.
Along with INTD 105, I believe I will soon start to love my Elements of Music Theory Class (MUSC 189). As of right now, the course is moving at a comfortable pace for me, and I already know a lot that we read and reviewed in the textbook from years of playing the trumpet. I’m excited to take on the class. Still, know that soon it will become much more complex and fast-paced, so I’ve decided that if I walk out of the class feeling like I never want to take another music class ever again, I will consider switching my concentration.
In terms of friendships, I have developed a group that I feel content and comfortable with. I am grateful to be in a suite because it’s like having a built-in friend group. I know some girls in the suite better than others, but from those friendships, even more friendships have blossomed with mutual people. However, I hope to continue meeting people and making friends, hopefully through participating in clubs and activities. I hope to continue to make connections with people alike and different from me, and I am excited for the many experiences to come the rest of this semester and beyond.
Although I have many worries, especially about upcoming tests and exams, I am excited for the rest of this semester. I have high expectations that in the coming weeks, I will be productive in my classes, expand my friendships, develop important connections with classmates and professors, and have a fun first-semester college experience!
