Category: Fall 2023

My name is Bella Goodyear, I am eighteen years old and I am a freshman at SUNY Geneseo. My major is Early Childhood Education with a concentration in music. In this blog, I intend to dive into some thoughts and experiences I’ve had while attending my first few weeks of college. First, though, I feel it is important to introduce myself a bit. I grew up in a family of five with my mom, dad, and two sisters (a family of seven actually, if you count my cat and dog). I love music, nature walks, skiing, spending time with friends, and stickers. My home is Rochester, New York, only a thirty-five-minute drive from Geneseo. Most of my life has been spent in Rochester, but for a few of my childhood years, my family lived in Dallas, Texas. Rochester is very much still my true home, but Geneseo is already starting to feel like my home away from home. 

Throughout the summer, I experienced many conflicting feelings about going to college. Every day, I would go back and forth between feeling ecstatic and ready to move on from high school to experiencing absolute despair over moving to a new environment and being away from my family and friends. Luckily, though, I came into Geneseo with one of my very best friends by my side, and knowing her, along with a few others from my high school, has made my first-year experience significantly more comfortable. The first week was orientation, which was a generally beneficial experience. I made many new friends, grew close with my suitemates, and began to learn my way around campus. By the end of orientation week, though, I found myself sick of ice-breakers and waking up early for info meetings; I felt ready to move on. Next came classes; I found it nearly impossible to wake up for my 9:30 class even though you would assume my body would be prepared after years of starting school at 7:45 a.m., five days a week. I’ve been getting more used to it, though, and I haven’t been late to any classes (yet). I have study buddies in many classes, which I’m sure will come in handy, especially during exam season. So far, I don’t particularly enjoy one class, but I also do not particularly dislike any of my courses.

I predict that this class, Writing Seminar INTD 105: Theatre: Therapy for Veterans, will become one of my favorites because it is writing-based. I’ve always preferred English over math, foreign language, history and just about any other class. Some of my favorite classes in high school were AP Language and AP Literature. Through watching my writing improve over time in Lang, and analyzing incredible pieces of literature such as Frankenstein and Hamlet in Lit, I learned lifelong skills and strategies. I am excited to learn even more writing skills through this course while learning about theatre therapy, a topic I know little to nothing about.

Along with INTD 105, I believe I will soon start to love my Elements of Music Theory Class (MUSC 189). As of right now, the course is moving at a comfortable pace for me, and I already know a lot that we read and reviewed in the textbook from years of playing the trumpet. I’m excited to take on the class. Still, know that soon it will become much more complex and fast-paced, so I’ve decided that if I walk out of the class feeling like I never want to take another music class ever again, I will consider switching my concentration. 

In terms of friendships, I have developed a group that I feel content and comfortable with. I am grateful to be in a suite because it’s like having a built-in friend group. I know some girls in the suite better than others, but from those friendships, even more friendships have blossomed with mutual people. However, I hope to continue meeting people and making friends, hopefully through participating in clubs and activities. I hope to continue to make connections with people alike and different from me, and I am excited for the many experiences to come the rest of this semester and beyond. 

Although I have many worries, especially about upcoming tests and exams, I am excited for the rest of this semester. I have high expectations that in the coming weeks, I will be productive in my classes, expand my friendships, develop important connections with classmates and professors, and have a fun first-semester college experience!

                       

My name is Julia Weber. I am nineteen years old from Fairport, NY. I have wanted to go to SUNY Geneseo since I was about ten years old when I first came here to watch my older cousin play lacrosse. I had somehow convinced myself that I would not be able to get into Geneseo, so the moment I received my acceptance letter in the middle of January, I celebrated with my family. Since I was a young girl, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher because a good amount of my teachers are Geneseo alumni and they have all raved about the education program here. 

When I first moved into my dorm, I was excited but also a little bit nervous. I was excited to begin this new chapter in my life and to make new friends, but I was also nervous because after orientation week ended, my classes would begin. I was nervous about how much work I would have for all my classes. I feared that my workload would be so unbearable that it would be difficult to find time to socialize with my new friends. During syllabus week, the workload was not terrible and it was a great way to ease into this new chapter of my life. Still, over the past few weeks, I have noticed an increase in the work and I am getting pretty good with my time management when it comes to balancing schoolwork and my social life. Some ways that I’ve been able to make friends is by joining the running club because I ran cross country and track in high school. I did not want to run competitively anymore, but I wanted to continue to stick with it. 

After my classes are done for the day, I like to go to the library and get my homework done and get myself organized when it comes to what I need to study for and when I should study the material. From that point, I typically return to my dorm and spend time with my friends. In the hallway on my floor, there is a table that we all sit at every night and we talk about our recent experiences with our new classes and tell stories about high school. Sometimes, my friends and I will walk down to Red Jacket at about 9:00 at night and we will get ice cream and french fries. On the weekends, my friends and I like to walk around the town of Geneseo, have movie nights, and sometimes hang out in our dorm rooms.

So far, my courses have been pretty good. Monday is my favorite day of the week this semester because I only have psychology in the middle of the day. Since I have one class on Monday, I like to use Monday to catch up on my schoolwork for my other classes later in the week. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my busiest days of the week because I have three classes on those days at 9:30 a.m. I have my dance class, which is a great start to my day because it gets me energized for the day. I also like that I have dance because it is an easier class for me and I need an art credit to graduate. Luckily, my dance class counts towards that credit. 

After dance, I have to rush to the other side of campus to get to my Theater: Therapy For Veterans class because there is only a fifteen-minute time gap between the two classes. I have been enjoying the class and I can’t wait until we have more writing assignments for that class because I have always enjoyed writing. I am interested to see what the writing assignments for this class will contain as we get further into the semester. I enjoy writing and I never really considered how veterans use theater as a source of therapy, so I am excited to do more research on that. After doing some of the required reading for this class, nothing in particular stands out to me that I could make a good connection with yet. Still, I felt like I gained some good tips for having a successful group discussion when it comes to adding to a discussion or changing the topic.

After my writing class, I have a two-hour break until my next class, so I typically use that time to unwind and eat lunch. Once the two hours are up, I go to my math class. My math class is pretty simple, but I know that it will be more difficult as the semester goes on because even though it is technically elementary-level math, the purpose of the class is to teach you how to teach math. On Wednesdays, I have a class called Introduction to The Education Major. I’ve only been to that class a few times since it is only once a week, but I can’t wait to get further into it and get an idea of what the next four years will be like for my major. On Friday, I have a class for my LLC that has to do with volunteering. LLC stands for Living Learning Communities. This means that you live in the same building and have similar interests to you. Several people live in my building who also take this class. This class is also once a week, so I still don’t know what exactly to expect from the class. What I do know is that I will have to have an important service project for the end of the semester.

So far, I have been enjoying my classes and the friendships that I have made this semester. I hope that I can continue to keep up with the friends that I have already made and I hope to continue to make even more friends. As for my classes, I feel a little overwhelmed when it comes to keeping track of what assignments are due, but my goal for the end of the semester is to have a good system down for managing my time and my studying habits to get a good GPA.

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.

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.