Author: Nadia Taylor

           My name is Nadia and I’m trying to get through the first semester. I’m trying to make schedules so that I can keep myself organized; without them, my day turns into a complete mess. If I organize my time wisely, I will do well in my classes, but if I don’t, I will fall behind. I also joined a few clubs on campus to make friends. However, it will take time for me to make friends with the people I meet. One of the clubs I joined is the Music Society. We talk about how the Geneseo Music and Musical Theater Department can be promoted on campus. Another club I’m involved in is the Korean American Student Association. I joined it because I’m curious to learn more about Korean culture. I also wanted to do Exit 8, which is an acapella group on campus, but unfortunately, I didn’t make it when I was trying to audition for it, and it made me upset. I was also pressured to do Pep Band since a few students in my major encouraged me to join. I also wanted to do Pride Alliance to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community and to learn more about my sexuality, but I didn’t have time since I was busy with homework. I wanted to do the Japanese Culture Club, but again, the time conflicted with the SI Session that I needed to go for Geology so that I could pass that class.

         I’m doing okay in my courses, but I just need to be consistent on what I have to do for homework when I’m not in class and will need a planner to stay on track of what I need to do for homework so I won’t fall behind. Sometimes, I go overboard with doing homework, don’t manage time between sleep, and go to bed at two or three a.m. Besides homework, I will also need to set time to study for quizzes in Geology since we have them every Friday and also need some time to practice piano. I’m a French Horn student, but I must take Piano since I’m a Performance Major. In Geology, I do struggle with understanding the coursework, I go to Supplement Instruction sessions that are essential, so I don’t fail Geology. If I fail the course, I definitely will have to take it in the spring. 

        I don’t expect to get a perfect grade, but I expect to pass Theater Therapy by the end of the semester. I don’t expect this class to be hard, although there are assignments that involve reading and writing, including journals, blogs, reading, and taking notes. I sometimes fall behind in this class because I focus on the work and studying that I need to do for other classes and forget what I need to do for this course. Regardless, I try to hand in the assignments so that I can pass because I don’t want to fail this class since I’m already struggling in Geology.

  In the future, I’m hopeful that I can successfully pass the fall semester of 2023 at Geneseo and that I can form my first real authentic friendship compared to the other friendships I had in high school. On the bright side, I haven’t encountered any mean girls yet, but I hope I don’t since my experience with them back in high school ended up being upset and also hating them. College is different from high school and I’m trying my best to adjust at Geneseo since the campus itself is big and the environment is a bit culture-shocking. What I like about college is you don’t have to waste six hours a day being stuck in nine-period classes, so that you don’t necessarily get bored in them. However, what I need to improve on is managing time between classes, homework, clubs, and sleep so that I can stay happy and healthy.

My name is Nadia Taylor and the first few weeks have been kind of hard to adjust to because Geneseo is sizable compared to the private school I attended. What I meant to say is that there are a lot more people in my graduating class than there were in high school. It’s also hard to make friends because everybody has their own cliques and aren’t willing to be open towards people outside of their friend group. I’m also shy when talking to people since I’m afraid they will bully or talk back to me. I tried doing small talk with a few people, but I haven’t really had anything significant to talk about since I’m shy and nervous. In high school, I encountered a few mean girls who were really hard to deal with. There was this one girl I encountered at the parade I went to with my school marching band, and she said something that hurt my feelings.  When the band was going on a cruise, I decided not to go since I knew it would be stressful for me. The same girl asked if I wanted to go on the cruise and I said no, and she said she was sad. I feel like the girl is ignorant and isn’t aware of the struggles. 

I’m struggling with my courses and trying to adjust to each professor’s teaching style,  approach to assignments, and assigning textbook work. Geology is the hardest since I’m not a science person and I don’t like the subject. Still I took it because it will fulfill SUNY Geneseo’s General Education requirements and because it does fit my schedule. We have to learn in that class about how the Earth has different layers of itself, including the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. Music History is more rigorous than I expected because we have to obtain a lot of information from the class. I took it because I’m a music major and it fulfills my requirement to stay in it. In that class, we learned how the Roman Catholic Church influenced music through Gregorian Chants. It can be overwhelming since I have to balance out the workload in that class with a few other classes that I’m taking.     

My expectations for this Writing Seminar Class, Theatre: A Therapy for Veterans, is a lot of writing. I also expect to do a lot of reading in this class since a couple of books will be used. I also expected to do a lot of note-taking since I’m reading from the books we have in class. I also expected to write an argument since the book They Say, I Say mentions writing about how you do it.  In the book The Theater of War, the narrator talks about how his girlfriend died due to cytosis fibrosis, which is an issue in the lungs. He talks about how beautiful her death is since she was brave to get through her condition. I can connect to the narrator’s girlfriend’s struggle since she was willing to be brave in what she had to go through. I myself struggle with getting through college by being alone, but I’m trying to be brave and survive college by doing my best during classes. I also like in the They Say, I Say book how you can use everyday language, but at the same time, you must use the expected academic standards when you make an argument. I want to write my essays in college format, but at the same time, use the language that I use every day.