Back From Thanksgiving

So we had our first day of classes since returning from Thanksgiving break. Now it is time to refocus on school and crack down for finals. Finals are in two weeks, so school is still a bit stressful. But the good news is... my roommates and I won a gingerbread house making contest a few weeks ago! It was a lot of fun building our own house while eating all the candy. But I can't wait for winter break to start so this semester is over and I can begin my new set of classes in January. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

-Natalie

The Freshman Nerves

On move-in day, I was very surprised to see how small my suite room was, but the move-in crew was very accommodating and once I finally organized everything, I quickly adjusted and it started feeling like home. My suitemates and other freshman in my hall made me feel very welcome and made the goodbye to my grandma and mom so much easier.
Before I came to college, I was also very worried about gaining the "freshman 15" (which I refuse to do), but there is a gym open to all students free of charge and the food in the dining halls has been rated number one in the SUNY system for the past five years. the food staff is very friendly and the popular dining hall, Harrison features many healthy foods.
In addition, before I started my classes I was a little nervous because my course load included Human Evolution, Intro to Philosophy, Movement and Self Awareness (I didn't realize this was a dance class until the first day of classes!), Protest and Public Opinion, Fundamentals of Media and Academic Planning Seminar. In my Human Evolution class, there is a woman who is deaf and Brockport is very accommodating for people with any kind of learning disability. Most of my classes are general education classes, but I am getting a taste of journalism through my Fundamentals of Media and Protest and Public Opinion classes. In addition, the Academic Planning Seminar is very important for freshmen because it's a class that gets students acclimated to the college. The class has students in it with similar majors to mine and if I ever need help with any of my journalism classes, I have a whole class of students to get help from. Also, my advisor of the class is the chair of the communications department, which is good if I ever need help with anything journalism related and I will eventually turn to her for recommendations when I am job hunting or applying for a scholarship.
There are many opportunities to get involved with activities on campus. Although I didn't know it before I came here, Brockport is known, especially by the students and professors, for advertising campus activities all over campus including on sidewalks (with chalk, of course). As I walk out of my residence hall, I look down to see a plethora of different groups promoting meetings to join clubs, advertising sororities and fraternities or selling tickets for the upcoming concert.
The local movie theater hosts midnight movies (that Brockport students get into for $1!) and Zonies, a restaurant on Main Street has the best (and most fattening!) calzones. Although I don't participate in any of the Division 3 sports teams, club sports or intramural sports, they are fun to watch (and Brockport students get in free).
Although the Brockport Web site is very easy to navigate, you can't tell by looking at a website where the best place for you to attend college would be. I believe its crucial to attend an open house to experience the campus. During my college search, I knew I wanted to wake up every morning and walk to my classes on a beautiful, welcoming campus (and I do!). Take a campus visit, try the food, introduce yourself to as many people as you can, check out the dorms and clean out your mom's wallet at the college book store. Try not to get too overwhelmed with the college search - you WILL find the perfect college for you!

Introduction

Hey! I'm Hailey and I'm from Painted Post, New York, a small town about two hours south of Brockport. I live with my grandparents, my 16-year-old sister Whitney and my 3-year-old brother Ryland. I spend my free time hanging out with friends, scrapbooking, reading and writing.

During my four years at Corning-Painted Post West High School, I was on the newspaper and yearbook staff; played the clarinet, trombone, mellophone and french horn in marching band, concert band and pep band; and actively participated in Class Council, Student Council, lacrosse and softball. I also had an internship with my hometown's local newspaper, The Leader which finalized my decision to become a journalist.

Honestly, I became interested in Brockport accidently. I attended a campus visit at Brockport as a last resort and fell absolutely in love with the school while I was here. My tour guide, Brynn, really showed me what campus life and academics was like, but I was still unsure about coming here because it wasn't my first choice college.

It's been less than a month since I've been here and I have adjusted very well; I really love Brockport and wouldn't have chosen any other college. I live in a suite in Benedict Hall and I love my roommates and other students in the hall; everyone is a big family and I'm right at home. There are so many activities to pursue on campus as well. I already have a work study job in a computer lab which I really enjoy and I just started writing for The Stylus, the student-run newspaper that recently received the fifth place "Best of Show" award at the Associated College Press National College Newspaper Midwinter Convention. In addition to Brockport's beautiful campus, I decided to attend college at Brockport because of their excellent academic reputation. I can understand and learn from all of my professors and they are very willing to teach students the best way they learn. Also, the class size of all of my classes is 40 students or less, so I'm not just another number in the classroom.

