Author: Maria Colosimo

The hills definitely haven’t gotten any easier, but I have adapted a bit more to the campus. We are about seven weeks into the first semester and I still don’t feel like Geneseo is home, but I guess that may take time. I miss my hometown, especially the people, like family and friends. I have gone home most weekends being here, and my parents say that’s probably not the best thing for me since I should be getting used to staying over the weekend if I want to adapt to the environment. Sometimes, I can’t help it because I miss everyone so much that driving home seems like the best thing to do. Although my family is dearly missed, I do enjoy most of the activities on campus, including club lacrosse and cheer.

Cheer and lacrosse have brought amazing people to my attention and we are becoming closer every day, which is nice. I think I am starting to find “my people” because there are a few on campus I always want to spend my time with and be around. While spending time with those people, I have become comfortable with being uncomfortable. I get out of my comfort zone a lot now because new experiences and adventures come my way. I’ve learned a lot of things about being an adult, especially when I have to do things myself I have never done by myself before. The laundry, sometimes grocery shopping, and knowing when to get to bed. It’s all a lot, but I am getting better and better at those tasks each time.

My classes have definitely kicked up the workload since the first few weeks-nothing that can’t be handled, but a little bit more than I had expected. Although there is a lot of work, I am loving all my courses and my professors. The materials in my courses are making it enjoyable to learn and do some of my homework. I definitely think college work, in general, is more about effort than length because most of my assignments are short, but require very in-depth thought. In high school, I used to be able to just sit down in a noisy setting and get my work done easily with no problems, but my college coursework is a little different. I can’t really be surrounded by loud or distracting noises and sometimes I need help finishing my work. I definitely ask for help a lot more now than I did because I know if I don’t understand my material now, I will never get a hold of it. My study habits have also changed in the past few weeks as well. Knowing that most of my tests and exams in college are a huge percentage of my final grade, I know I have to prepare myself for success. I make sure to study at least a week before the test or exam, so if I have any questions, there will be time to ask my professors.

One of my favorite classes I am taking now is INTD 105 (a writing seminar.) Class is very interesting for me and I am never distracted or bored in the classroom. As of right now, we are reading the play American Tet as a class together. I have learned about military life already and how veterans, as well as the people close to them, deal with that sort of pain. I have started to connect with this play because one of my best friends actually just finished boot camp for the Marines. I know it may not all be the same, but it is preparing me for when he comes back home from deployment. Sometimes, the topics or discussions we have in class make me worry about him and how he will do in his deployment. He will be gone for five years when he leaves in about three weeks. He will only get to come home one month a year, which is pretty crazy, but it is better than not seeing him at all. I am becoming more and more familiar with the life of a soldier and how it can affect the people who love them the most. That is why INTD 105 is my favorite course so far because I am learning useful things for real life. I have no problem doing any of the coursework because I enjoy doing it and I am mostly never confused as well.

Now, by the end of my first semester, I hope not to have fallen on the icy hills of Geneseo, but mostly, I hope that I can call Geneseo “home.” I hope to have found “my people” and fully adapted to my new everyday routine. I hope not to miss home as much as I do now. I want to be able to look forward to going back to college when I am home on breaks. My grades should have gotten better by the end of the semester while keeping a GPA higher than 3.7. I would also like my test and exam scores to be better than before, as I will keep studying and trying new ways until I find one that works the best for me. I also hope to see myself getting more involved on campus while joining more clubs and associations.

I am a freshman at SUNY Geneseo. My hometown is Tonawanda, New York. I would like to say I am from Buffalo, but people always get upset when I say that because apparently, I am truly not from “the real Buffalo,” but if I am a hardcore Buffalo Bills, Sabers, Bisons, and Bandits fan, then I count it. I live with my parents and my little sister back home and I’ve grown up to be a very family-oriented person. I miss them a lot, but this is a brand new, exciting journey for me and they are so supportive. My Italian family passed down the bushy eyebrows to me, but the one thing my mom and dad gave me was the “short gene.” I am a 17-year-old college student with a height of five feet, but my shortness doesn’t stop me from walking up the big hills at Geneseo. I don’t mind all the walking since I love being active and playing sports, which is why I just joined the girls’ lacrosse and cheerleading club teams at Geneseo.

The first day I moved in was full of emotions. It was the first time I was actually leaving my family and living independently. No more late-night talks with my little sister in our shared bedroom about “random things we think about before going to bed” or morning runs with my mom. I was actually on my own this time. My family helped me set up my dorm, we went to dinner, and then the time came. My family left. I didn’t really know what to do afterward so I sat on my bed for a little while. I didn’t know if I would be puzzled like this all throughout college without my family here, but once I adjusted on the fourth day, I knew that this was going to be my new routine. I had to walk through my schedule a few times during the four days, but the hills never got easier. I had to learn to hold myself accountable for doing my laundry and making sure I was getting enough sleep at night. I realized my parents did a lot more nagging than I thought, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss it. I had to tell myself when my laundry needed to be done or when it was time to get something to eat. I was my own parent in a way. That sounds very obscure, but it’s true. Once you get into college, you become your own advocate.

I decided to take seventeen credits in my first semester of college. I was slightly worried that it would be too much for me since I was still adjusting to a new setting, but it was just the right amount. All my classes are super interesting and luckily there are no problems with them. The workload is definitely a lot more than I had in high school, but it helps me work on my time management. Although my classes are challenging, they are much more educational than my old classes in high school. My notes are taken however I want and the professors do not hover over me like most high school teachers did. While still being able to learn on your own it feels a little different than past experiences.. I am more determined and engaged while sitting in my college courses, while in high school, I would just try and stare at the clock to make time go faster.

INTD 105, a writing seminar (I chose to take this semester), is a super intriguing class. It has the topic of Theatre, a type of therapy for veterans. This class gives me topics I normally wouldn’t write or think about in high school. An expectation for this class is learning to be able to discuss topics and questions in a group setting or one-to-one conversation without interrupting someone or not listening. I want to become fully engaged in what my colleagues are discussing. This will help me not only become a better reader, but also a better listener. In this class, we are also reading the book They Say, I Say, which is informative and helps me with my writing. I can say that I am mentally connected with it because I have trouble correcting my bad writing habits from before and this book will help those bad habits go away while continuing to build new habits that are brand new. It is a way of learning how to write academically. The book gives examples of different techniques to use in your writing to connect your opinion on a topic with what others say about the same topic. I have noticed while reading that some of the things it tells writers not to do, I definitely have a bad habit of doing. So, at the end of this semester and when I finish reading They Say, I Say, my writing and communication skills should be high quality and more comfortable.

By the end of this semester, I hope to be comfortable with my new writing and communications skills, but I also hope to feel at home at Geneseo. I hope to find my group of people who are supposed to be my “life-long” best friends. During breaks of the first semester, I want to feel a little sad about leaving campus and my friends here. As of now, I look forward to going home and that should change. These hills should get easier and feel less steep as I walk up them, but that is more of a reach than my other hopes.