Week 2 Reflection
My second week living on campus was much easier than my first. I have somewhat started to form my own routine, getting into the habit of taking care of myself alongside keeping my space organized. My roommates and I decided that Wednesday will be our official “cleaning day” since none of us have classes. Last week we did our laundry, washed our dishes, etc and we plan to do so again this week. I’ve also been attempting to train myself to go to the commons to work on my assignments instead of doing them in my dorm. I feel that having this separation of work and relaxation will be beneficial to me, seeing as though my experience with doing my schoolwork in bed (quarantine) was difficult, and not only affected my academic success, but my sleep schedule and overall mental health as well. I really enjoy most of my classes so far. I find that Environmental Issues is very engaging to me– the conversations we have in class and the material we work on seems incredibly relevant. My professor (Carol Leblanc) is interesting, and I enjoy her teaching style. So far, my least favorite class is Pre-Calc. My professor has openly admitted that this is his first time teaching this specific course. Although I learned most of the material in High School, his teaching style is not the way I learn. I am willing to keep my mind open, hopefully it will get a little easier as we move forward.

WEEK No. 3

My third week on campus was similar to my second week. I spent a lot of time with my roommates, and even more time working on assignments for my classes. I had my first quiz in Issues in Environmental Science, which I didn’t do as well on as I’d hoped, even though I felt beyond prepared. The quiz asked me questions that I wasn’t expecting– like quotes and specific environmental views to actual people. At least I have a better understanding of what to expect on my next quiz, but I was a bit confused as to why the quiz wouldn’t let us know which questions I got wrong. How am I supposed to improve if I don’t know what I need to work on? I plan on trying to work it out with my professor. All my other classes are going well, although the work load tends to pile up quickly so I’m struggling a bit with managing my time efficiently. At this point I’ve figured out who I study well with and who I get distracted by easily along with the places I tend to get the most work done. It’s just a matter of discipline and motivation, both of which are not always consistent. The weekends seem to fly by, but I’m excited for this upcoming weekend, since I’ll be visiting home!

Weekly Reflection No. 4
As we creep further into the school year, I can’t help but feel like these weeks are becoming more and more similar. Other than preparing for upcoming exams, a lot of the work I have received from my classes is becoming predictable and easier to manage. I feel a lot more secure knowing I have a solidified schedule and I don’t have to refer to my agenda for the time and location of every single class. There are obviously pros and cons to falling into this type of ‘day-to-day’ routine– some of the cons being that I feel less present and everything is less shiny and new now that I’ve been living here for about a month. However, I have been finding ways to give back to myself and to show appreciation for the things I have accomplished– and hey, I feel like making it through 4 solid weeks of college is definitely an accomplishment. I visited my parents this weekend, I was (briefly) able to see my cats and dog before I was swept away to Queens, New York for my cousin’s sweet 16. I had a ton of fun, but I missed my friends and roommates here at UNE! Weird, right? I am currently in a turf-war with my mom over my cat Pepper, who I plan to pack up and take with me to college next year. She has 3 cats, she can spare one.

Weekly Reflection No. 5

This week (Thursday in particular) was absolutely loaded with exams– some of which I felt far less than prepared for. I experienced for the first time what true academic anxiety felt like. In reality, I was overcomplicating things in my head. However, this upcoming Tuesday will be the date of my first Chem exam. Chemistry was the class I know I was the most nervous about. I took honors Chem in High School, right before covid hit, and I’m noticing that a lot of the things we discuss in class are review from the course I took sophomore year. It’s not necessarily easy, but my Dad is a chemist so Chemistry is technically in my blood. (This is what I’ve been telling myself for the past week). I have been working on not assigning grades to my actual worth as a human. They are important, don’t get me wrong, but a less desirable grade is not a reflection of my intelligence. I have been trying to embody more of a ‘growth mindset’, taking difficulties as they come head-on, and being ready to learn from my mistakes. Instead of being daunted by Chemistry, I am excited by the challenge. I am getting more comfortable in my dorm– I was having issues with falling asleep at a reasonable time. Melatonin Gummies are godsend, especially if you’re a light sleeper. It’s easier for me to get up in the mornings and be productive when I get more than 4-5 hours of sleep.

Weekly Reflection No. 6

This week felt particularly chaotic. I crammed for my Chem exam almost all day on Monday. I was up super late taking practice tests and making flashcards. I am a little embarrassed to admit that the majority of the material I was studying wasn’t even on the exam. It was much easier than I thought it was going to be. Now that it’s over, I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am not entirely sure what to expect as we move forward in that class, but I recognize some of the topics from my honors chemistry class back in Highschool. I’ve been trying to take care of my mental health as well as my physical health. One of my roommates is a huge gym rat (I say this with all the love in my heart), so occasionally I’ve been accompanying her when she goes to work out. I used to be on the cross country and track teams in High School. Most people despise running but I love it! I’m not used to working out in such a public setting– I have a treadmill and workout equipment in my own home– but I feel like the extra eyes on me gives me more motivation to push myself. I had my first counseling session which was nice. I was nervous to go to the counseling center and meet who’d I’d be talking to, but the woman I met with was incredibly nice. I was able to set up another appointment in the near future, so I plan on returning soon. 