I am very excited about getting involved in more activities and making the most of my experience at Brockport and hope you enjoy reading about my first year!

November! Already??

So, now it's a little over halfway through the semester. I'm still in shock it's November. Seriously, wasn't yesterday September? Now it's practically Thanksgiving break! Right now things are still going really well. I survived my first college mid-terms! Not as scary as I thought they would be. Tennis is over for now, which is a nice little break. For right now I'm just trying to focus on my school work... finals are getting close! :/ One thing I have to say is that I really loved my first college halloween. The campus has a lot of great activities going on throughout the whole Halloween weekend. People here really got into the holiday. I was really impressed with a lot of the costumes! One of my favorite costumes that night was definetley Sarah Palin and John McCain. So good job to Rebekah Fuller and Garret W. Roe. Well I should go study now, I love Oceanography exams! Haha... until next time.

-Carolyn

Moving In!!

Moving into my college dorm room was my most anticipated event all summer. It was often very scary to think about, considering it involves temporarily moving away from my family and all my friends from home. It’s the first time I would be living on my own in a totally new place. I knew I would have to take on many new responsibilities, like waking up for class on time, washing my own laundry, and learning how to balance my life between school, gymnastics, and social events. Leaving my friends who I have grew up with and shared so many memories with was not something I wanted to do. However I knew there was no way around it, it was time to move on. It was time to make new friends and start a new chapter in my life. Although moving away from a very familiar and comfortable place was fearsome, at the same time it was exciting to think about all the new opportunities that would open up to me. It is a time for me to grow up and be independent form my parents and find out who I am as an individual. After a fun and relaxing summer, August 27th finally came and it was time for me to pack my bags and go.

Being in the Honors Program, I was given the opportunity to move in a day before everyone else. This was very helpful because it wasn’t as crowded when my other suite-mates moved in! The move-in helpers provided by the college were very helpful, I was able to bring all my bags right up to the door and I was given a cart to lug all my belongings from the car to my dorm. After four days of moving me in and setting up my room, a bit longer than most students, my parents finally took off. I was very satisfied with how my room turned out. The dorms are a nice size and I'm able to fit all my possessions in here comfortably. I am an organized person, so the way my dorm room turned out was very important to me. Living in the suites, I have three other suite-mates in which we share a bathroom and a common room where we have our fridges, microwave, and television.

So far living in the dorms have been a blast! First off I have wonderful suite-mates so we have a lot of fun together, but we have also met a lot of cool people on our floor and in the dorms. We all hang out a lot; we play games, watch movies, and cook in the kitchen together. There are also many events that go on in the dorms. So far there have been volleyball tournaments and hall parties that consist of ice cream and pizza! Despite all the fun I have, my suite-mates and I are also very studious and spend a lot of our time in our dorm studying and getting work done. Although we have to lock our door to get peace and quiet, it is not necessary to go to the library to study, I often do homework right in my room.

Overall, after all the stress of moving in and living on my own, I am very content with how everything turned out. My RA (Resident Assistant) is very friendly and helpful in making sure everything runs smoothly in our hall, I am not too overwhelmed with schoolwork, my gymnastics team is a lot of fun, and I love hanging out with my suite-mates!

-Natalie

New Beginning

Hello, my name is Natalie Fiorilli, and I am a freshman here at The College at Brockport. My hometown is Solon, Ohio, there I live with my two parents, my two sisters, Emily and Katie, and my brother Timothy. My sister Emily is currently enrolled as a junior at the University of Illinois in Chicago, my brother attends The Ohio State University, and my younger sister just started her first year of high school. The first time for everything is filled with a mix of emotions, people are often scared to break out of their comfort zone, but at the same time excited to start a new chapter in their life. My younger sister and I are currently starting this “new chapter”.

I first found out about Brockport when I was recruited for the gymnastics team. Not many people from my hometown have heard about The College at Brockport, considering the percentage of “out of staters” is pretty low, that isn’t unreasonable. Although I have only been here for a few weeks, I am really glad I was introduced to Brockport, it has so much to offer!

I am majoring in Biology, and hope to be a pharmacist someday. With school starting up, and practices for gymnastics beginning, my everyday schedule is pretty busy. However, I would love to share with you my experience here at The College at Brockport. I am really excited for my first year here and hope you enjoy reading about my freshman year! : )

-Natalie