Category: Arena

Hello, my name is Edward Barr-Forget. I am a first-year college student at SUNY Geneseo. I come from a large peninsula off the coast of New York called Long Island. On this island, there is a town called Quiogue right between Westhampton Beach and Quogue. I am an undecided major with no idea what I want to do with my life. Interesting facts about me are that I am a cheerful person who enjoys spending time with friends and playing games. Some games that I play are Valorant, Counter Strike Global Offensive, Overwatch 2, Minecraft, and Nintendo games such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. I am also immensely interested in sound electronic technology like microphones, sound engineering, and music.

During my first few weeks at Geneseo, I had quite a bit of fun. The first week of orientation was filled with activities and ways to get involved with clubs and other students. I was able to join clubs that had piqued my interest in them. Through the activities that were organized for orientation, I was able to meet new people and make friends. I am normally not a social person, so these activities allowed me to socialize with smaller groups of people and gave me the confidence to talk to people. Another way I partake in socializing is by being a work-study. Work-study gave me a place to make new friends and a place to go after classes so that I was not in my room alone doing nothing.

I am an undecided major taking multiple different courses of what I am interested in to help find a decision for my major. In my courses, I am having fun learning about each topic. My calculus class is by far my favorite because I am a huge math fan and my professor makes it a fun experience with his jokes. Some other courses I am having fun in but they take up long hours of my attention. I am not the best at paying attention for a long period of time so this affects how I remember what happens in class as well as my will to stay focused. The first week of classes was difficult for me to stay on top of my homework because of the new system of Brightspace. I had never used Brightspace and was not sure where or how to see when assignments were due or if I had any assignments. Other than that, the workload so far has not been too hard. It has allowed me to pay a good amount of attention to all my classes and get work done.

Some things I am looking forward to in the course INTD 105 Theatre- A Therapy for Veterans are to improve all areas of my writing. I feel as if my ability to write a research paper (with quotes and citations in the correct format) has never been the best it could be. My grammar has never been my strongest subject when it comes to writing any sort of paper and this class will help me improve even by the smallest bit. In the book, They Say, I Say, there were some connections between the book and my writing. In my writing, I am repetitive, which does not keep an audience with what I am trying to say. When writing, I summarize what I have read. I rarely used a counterargument the correct way or ever used it in my writing before, so when reading up on it, I could relate to all of the mistakes that could have been avoided. My arguments usually do not have full facts backing them up, causing me to panic and write my opinion more than the facts in my papers. Causing the paper to not have credible evidence throughout.

I hope to have a great time for the rest of my semester. To be better about having good time management, since this is my first year and first time living alone away from my family. To make a good group of friends that I can hang out with or ask for help with work. I also play games too much maybe and need to work on that as well.

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.

This summer, my therapist asked me what was supposed to be a trivial question: “Who are you?” “I don’t know if many people can answer that question…” I replied. “I think a lot of people can answer that question, James.” I’ve tiptoed around that question for a while, but I’ll give it my best shot. I am James Cortes. I’m typically easy to locate not just because of my height, but because I like to be “present.” I’m present in the music department, my new a cappella group, esports club, and sitting in the front row of class. I plan to use the opportunity that I have been given to be a college student to its fullest extent. In the words of American essayist and naturalist Henry David Thoreau, I want to “suck the marrow out of life” (Thoreau). I often refer to myself as being “radically me.” This definition of myself has changed over the years for different reasons, but primarily because of my queer identity. I came out as bisexual in seventh grade to my entire school on my public Snapchat story. I like to say I don’t have regrets, but that was a choice. I then became the only “out” nonbinary person at my high school; I dealt with what is “unfortunately” typical for LGBTQ+ youth in the world, which was online harassment, social exclusion, and even direct taunting. I didn’t know how to deal with that; I don’t know how any fourteen-year-old should deal with that.

