ROUGH DRAFT 1

Dear Grammy,

Despite the fact that you’ve taken several trips up to Maine from Lowell since I moved into college, I thought it’d be nice to write to you about my experiences here at UNE. You’ve always been so deeply involved in my education path throughout my life– which is understandable since you were a second grade teacher for fifty years. You’ve always been so committed to making sure I feel comfortable and safe wherever I find myself– and choosing the right college for me was absolutely no exception. We were both so impressed with the initial campus tour. Everything was gorgeous, even in the dead of winter,  and the buildings were so close to the ocean! I remember how you kept teasing me by calling our tour guide attractive whenever he was out of ear-shot. I hate to break it to you Grammy, but he’s a little young for you. Nonetheless, he was very informative! I personally liked the idea of smaller class sizes and the variety of majors that were available to students. Making the final decision to attend UNE was a hard one, but ultimately, I’m glad I did. The weeks building up to move-in day flew by, and before I knew it, my entire life was packed up into the back of mom’s minivan and we were on our way. Two and a half hours seems like a lengthy ride, but I was so nervous to get onto campus that it definitely didn’t feel long enough. Chris, (my step-dad), was making jokes the whole time about renting out my bedroom to strangers for extra cash or turning it into a ‘man-cave’ for he and my brothers, but I know he was the one who was the most torn-up about me moving out. When we arrived on campus, we were met quite literally with open arms. The football team raced over to our car, threw all my stuff into a bright orange bin and carried it up to Avila 3rd before I could even process what was going on. Before I knew it, I was standing in the hallway giving everyone the biggest, longest hugs I could muster. It all happened so quickly– the hardest part of that entire day was watching my mom’s eyes tear up as she wished me luck. You would’ve thought we’d never see eachother again, and as everyone drove off, it sure felt that way. Suddenly, I was abandoned in an entirely different state, rooming with two random weirdos– one of which I shared a name with. Funnily enough, that was one of our first talking points. Olivia and I both agreed that UNE had to be playing some sick joke on us. 

Needless to say, I hit it off with both my roommates almost instantly. Orientation week was long and seemed to drag on, but I found that I was making friends left and right. Eliza had moved in a week prior to Olivia and I because she’s on the rugby team, so I got to meet some of her teammates. Olivia is from Kittery, so she already knew some people at UNE– it was almost like we already had a little friend group forming. Looking back, a lot of the people I was hanging out with during the first week of college aren’t the same people I’m hanging out with now. I made a lot of friendships that stuck within that first week, but the majority of the friends I have now are people I met weeks, or even months later. I remember attending the Club Fair with Eliza– I signed up for so many different clubs, but as the semester progressed, I found that I only had time for a few of them. The class that I was the most nervous about was Chemistry.

ROUGH DRAFT 2

Dear Grammy,

Despite the fact that you’ve taken several trips up to Maine from Lowell since I moved into college, I thought it’d be nice to write to you about my experiences here at UNE. You’ve always been so deeply involved in my education path throughout my life– which is understandable since you were a second grade teacher for fifty years. You’ve always been so committed to making sure I feel comfortable and safe wherever I find myself– and choosing the right college for me was absolutely no exception. We were both so impressed with the initial campus tour. Everything was gorgeous, even in the dead of winter,  and the buildings were so close to the ocean! I remember how you kept teasing me by calling our tour guide attractive whenever he was out of ear-shot. I hate to break it to you Grammy, but he’s a little young for you. Nonetheless, he was very informative! I personally liked the idea of smaller class sizes and the variety of majors that were available to students. Making the final decision to attend UNE was a hard one, but ultimately, I’m glad I did. The weeks building up to move-in day flew by, and before I knew it, my entire life was packed up into the back of mom’s minivan and we were on our way. Two and a half hours seems like a lengthy ride, but I was so nervous to get onto campus that it definitely didn’t feel long enough. Chris, (my step-dad), was making jokes the whole time about renting out my bedroom to strangers for extra cash or turning it into a ‘man-cave’ for he and my brothers, but I know he was the one who was the most torn-up about me moving out. When we arrived on campus, we were met quite literally with open arms. The football team raced over to our car, threw all my stuff into a bright orange bin and carried it up to Avila 3rd before I could even process what was going on. Before I knew it, I was standing in the hallway giving everyone the biggest, longest hugs I could muster. It all happened so quickly– the hardest part of that entire day was watching my mom’s eyes tear up as she wished me luck. You would’ve thought we’d never see eachother again, and as everyone drove off, it sure felt that way. Suddenly, I was abandoned in an entirely different state, rooming with two random weirdos– one of which I shared a name with. Funnily enough, that was one of our first talking points. Olivia and I both agreed that UNE had to be playing some sick joke on us. 

