September 6th (Aug 27- September 6)
Coming here to the University of New England, to college I had no idea what to expect. I mean sure you have the typical American view of college, the parties and drinking, loads of schoolwork, and the lifelong friendships you get told you would make by every single adult or guardian figure in your life. I can solidly say after about a week here these expectations and values that we hold to college may be a bit far-fetched or just not quite comprehensible yet. As I’m sitting here reflecting on my first week of college I can say it’s been an adjustment, I don’t think I have got it fully through my brain that I will be living here for the next four years of my life, it feels as if we are here at summer camp and I will be going home in a week or two…which is not necessarily true. There are people and relationships I miss back at home, the typical answer of my mother and father as well as my sister, my friend group with whom I spent the entirety of the summer, or my boyfriend who is 14 hours away in Indiana. Crazy to think how I made most of the relationships I had just mentioned in the span of my senior year, well the first three years of high school were hell, it’s sad to leave behind the friendships I had just made. I can say that is an expectation I had going into college, a sense of loss and emptiness. Not fully belonging in a friend group quite yet and getting by with companionships you’ve made through roommates or classes, not having that comfort or connection to fully be yourself yet. Seeing how you need to fit in and how the people around you react to certain relationships or situations, kind of feels a bit like high school. In classes, so far I can say I like my classes, the workload has not been too much yet, and the professors are nice; some are all over the place in their methods of teaching, but still nice. I think this has been my favorite assignment so far, it’s kinda broad statement seeing we have only been here a week but taking the time to reflect and review my emotions and week is honestly a breath of fresh air, I feel like I have been stuck in my dorm room most of the time, feeling uncomfortable to venture out, and when I do I have a longing to be back in my bed facetime people from back home or watching a show that brings me comfort. Don’t get me wrong tho, though I have ventured out a few times, and dragged myself into situations to be social, my father would be proud of this, the common room for starters in Avila is entertaining, always something happening down there and I have made some connections and friends. Or hanging out with Will who lives on the third floor, and whoever he’s been hanging around has been fun. The same goes for my roommates, feeding off of their relationships to maintain social sanity in myself. Anyways, fun times I can say, I can’t wait to see how next week goes.
Week Two Reflection (September 7th )
Looking back on my second week up here, I feel a bit more settled in, but I still, have a sense of loneliness on campus. As for the class, I am trying to work on my bad habits of procrastination…if I am being honest I am writing this late so I do need to work a bit harder on these habits. I have gone to the dining hall not that much, but the food is ok, I spent way more money on the pub and its curly fries, and their white tea with lavender, they are both so amazing and I highly recommend them. This weekend I got to hang out with a few more people, I hung out with Maia and her roommate Natalie, as well as my roommates and some of the people who hang out in the Avila lounge. I also can say I took some time for myself, I read a book and took a walk on the beach as well as took a few naps, which is pretty rare for me. Overall I can say I feel a bit more settled, I am sure it will take time to find my way and push myself in my work and studies but I will get there.
Week Three
This week I feel more settled on campus, I have found it easier in classes and got a better insight into the workload each class brings. I have found it easier to set time aside for work and work in the library with less distraction, and not in my dorm where I find it harder to focus on my work and become easily distracted. As for outside of the classroom, I spend most of my time with my friends Maia and Tori as well as her roommate Natalie. We usually go between dorms for fun, we have been to Freddie, Socko, Assisi, Avila, Featherman, and Siena this week which has been pretty eventful because in order to get in you get to meet a lot of new people. We also made a detour to dairy queen this week which ended up being pretty fun, other than that not much has happened this week, but overall I do feel more settled on campus.
Week Four: This week I went to windward a lot to study and get work done, a couple of my friends got together to form a small group to study with and help each other. This really helped me settle in and feel better about work and the friends I had made. Academic wise the teachers are starting to get more serious about work, but a place to study makes me feel better about it. This weekend I spent time with my friends Maia and Torrie, and we met a new friend Kai who showed us a really cool spot to go star gazing, it truly is very beautiful and peaceful, and it was also a nice trip off campus, and a distraction from any stress I had been feeling about college
Week Five: This weekend my parents came up for parents/ homecoming weekend. They rented an air Bnb right by the school so I could stay with them for the weekend. We ended up going to the football game and were able to tailgate, I also gave them a tour of the school as a few of the people who came up have never got to see the full campus, fun fact if you clap in the middle of the compas by Decary hall it squeaks. Academically speaking I need to catch up on a bit of work for some of my classes, and I took my first exam for one of my classes this week, which I did ok on seeing math as one of my least favorite subjects.