I fell into a depressive state during quarantine, and I’d spend days at a time only leaving my bed to shower and get food. I completely blew off school and was amazed at how I didn’t fail my tenth-grade year (well… I did fail, but I got a COVID pity pass). My junior and senior years were wonderful: not only did I become a social butterfly, but I found solstice in my friend group. When I had to leave them for college, I was disheartened, but optimistic that college would be the “new opportunity” I always wanted. I now have a second chance, both socially and academically, in a diverse and enriched environment.

I would have considered myself independent, so I didn’t feel that much of a difference being here at Geneseo compared to home. Coming here at first felt like listening to a song, but your AirPods die right before the chorus. The culmination of years of hard work resulting in an overwhelming feeling of apathy. Jumping to now, my recreation is the same, school is still stressing me out and I’m still eating alone most days; what’s the difference? I don’t want to sit here sounding like an interloper because that is far from the truth. I’ve wanted to attend college for almost my entire life, and Geneseo was my top choice. I like to think I’m intentional, so I understand WHY I am here. I anticipate leaving Geneseo with bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Vocal Performance. I picked the two things I am best at, and I’ll hopefully have a job in one of them. I don’t want to delve too much into semantics, but while I believe the encompassing college experience is more than just working hard to find a well-paying job, that is my primary objective. I’d hope it is for everybody. I’m sure I’ll learn valuable life lessons about caring for yourself, getting enough sleep, and developing good study habits. I am enrolled in nine classes with ten associated lectures; I’m not worried I won’t learn effective study habits. However, with all the readings, physics, and rehearsing I’ve subjected myself to, I’ll need to learn quick as I already feel the strain from it all.

One path I diverged onto was selecting Theatre Therapy for Veterans as my INTD 105 section. As somebody who loved performing and consuming theatre and has a long lineage of war veterans in my family, I knew this was where I needed to be. Of course, I will develop and improve my writing skills, but more importantly, I’m expanding my horizons on topics I am passionate about. I could’ve picked any other INTD section, but I picked this one. So far, we’ve read They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter In Academic Writing by Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff. An interesting idea I’ve found solstice in is the claim that an idea only has value if it is connected to something and has a definite intention or goal (Graff). I’ve made it a goal to walk through the world with an intention that aligns with my values and is shown through my actions. This goal can be shown through everything I do, especially in my choice of words.

My intention for this semester is to exercise the principle of heightened intention in a novel environment and atone for my past academic failures by being nothing short of an “academic weapon.” That doesn’t mean I won’t have fun while doing it, but I am determined to be the best student I can be in and out of the classroom. I’ve found incredible folks on campus who have welcomed me into their lives, and I expect these people- especially the folks in the music and musical theatre department, to continue to grow on me. Most importantly, I expect to find out more about myself. I understand it’s cliche to say that we are entering a new chapter of our lives, but I literally break up my year into chapters. I think I’ve earned the right to say I am entering a new chapter. Like all, this chapter will bring new challenges, but no challenge is more significant than walking up that stupid hill daily.

My name is Jackson Casey and I’m from Corning, New York. I chose to attend SUNY Geneseo for a multitude of reasons, including the short distance from home, in-state tuition, and recruitment from the basketball team. Considering the immense transition from high school to college, I have adapted smoothly.

Dorm life is definitely different from home life. My roommate Justin and I stay on the third floor of Onondaga residence hall. Our floor shares a bathroom and the entire building shares the washers and dryers. This dissimilarity by far, took the most time to get used to due to the possibility of having to wait to use any of these. I learned my lesson not to do laundry on Sunday at three o’clock because everyone seemed to have the same idea. Many people in our dorm meet in the basement to do homework, watch sports, or make food. This is where I have met my closest friends so far. Being part of a team has definitely made this transition a lot easier. My senior teammates have welcomed me with open arms and have offered a great deal of advice. I have also met many other athletes on different sports teams through team activities and collaborations. We have already attended a volleyball game and a tennis match. Our team lifts three times a week and plays basketball every day which has kept me plenty busy.

I have had mixed feelings about classes so far. The professors cover material a lot quicker than in high school so paying attention and studying is essential. The material is also more challenging to learn so if you don’t get help when you need it, you will fall behind. That is why I use my free time to get help from tutors and group study. The courses are almost twice as long as those in high school, so I have definitely had to adapt. It has been challenging for me to sit and pay attention for an hour and fifteen minutes when I am used to a forty-minute class. On the other hand, the professors are knowledgeable in their subjects which has made classes interesting. There is more to learn in a college classroom than in a high school classroom.

