Author: Robert Pericolosi

SUNY Geneseo has been my place of residence for a little over a month, but recently, I’ve started accidentally calling Geneseo home. Home is a place of rest, relaxation, comfort and peace. I am finally getting comfortable with my suitemates, classes, friends and schoolwork. The basketball team was a catalyst in helping me assimilate into Geneseo’s culture. My teammates soon became my friends and people to interact with. Now, I’m not only talking to the freshman but the entire team. Playing basketball has benefited both my physical health and mental health as I am spending more time with friends on the team. When I first got dropped off at Geneseo, there were many feelings of uncertainty and confusion; however, these feelings have been completely eradicated. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and writing about it has made me realize how fortunate I am to be here and how smoothly everything has been going so far.

Cruising to the halfway point of the first semester is an ideal place to reflect on the courses and school work so far. The amount of work was expected, but how time consuming the work can become, has led to a couple of stressful nights. For instance, one night I was assigned to read for three classes and procrastinated, which resulted in a nerve-racking night. However, without procrastination, all of the work is manageable. Even the two midterms that I have taken were fairly easy. Studying days prior to the exam and not procrastinating is the best way to keep up with the work.

Reading the books in my writing class has taught me valuable lessons and opened my eyes to new perspectives about Greek tragedies and war veterans. In my freshman year of High School, I studied Greek tragedies. My class was taught about all the literary devices the author used in the text to convey a particular meaning. For instance, the meaning of Odeipus was that one can’t escape fate. However in Theatre of War it says “The Secret to understanding a tragedy is to close the book and reimagine it for our own time.” This means that you shouldn’t find a meaning to the story but should embrace the tragedy and imagine it in present day problems. The narrator says this as his father had type 2 diabetes and thought that it was his fate to slowly fall prey to the disease. He would eat unhealthy foods and was too stubborn to change his lifestyle. Similarly, I had a family member who had type 2 diabetes and fell down the same path. Being able to connect to the book and realize that Greek Tragedies should be embraced and spoken about in modern day problems as a way to cope, has created a new eye opening perspective about Greek Tragedies.

Learning new perspectives and taking courses at SUNY Geneseo will hopefully improve my writing and help me grow as a person. By the end of the semester all of the work assigned to me throughout the year should be finished. After doing all this work, I expect to get good grades. However, I also expect improvement in my work ethic, time management, writing skills and other skills that I might discover from living in a new environment. These skills will not only help me academically but mentally as well. All my work will be completed on time and this will put less stress on myself and possibly make me feel more comfortable at Geneseo. Finally making Geneseo, a perfect home.

Hello, my name is Robert Pericolosi and I am a first-year SUNY Geneseo student.. I was born and raised on Long Island in a typical town called Rockville Centre. Here, I grew up with all my family and friends, which are the only meaningful people in my life. I’ve spent countless hours with them at the beach, fishing, surfing, skimboarding, playing spikeball and other fun activities. My family eats Sunday dinner every week and we’ve all known each other since birth and are incredibly close. My friend group was established in Middle School and everything has been the same since. Nobody has left or joined because of how close we’ve been and how nicely we all get along.

Throughout my life, I have interacted with my friends and family everyday, which in my eyes, was the perfect life. However, this ideal way of living came to a temporary halt when I officially moved into SUNY Geneseo. I was filled with mixed emotions as I was saying goodbye to those closest to me but excited to finally see what SUNY Geneseo had to offer. The first week was filled with fun orientation events, which made adjusting to the new environment a whole lot easier. Assimilating into SUNY Geneseo culture was fairly easy because all the professors, upper-level-students, and staff were extremely welcoming and they all helped people like myself. The teachers being so supportive and welcoming have made the courses feel more easier. Even though there is a lot of reading and writing to do, less stress is on my shoulders because I know all the professors have good intentions and want to see me succeed.

Specifically in my writing class I know that my professor wants to see me succeed. Knowing this, I don’t expect an extremely stressful amount of work but enough to challenge me and make me a better writer. Doing the work and participating in class should improve my writing. I expect this class to improve my vocabulary and help me learn a variety of transitioning words. My vocabulary isn’t at the college level or even at the High School level. I also could improve at connecting my thesis with my body paragraphs. My teachers in High School would always give me feedback, saying that I’m going off track or rambling and not connecting the thesis to a bigger picture. I’m hoping that this writing course improves my writing skills.

Another part of my writing that I feel is weak is my specificity. My writing is somewhat vague which could also be a reason why I cannot stay on track because I am not specific enough to do so or lack the knowledge and understanding of a particular topic. All this in mind, I expect to see improvement in my overall writing abilities and want improvement in my writing weak points, which could improve upon in this class.

Already in the first week of this class, there has been minor improvement in my writing and the readings have also made me reflect on my communication abilities. While reading the book They Say, I Say, _by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, I noticed that it brings up a lot of valid points on how to write effective arguments. In _They Say, I Say it says, “To launch an effective argument you need to put the arguments of others as well”. (43) I have thought about this quote in class discussions when an argument arose. I tried my best to listen to the counterargument but realized how difficult it is to do so.

Throughout my life I always shut down the counterargument and have been very closed minded. Speaking loudly and only giving points to enhance my opinion was the best way to win an argument but in reality it actually worsens my argument. From this reflection, I already learned and grown and I’m excited about what this class and SUNY Geneseo will offer me in the future. I hope that the rest of the semester will teach me how to improve my writing and grow and develop as a person learning new perspectives and arguments.