I am currently halfway through my first semester at SUNY Geneseo and it has been filled with a balanced combination of relishes, stresses, and uncertainties that fluctuate from day to day. I am still figuring out how to manage my time between class, homework, basketball practice, cleaning the dorm, laundry, and sleep. I have found my biggest struggle so far is not getting enough sleep. Unfortunately, this is nobody’s fault but my own and is something I am working on. My roommate and I wake up at five fifty-five every morning for practice, which is something I am not accustomed to. After that, we have a team lift for an hour, which I find productive, but this also makes it hard to function throughout the day if I acquire three to four hours of sleep the night before.
Practicing has also been challenging and grueling, which has a direct effect on my body. I have begun to take recovery very seriously through heat and cold therapy, stretching, and prioritizing a healthy diet. I have also joined a yoga club on campus, to balance out the tough days of practice. I joined it with the mindset of physical recovery, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of priority they put on mental health and focusing on the mind. I didn’t realize the benefits of meditation and mindful breath. In fact, if you were to ask me about it before I joined the club, I would’ve said it was a myth. I can assure you it is legit and there are an abundant amount of advantages to my newly found practices. I have learned that mental health is not discussed for men as much as it should be, and it is even less acted on. I want to make it a point to make sure my mind is healthy during these chaotic next four years.
Classes are going similar to how I expected. Every professor is different in how they teach their class, how they grade their class, and what they expect from you. In some classes, I have found success, but in others, I have struggled. I recently joined a study group with classmates for my statistics class, due to the challenging material. Office hours are scheduled during another one of my classes, so the study group is my best bet. Another class that has been challenging for me is my geology class. I’ve had great success on all of the quizzes in both lecture and lab, but I struggled on the most recent test. My professor holds meetings to go over test material, so I will definitely make a point to attend those in the near future. Discipline is the name of the game when it comes to success in a college classroom and it’s something I’m working on every day.
have found a lot of success in Writing-Therapy for Vets so far. The material has been heavy and intense, but interesting at the same time. I don’t have any family members close to me that have served in the military, so it was very eye-opening to learn about what soldiers go through overseas, the effects PTSD has on an individual, and how it affects their families and loved ones. I also feel it has been helpful to have a professor who has served in the military to teach this material because they have actually seen and experienced everything we cover in class firsthand.
By the end of the semester, I want to have earned an A in every class. This goal is definitely attainable given where I am at right now. Basketball season will have also started by then and I want to carve out a spot in the roster and consistently get minutes. Besides my two main goals, I also want to maintain and create more friendships on campus. My relationship with my teammates is very genuine and I already see myself being friends with them way down the road. I want to create a healthy sleep schedule where I am able to attain seven to eight hours of sleep at night. Lastly, I want to prioritize my mental health and attack my struggles head-on without letting them stress me out.