My goal for this writing seminar is to make my sentences more efficient so they are easier to read and understand. I also think I can use more figurative language in my writing. This will make my writing more interesting and allow the reader to use their imagination. The last improvement I can make in my writing is my grammar. Here will be an easy fix, but I have a habit of not putting my commas in the correct spot. In order to correct this, I will have multiple peers read over my writings to ensure that I do not make those mistakes.

In my writing seminar Theater-Therapy for Vets, we have began to read two books. The Theater of War has surprisingly resonated with me, considering I have never served in a war. In the play Ajax, Ajax loses someone very close to him and he is unable to cope with it, ultimately leading to his demise (Doerries). This hit home because I have lost close friends and have had to learn to cope with it. I have also learned a lot from the book They Say, I Say. This book has explained how to focus on what your peer says in a conversation and not what you think or want to say back (Graff/Birkenstien 27). This has been really helpful and I feel that I take in a lot more information than before.

I have set two goals for myself in my first college semester. For one, having good grades is important to me so I am making it a priority to earn an A in every class. Basketball season also starts in four weeks. My goal is to prove to the coach that I am good enough to get on the floor in the late minutes of a close game when our team is trying to win the most.

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.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Josh Garelle. I am a first-year student here at SUNY Geneseo. I am from Long Island, New York- specifically the Village of Rockville Centre. This small traditional neighborhood on Long Island is what shaped me into who I am today. It’s about a six and half hour drive to and from Geneseo. I play basketball for the school team and I find a lot of interest in music. Going to the beach and hanging out with friends and family are major parts of my life too.

What’s SUNY Geneseo?… This small town in Western Upstate New York is what I will call “Home” for the next four years of my life. The true beauty of Geneseo and what it has to offer, I have no doubt that I will enjoy all of my time here. I am writing this about three weeks into my first semester of college. Woah… college. Even just the thought of me typing that is awfully strange. College felt like such an eternity away that now that it’s here, there’s a certain empty feeling that often overcomes me. Growing up, I viewed college as this huge obstacle in life. Now that I’m here, it’s all but that. These first three weeks of college have matured me, allowed me to express myself in ways I’ve never had before and given me opportunities to make new friends that I’m sure will last a while.

Deciding to come here was an academic and athletic decision that I thought was best for me and my family. Athletically, being able to play basketball at the next level has been a dream of mine since I was little. Being able to fulfill that is very special. Most importantly, this school is academically rigorous but also fair. Even though it’s only been three weeks, I am excited for what the future holds at SUNY Geneseo…. Although these past few weeks have been a blast, I’ve left behind a part of me that makes me who I am. Family, Friends and a community who supports me. In leaving that close, bonded community, I was opened to the opportunity of reinventing myself and who I am while also keeping my values.

My first semester classes have started very smoothly. When I viewed Theatre: A Therapy for Veterans on my schedule, I was extremely intrigued. I wasn’t sure what to think of the class. After being in this environment for a couple of classes, it’s safe to say I’m excited for the semester; the open discussion, along with the writing prompts we do, will not only make me a better writer but a better listener and speaker. I also think becoming a better writer can intertwine with becoming a better student in general. Writing is a huge aspect of academics. Specifically, learning and writing about topics like PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder allow me (and other students) to bounce ideas off of each other and open up discussion for what we agree or disagree on. This is the first writing-based course I am taking in my academic career. The books we are reading are so far helpful. For example, the They Say, I Say book by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein has allowed me to connect with my intellectual self and realize that I truly do not process what someone is saying to me in a conversation without having something to say myself. This book has already taught me to listen when someone is talking to me and analyze what they are saying.

