Author: Hailey

In this school year, we are approaching fall break, which has come quite fast. I have been taking trips home almost every weekend due to feeling homesick; I enjoy seeing everyone back home immensely and always dread leaving. Despite appreciating my new friends here, a trip home always feels nice at the end of my busy week. I have gotten very close with my two new friends who I have made in my suite. That’s right, I said two. In our room, there was a bee situation that caused one of the girls to move out, so now it’s just the four of us total. Overall, though, I feel closest with Emma and Ava. The bee situation was a mess and caused us to move out of our rooms for a day so they could exterminate the bees. Since then, we haven’t had any problems.

So far, my courses are going well for me. I enjoy some courses less than others, but I don’t let that interfere with my performance in any of the classes. In my classes, I have made some new friends as well. I would say that I have made at least one in all of them, besides my psychology class, due to my outside friends already being there. There have been tests in all of my classes, except for this class, INTD 105. I’ve done decently well on all of them but could still improve in some areas. Personally, in my Psychology course, I seem not to be doing so well on the tests. It’s tough because the only assignments we have are exams on multiple chapters covering tons of information. All of the information in the chapters can sometimes be very difficult to retain and know the meaning of an example since we never revisit the information in class. My biggest struggle that holds me back from achieving the best score could be the lack of studying. I rarely studied in high school, so I find it hard to adjust to studying so much in college now. Eventually, it will be second nature to me, though, and then I will be able to earn a better score in all of my classes. For example, I plan on reviewing my notes at least twice a day, each day, at least a week in advance. I hope to do better on all my upcoming exams this semester and all of the following.

This class, INTD 105, is going well for me and I appreciate the organizational aspect of it, along with the writing. I enjoy writing essays and taking notes, so this class truly allows me to do so all the time. In terms of connecting with the work, though, I do not feel as if any of it seems to resonate with me. Nevertheless, I still find all the information and readings to be deeply interesting. Additionally, I do enjoy taking part in the understanding of the feelings that Veterans face when dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, otherwise known as PTSD. On the other hand, I’m not a fan of reading out loud in front of the class, especially about rough topics like this. However, I do like that we were able to get into little groups and read that way, as that makes me feel more comfortable with reading aloud.

By the end of this semester, I expect to have a good GPA of at least 3.0. I believe this is doable for me as I take pride in my grades, which pushes me to do my best in all of my classes. As mentioned previously, I do plan on getting into the routine of studying more so that I can truly perform my best on all of the exams I take. I plan to try different methods of studying to find which truly works best for me. In the next blog, hopefully, I will have my best working method for studying down and will improve, especially in PSYCH. Overall, though, I feel like my time here is passing quickly, but I’m thankful for my friends who are right by my side through it all.

As a freshman, I am excited to share my first year at Geneseo! To start, my name is Hailey Wilkins. Fun fact: I have a late birthday, which is October twenty-seventh, 2005. Because of this, I am still only seventeen years old; all my friends like to jokingly make fun of me because of it. Being from Medina, New York, about an hour away from campus, allows me to enjoy the independence that comes with the distance while also being able to go home as needed. At home, I live with my mom, her boyfriend, my sister, and our dog. Our dog is a golden retriever, two years old, named Charlie. If I could’ve taken her with me to college, I would have in a heartbeat. Aside from my home life, my hobbies include playing volleyball, piano, and reading. I plan on joining the club volleyball team here at Geneseo. In high school, I played volleyball for five years. In my final two years on varsity, I was team captain (alongside my friend Elizabeth).

Additionally, in high school, I enjoyed most of the classes I took. My favorite class has always been English, especially my last two years of taking it. I enjoyed the content I learned and my teacher was super nice and supportive of all of our growing work. We used the MLA formatting throughout all of my school assignments; therefore, I am the most comfortable with this style of writing. Additionally, in my English class, we had many assignments where we’d be required to read a certain section of a book to be able to actively participate in the class discussion that followed the next day. I believe that I partook in the discussions often and was confident in what I shared each time. I also believe that I do my best to focus on what others are saying while still being able to tie my thoughts into it as well.

After talking about myself, I’d also like to share how my time here at Geneseo has gone so far. My first week here went well overall and I’m so happy to have met so many new people during it. I have a suite filled with five girls: Emma, Ava, Alyssa, Mandy, and myself. I share my room with Emma, Ava and Alyssa share the second room, and Mandy is an RA, so she gets her room to herself. I get along with the three girls super well and we’ve all already become so close. Mandy, on the other hand, isn’t in the room as often since she’s usually occupied doing what RAs do. Moving in and decorating my room was stressful, but I’m happy I was able to make the space my own. The decorations and pictures allow my room to make me feel more at home and comfortable, which is a plus.

Aside from moving in, I feel like my classes have all been going well so far. I enjoy all of them and feel confident that I will be able to do well in them. I have two classes a day, except on Thursdays when I have three. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I have a math class and a psychology class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have my INTD 105 class followed by an anthropology class. Additionally, on Thursdays, I have a biology class later on in the day. I expect nothing but the best from all of my classes and I know that the information I’m learning is all preparing me for a successful future.

In this course Theatre: A Therapy for Veterans, specifically, I expect to be able to learn to use stronger diction in my writing to have a more sophisticated tone overall, while also learning about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short, in veterans and the long-term effects that has on them. I would like to share that, in high school, I read The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien. I felt that it had a very big impact on our class as a whole and truly allowed everyone to realize how serious the war can affect the mental state of a veteran. In conclusion, I am very happy that I was able to share a little bit about myself, my first week here, and some of my expectations from the class as a whole. I am looking forward to being able to share an updated version later on in the semester about how everything has been going overall.