Needless to say, I hit it off with both my roommates almost instantly. Orientation week was long and seemed to drag on, but I found that I was making friends left and right. Eliza had moved in a week prior to Olivia and I because she’s on the rugby team, so I got to meet some of her teammates. Olivia is from Kittery, so she already knew some people at UNE– it was almost like we already had a little friend group forming. Looking back, a lot of the people I was hanging out with during the first week of college aren’t the same people I’m hanging out with now. I made a lot of friendships that stuck within that first week, but the majority of the friends I have now are people I met weeks, or even months later. I remember attending the Club Fair with Eliza– It was a great way of seeing what the school had to offer outside of classes, I was so excited to start getting involved in everything I possibly could. I signed up for so many different clubs, but as the semester progressed, I found that I only had time for a few of them.The class that I was the most nervous about was Chemistry. Despite my biological dad being a chemist and having taken honors chemistry in High School, this course was quite intimidating at first. I learned that I am a good note-taker, though I often forget to refer to them when I get confused. I found that I actually enjoy that course quite a bit– my lab partner and I are the perfect duo. She’s good at crunching numbers and checking equations, and I’m good at taking samples and being precise during the actual lab part. 

I was a little surprised when I learned how big bingo was here at UNE– I always thought of it as an old person game, but a lot of the students take it VERY seriously. I had the pleasure of being able to attend a couple games during this semester. I remember the very first night we all moved in, I met up with the small group of friends I had eaten lunch with earlier that day. We were exhausted from all the first night ceremony activities, but we wanted to end the night by going to Kinda-Big Bingo. My roommates decided to join us, and I’m so glad they did, because they introduced me to one of my closest friends now, Alexis. Although we didn’t win anything, it gave me a good sense of what the community was like at UNE and it opened up some unexpected doors.

One of my favorite on-campus activities that I’ve gone to was Glow-Night. Although the decision to attend was last minute–like bingo– I’m so glad I went. I met up with a new friend, Rosie, and we got to see all the little games and activities that were set up. She did end up accidentally hitting me with a golf club, but all in all, it was a blast. This was the first night that I acknowledged how homesick I felt. As the event was coming to a close, there was a live band playing. Rosie and I sat down with the sandwiches we had ordered from a food-truck and listened for a while. It reminded me a lot of the band my friends and I were in in my hometown. Music, as you know, is a big part of who I am, and I didn’t realize how much I missed not only my instruments, but the connections I’ve made through them until just then. I’d really like to see more music-related programs here at UNE.

FINAL DRAFT

Dear Grammy,

Despite the fact that you’ve taken several trips up to Maine from Lowell since I moved into college, I thought it’d be nice to write to you about my experiences here at UNE. You’ve always been so deeply involved in my education path throughout my life– which is understandable since you were a second grade teacher for fifty years. You’ve always been so committed to making sure I feel comfortable and safe wherever I find myself– and choosing the right college was absolutely no exception. We were both so impressed with the initial campus tour. Even in the dead of winter with mountains of snow on the ground, everything was so gorgeous. We were stunned by how close campus was to the ocean! I remember how you kept teasing me by calling our tour guide attractive whenever he was out of ear-shot. I hate to break it to you Grammy, but he’s a little young for you. Nonetheless, he was very informative! I personally liked the idea of smaller class sizes and the variety of majors that were available to students. Making the final decision to attend UNE was a hard one, but ultimately, I’m glad I did. 

The weeks building up to move-in day flew by, and before I knew it, my entire life was packed up into the back of mom’s minivan and we were on our way. Two and a half hours seems like a lengthy ride, but I was so nervous to get onto campus that it definitely didn’t feel long enough. Chris, (my step-dad), was making jokes the whole time about renting out my bedroom to strangers for extra cash or turning it into a ‘man-cave’ for he and my brothers, but I know he was the one who was the most torn-up about me moving out. When we arrived on campus, we were met quite literally with open arms. The football team raced over to our car, threw all my stuff into a bright orange bin and carried it up to Avila 3rd before I could even process what was going on. Before I knew it, I was standing outside my dorm room giving everyone the biggest, longest hugs I could muster. It all happened so quickly– the hardest part of that entire day was watching my mom’s eyes tear up as she wished me luck. You would’ve thought we’d never see eachother again, and as everyone drove off, it sure felt that way. Suddenly, I was abandoned in an entirely different state, rooming with two random weirdos– one of which I shared a name with. Funnily enough, that was one of our first talking points. Olivia and I both agreed that UNE had to be playing some sick joke on us. 