Although it’s only been three weeks into the semester, my expectations are very high. I’m excited to explore more opportunities not only in class but in all of my classes. I am taking all general education classes because I am undecided. When the second semester approaches, I hope to have my major figured out. Outside of academics, I look forward to joining clubs and meeting with people that come from different cultures and bond with them. Basketball is what I’m looking forward to the most. I am already friends with the whole team. Having a prebuilt “family” before I even arrived on campus was a breath of fresh air for me. Practices and workouts have begun and I am intrigued on how difficult managing school work with athletics is going to be. It will be difficult but I am up for the challenge. I am again excited for this semester, this class, and just generally the next four years at SUNY Geneseo. Looking back on my first blog is going to be interesting as I continue to write about my experience here.

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.

I am Abigail Hildebrant and I am a first-year student here at SUNY Geneseo. In my spare time, I love to draw and play video games such as Minecraft and Splatoon. Previously, I had attended Tioga Central High School, roughly two hours away from Geneseo. Tioga is a quaint public school outside Binghamton with graduating classes of approximately sixty. It heavily pushes all students into dual-enrollment courses through Tompkins Cortland Community College, so I finished high school with a lot of college credit. This sparks a mixture of emotions for me, especially with what my course outline will look like and what that means for my time here. Currently, I am majoring in History, Adolescence Education: Social Studies to become a social studies teacher somewhere, someday.

The first few weeks have been full of ups and downs. When I was in high school, whenever my peers protested the dual-enrollment assignments, my teachers always warned us that college would be harder. Even with the warning in mind, college has been a lot more than I anticipated. For example, the amount of reading assigned in the first few weeks has been more than an entire year at my high school. It can be hard to keep up! I found high school reading very easy in comparison. I enjoy Letchworth dining hall and my suitemates are very lovely. Throughout these last few weeks, I started making some new friends! Everyone here is so much nicer than my high school peers, so it is a breath of fresh air. Though, I am still struggling a little with time management. Even with everything written down in a calendar, there is so much to adjust to that there are times I forget to do a reading assignment. It can be very confusing and stressful, but I am doing my best.

This semester, I am taking this INTD105 writing seminar, human geography, festival singers, and several history courses. The history courses have the most reading by far, but all my courses have reading in them. Each one is interesting in their own way, and the professors have all been so delightful. I am learning so much about the history of Latin America that I had not previously known about. The topics we talk about in there have been connecting extremely well with topics we have been talking about in human geography! Sometimes, the workload feels a little too much, but it interests me greatly. The Intro to History course has been relieving a lot of stress I have had about majoring in history and much-needed advice on handling the work. Mondays through Wednesdays are the most stressful for me, as most of my classes are on those days. In time, I plan to better manage the stress it brings. Singing in the choir on Tuesday nights does help! In all, I feel very fortunate for my schedule for my first semester here and hope it continues to get better.

This writing course will help me become a better writer through the subtopic of Theatre: A Therapy for Veterans. While doing so, it teaches about those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how theatre can be therapeutic for it. I love theatre and know little about PTSD, so I am excited to learn more. The writing seminar has made me realize there is more to take out of a reading than just the author’s argument. It is important to consider what the argument is towards and to consider it like a conversation. This is becoming useful in my history readings, as two historians can look at the same source and draw very different conclusions from it. Looking at different perspectives is important in interpreting those readings and what they mean in the big picture. My courses are very writing-intensive, rather than test–heavy, so this class is giving me resources to guide me through them. I would be clueless on the resources available, so I am super grateful.

Thus far, the readings for each course have been altering my perspective of the world around me and how I go about my learning. My classes are making me question things I had never questioned before. These realizations have been making me better informed and get more out of the reading than before! For the rest of this semester, I expect the readings to get easier as I develop better reading strategies. My professors are caring and can help guide me through it, all I have to do is ask. There are a lot of big-picture ideas and questions to be drawn from the readings–it often feels overwhelming and endless. But thanks to skills I am learning in my classes, I am becoming better equipped to handle it.

