Things I have learned as a Geneseo freshman
When you think of college, one may envision hanging out with some of the best friends you will ever meet, intricate and difficult studies, and having ample free time. From what I can say from my time so far, most of that holds true at SUNY Geneseo.
Before getting into the meat and potatoes of this article, I should introduce myself. My name is Gavin Ackerman, I am from Long Island, and I have been a freshman at Geneseo for around three weeks. And, oh boy, it has already been an adventure.
The first thing I learned from my freshman experience regards classes. Classes are weird: They seem very hard and intricate—and this is true—but the experiences I have had in my classes seem so far-fetched from my initial thoughts. I am enrolled in an INTD 105 class, and it focuses on J.R.R Tolkien’s universe. Initially I was terrified of this class, as everyone knows Tolkien’s texts are long and often difficult to understand. What I did not expect was to be writing a paper comparing the hierarchy of Tolkien’s villains to Despicable Me’s Bank of Evil. So yes, the work is hard, but extremely entertaining.
The next thing I learned was probably how easy it can be to meet people; I sat down in MJ for breakfast on my third day here and met half my friend group. I also made tons of friends simply because we bonded over preferring Chipotle spoons after class. Also, joining the team behind the paper was a good idea—I find myself meeting new friends during every meeting!
Another thing I picked up quickly was the quality of Geneseo’s residential staff; my floor staff, for example, contains some amazing people. I found myself having a whole conversation with my Resident Assistant simply because I made ramen in the kitchen. Second, I feel that my hall is a community within a community. A portion of my friends live on my floor, so that is a cool bonus. Where it really shined however, was this past Monday. I came back from an SI session in Newton Hall, and surprise! Everyone in my Residence Hall was watching the Bills Game in the Media Room. That was one of the best nights I have had here.
I also want to give major props to the academic resources provided to me here – specifically regarding our physics department. I find my afternoons spent either at Dr. Iyer’s or Dr. Marcus’ office hours asking about the homework, or simply talking to them! I find my evenings spent in the Physics Learning Center studying with students from every corner of our physics programs, or attending SI sessions for my Analytical Physics class.
Overall, committing and now attending SUNY Geneseo was a great decision. My experiences here have been exhilarating and amazing. The lessons I have picked up have been extremely useful. What I find amazing about all this is it is only my third week; and I am sure I will have more adventures (or misadventures) here at SUNY Geneseo.