Week No. 7

I feel like everything went somewhat back to normal now that the ‘exam week’ is over. My work load felt about the same, and I didn’t have to stay up for hours on end cramming for tests like I did last week. I hung out with my roommates and some friends on Tuesday night going into Wednesday. I felt like I was able to resurface a little in terms of getting caught up in some of my classes. I visited the Health Center for the first time– or technically second time since it’s connected to the counseling center. I wasn’t feeling particularly well, and I didn’t have my parents there to look after me (or tell me I was fine and to suck it up and go to my classes). I was fine, I typically get sick when the seasons start to transition. On friday, I left with my roommate to go visit her hometown, about 45 minutes away in Kittery. We had a blast– she took me to some of her favorite shops and places and I got to meet some of her friends. She has the cutest dogs, one of them is a black lab named Maybe and the other is an Alaskan Malamute and Bernese Mountain Dog mix named Henry. Her parents were very welcoming– it made me miss my own home a little. My other roommate ended up joining us a day later and we all came back on Sunday. It was nice to get off campus for a while.

WEEK No. 8
There wasn’t much super eventful to report this week– other than the fact that the semester is about halfway through. I scheduled an appointment with my academic advisor to pick out my courses for next semester. I’m excited to see what options are open to me since I haven’t yet picked a major. I heard that some people were able to take music and art classes as their exploratories, I think I might want to do something like that. I was in my school’s Marching and Jazz band in Highschool, I played bass guitar. It was a lot of fun, and I found that I genuinely miss it a lot. I wish UNE had a music program of some sort. I’ve been snooping around for a potential club or a band I could join or even just sit in on. I was part of a band with some friends called After Hours– it was an incredible experience and it opened up so many opportunities to me. I am going to keep an eye open for something similar around campus, if I have the time to participate. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the library. I figured out the lower level near the windows is where I work best. One thing I love about campus are the views you can get from some of the buildings. They make for a very aesthetically pleasing work environment. It’s a nice change from working at home due to covid.

Week 9 Reflection

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Week 10 Reflection

This week consisted of a lot of communication with professors. Due to my absences last week, I had a lot of catching up to do. I’ve been struggling with balancing my work and keeping my mental state healthy. Ever since I initially moved into college, I’ve been forced to take care of myself much more so than I did when I was living at home. I don’t have my mom right there to check in with me every day and make sure I’m making good decisions. I feel like this independence is a hard but necessary step I need to take in order to be a successful adult. Although, when hard times arise, I find myself wanting nothing more than to go home and cuddle up in my mom’s bed with my cats and rant to her about everything that’s wrong in my life. (I tend to be dramatic with her). I have to force myself to take a deep breath, and not to fall into self-destructive habits. I’ve worked way too hard to get here, and after all, my parents are only a phone call away. I am a very family-oriented person–  I was looking forward to this Sunday. Both of my roommates went home for the weekend, so I was left alone in the dorm, but I made plans with my mom, aunt, and grandma for a girls’ day. I had time to clean and work on my assignments in peace on Saturday, but unfortunately, I received a call from my mom that everyone caught a bad strand of covid and our girls’ day was postponed. I felt rather upset– in the moment, it seemed as though everyone around me was getting sick, and I was isolated and alone. I took a deep breath, called my aunt and grandma to send them healing words, and moved forward. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving break when hopefully, everyone will be healthy and well and we can spend some much needed family time together. 

Week 11 Reflection

On Monday, I was super excited to see Eliza when she returned from her trip home. We spent some time together– Olivia (my other roommate) ended up getting back Tuesday afternoon. She stayed home an extra day because she had caught a bad cold the previous week and didn’t want to give it to us. I liked the privacy I had when I was alone in the dorm, but I’ve come to realize it’s much better when my roommates are there with me. We spend a lot of our free time around each other, whether we go out to sports games, hang out with mutual friends, or eat together– It’s like they’re always there, or if not, pretty close by. I wonder how Christmas break will be, as the weekend I spent alone made me realize how attached I’ve grown to them. I finished up a lot of assignments that were sort of lingering on my to-do list. I’m super relieved to be done with the exploration for Project 1. As my presentation date crept closer, I was feeling a lot of anxiety, but it went better than how I thought it’d go. All in all, it was a meaningful exploration and will be useful in terms of declaring my major when the time comes. I had an exam in International Relations, and noticed a HUGE improvement in my capabilities to answer questions and prompts. I’m still a little anxious about receiving my grade, but I’m hoping my grade will reflect the same improvement that I felt while taking it. When this weekend arrived, I knew I couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving to see my family. I called my mom at 11:30 at night on Friday, and she traveled up to campus to do some shopping and have dinner with me on Saturday. It was a relaxing week in comparison to some of my previous weeks, and I’m setting myself up to succeed moving forward.