Time has been flying by as far as college is concerned. At the beginning of entering the figurative Geneseo gates, I worried time would drag on and that I would struggle to find my niche; though, as I reflect in this final blog, I can say I am proud of myself for enhancing my ability to adapt. The road hasn’t all been smooth, but it’s gratifying to now have a sense of accomplishment. Nearing the end of this first semester and seeing the grades that follow hard work, and applying myself to the material is an incredible feeling. Figuring out college life has gotten easier through making friends, taking up new hobbies, and diving into my possible future that I may want to pursue. There are no limits, and I believe Geneseo has given me that mindset.

Midterms are over, finals are starting next week, and Christmas break is two weeks away; I think it went pretty smoothly. Going into my first college midterms was highly intimidating as I discovered new study strategies that worked best for me and decided what material I deemed essential. I had no idea what worked for me starting this year regarding studying. There was definitely a rocky period where I felt discouraged when I didn’t get the results I was hoping for. However, through trial and error (along with the understanding that the sun would still rise the next day if I didn’t get the grade I wanted) while understanding my study habits better, I got to know how my brain works. This Theatre Therapy for Veterans class focused on reading plays and the real-life events that molded them. After each act, we read and discussed as a class what we believe the key points are, which has been one of the exercises that aided me in realizing how I learn the material best. Having open talks about how different people interpret the exact text has given me a perspective I didn’t have before.

This course has become top of my list of classes since the start of the year. I was hesitant when I first saw it added to my schedule— the unknown is scary, especially when entering your first semester of college. I have many members of my family who have served our country, and through taking this class, I now think I can better understand their experiences. I feel as if, a lot of the time, it’s been sort of taboo to talk about people’s traumatic experiences in the context of being a veteran and living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. After learning more about the events people endure to protect and serve our country, I’ve gained a better sense of what’s appropriate in conversation and become more self-aware of my words and the effect they may have on people. Reading about how family members cope with their beloved family members serving our country gave me a whole new outlook on who is affected by war. I always purely thought of soldiers, but I’ve never thought of the parents, spouses, friends, and children that don’t have their service members and are constantly worrying about them. Reading about this side of war opened my eyes to the number of people it affects.

With the end of the semester nearing in a mere four weeks, I hope I continue to find success in all of my classes through grades as well as knowledge. I know myself enough to acknowledge that I get foggy towards this time of year with excitement for the holidays. Being mindful of this fact, though, helps with my tendency to drift off. My main goal is to stay aware of continuing to apply myself so finals go well. This is my final blog and closing in on this semester; I like the place I’m at. If you asked me at the beginning of the year how I thought the first semester would end, I probably would say stressful, but I’m content, and that’s all I could ask for. I’m incredibly grateful for the education I’ve been given.

Rounding out my reviews of my classes, we finish with INTD 105: Theatre Therapy for Veterans. In all honesty, before attending this course, I had my reservations. I had no idea what the course would entail, and I left it up to my imagination to decide how good or bad it would be. Having only a couple days of class left, I think it is safe to say that my conclusion about the course is that I am happy I was thrown in blindly. As unfortunate as that may seem, I would never have signed up to take this class, but that is the truth. However, I am so glad that I was because I was opened up to an abundance of knowledge about veterans, specifically about veterans who deal with PTSD as a result of serving time in the military. Even though not everyone has a connection to the military and to the people who put their lives on the line to defend our country, I think that everyone should learn about the effects of war and violence on those who serve and how they can help those who suffer when they are living in the dark.

Professor Arena was able to connect stories told through Theatre of War and Act of War into the real world and personal stories that she herself struggled with, making all the more points about PTSD from the books real. Also, because there were moments when the books brought up uncomfortable and graphic scenes, those moments were the most important as they were untold truths. They were uncomfortable because they were events that no one ever wanted to discuss, but it was necessary to talk about them. We learned that learning about PTSD through the lens of these unbelievable tragedies and events created healing outlets for veterans who have dealt with similar graphic events and who found peace in communicating their feelings concerning stories such as the Greek tragedies. I am glad that I was put into this class and am grateful for all the new things I have learned, considering I would have never learned about this had I not been randomly placed in this course.

Well, it seems as though that is all I have to say, so this is the end of the Anxious Girl’s Accounts, so until next time, dear readers. Godspeed.