Needless to say, I hit it off with both my roommates almost instantly. Orientation week was long and seemed to drag on, but I found that I was making friends left and right. Eliza had moved in a week prior to Olivia and I because she’s on the rugby team, so I got to meet some of her teammates. Olivia is from Kittery, so she already knew some people at UNE– it was almost like we had an instant little friend group forming. Looking back, a lot of the people I was hanging out with during the first week of college aren’t the same people I’m hanging out with now. I made a lot of friendships that stuck within that first week, but the majority of the friends I have now are people I met weeks, or even months later. I remember attending the Club Fair with Eliza– It was a great way of seeing what the school had to offer outside of classes, I was so excited to start getting involved in everything I possibly could. I signed up for so many different clubs, but as the semester progressed, I found that I only had time for a few of them. My courses took up a LOT of my time. The class that I was the most nervous about was Chemistry. Despite my biological dad being a chemist and the fact that I took honors chemistry in High School, this course was quite intimidating at first. I learned that I am a good note-taker, though I often forget to refer to them when I get confused. I found that I actually enjoy that course quite a bit– my lab partner and I are the perfect duo. She’s good at crunching numbers and checking equations, and I’m good at taking samples and being precise during the actual lab part. 

I was a little surprised when I learned how big bingo was here at UNE– I always thought of it as an old person game, but a lot of the students take it VERY seriously. I had the pleasure of being able to attend a couple games during this semester. I remember move-in night vividly– after setting up my dorm and hopping from activity to activity, I met up with the small group of friends I had eaten lunch with earlier that day. We were exhausted, but we wanted to end the night by going to “Kinda-Big Bingo”. My roommates decided to join us, and I’m so glad they did, because they ended up introducing me to one of my closest friends now, Alexis. Although we didn’t win anything, it gave me a good sense of what the community was like at UNE and it opened up some unexpected doors. I feel like this event helped me feel more comfortable with stepping outside of my comfort zone.

One of my favorite on-campus activities was Glow-Night. Similarly to Bingo, the decision to attend was last minute, but I’m so glad I went. I met up with a new friend, Rosie, and we got to see all the little games and activities that were set up. She did end up accidentally hitting me with a golf club, but all in all, it was a blast. This was the first night that I acknowledged how homesick I felt. As the event was coming to a close, there was a live band performing. Rosie and I sat down with the sandwiches we had ordered from a food-truck and listened for a while. I forget the name of the band, but the genre of music they played reminded me a lot of the band my friends and I were in back at home. Music, as you know, is a big part of who I am, and I didn’t realize how much I missed not only my instruments, but the connections I’ve made through them until just then. I’d really like to see more music-related programs at UNE. Who knows, maybe I’ll start my own club at some point.

I feel as though my experience with my roommates was quite unique– since Eliza is on the women’s Rugby team, I was pumped to go to her games and cheer her on. I’m not a super huge sports fan, but this semester, I discovered that I LOVE rugby. Despite the fact that I knew very little about the sport, it was so cool to learn how it worked through observing everything from the crowd. By the end of the season, I was able to somewhat explain the rules of Rugby to some of my friends at the games. Initially, I was shocked by the crowd turnout, and how passionate people were about the sport. Back in High School, people didn’t show a lot of love for our women’s sports teams– It was a really nice change to see people supporting the UNE’s Rugby team. 

I’ve learned so much about myself throughout this first semester. Becoming more independent was a huge step for me. I feel like I had the ability to step back and reflect on how I functioned back at home versus how I’m functioning at UNE. I definitely needed to step up my study habits and work ethic– Making use of SASC when I needed it, and making sure I found the balance between work and play. Even though some of the courses I’m taking now don’t have much to do with the major I want to go into, I found that they were far more engaging than a lot of my High School classes. Now that the end of the semester is nearing and finals week is right around the corner, I’m trying to find different ways to manage my stress. Overall, I feel pretty burnt out, and I’m sure a lot of my peers feel the same way– but oddly enough, I have mixed feelings about Christmas break. I’m excited to go home and spend time with my family and friends, but I feel like I’m going to miss the friends I’ve made here– It took so long to finally get into a steady routine, I wonder if it’ll be difficult to readjust once the spring semester starts. Either way, I know I’ll have plenty of people to support me through it all. Thank you for being there during all the ups and downs these past couple months have brought me. You’ve been a huge motivator for me during this journey, knowing exactly what to say to help me move forward. I wouldn’t be where I am now without you. I hope you will continue to live vicariously through me as I experience college, I will keep you updated with what’s to come. 

Love,

Olivia.