Still Fierce

As the first week back at school came to an end, many students across the UAlbany campus were finally settling back into their familiar routines. Unfortunately,  I was not not one of those students. Last semester I spent a majority of my blogs giving advice and sharing stories of my experiences at college, but I want to go in a little bit of a different direction this semester. I am not exactly sure what direction to go in yet but what I am hoping for is to make this blog as personal as possible. A front row view of the inner mind of a stressed out, overworked, college student.
I recently went through one of the hardest, most tragic, and most heartbreaking period of time in my life so far, and it has changed my outlook on so many aspects of life. Losing one of my best friends suddenly over winter break and the realization that nothing in life is certain, has finally shattered any of the remaining innocence left in me. “Bad things happen to good people” is now more than just a saying to me. You hear stories of terrible tragedies and your heart goes out to the people experiencing the heart break but you don’t fully understand that it can happen to you, that you could be the one asking why something so terrible has to happen, until it happens to you. Life is an oxymoron, both cruel and beautiful in many ways. And so at a period of time where I am so angry and so sad, I try my hardest for find the good in these series of event in my life. And so I will leave you with a quote that has helped me see the world as it really is:

Happiness is a journey, not a destination. for a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. but there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. at last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. this perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. happiness is the way. so treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.” -Alfred D. Souza

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Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Advisement Services Center. These are their stories and their voices.

• UAlbany Grief Support Group

• UAlbany Counseling Center

Melissa F.
Class of 2018
Majors: Spanish & Communication
Past Blog Theme:
Fierce & Freaked
Current Blog Theme:
Still Fierce 

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Ho-Ho-Hometown Holidays

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Congrats on completing Fall semester 2016. After 16 straight weeks of school, winter break brings the end to a long strenuous semester as well as an end to what can only be described as a very interesting year. A well needed break from education, winter break is a month of relaxation and reunion. College students across the nation return home in time for the holiday season and all the joy it brings with it. Every person spends their time differently, with some picking up shifts at the job they’ve worked at since high school, and others jetting of to tropical locations for vacation. I personally spend my time catching up on hours of sleep and eating take out from all my favorite places. Returning to the home town means running into a lot of familiar faces and giving a general overview of your life to them. “Oh I’m up at Albany.” “Yeah I love it there.” “What about you, how have you been” “Oh that’s great, I’m so happy for you.” “Alright I’ll see you around.” It’s really repetitive and at times annoying but It’s definitely a common occurrence, especially where I am from. When you’re away at college, your life in high school feels like a million years ago, but returning home brings back the people who known you for so many years. The funny thing is they don’t really know you at all. One semester at college and you’ve already learned so much that has shaped you as a person. Among those awkward high school reunions come the reunion of friends and family. Me and my group of about 14 friends do a secret Santa party every year since, which is one of the only times we’re all together at the same time. We also get together for New Years Eve, decking ourselves out in sparkly dresses and ties. I hate to say that I forget about my close friends while I’m away but distance does make the heart grow fonder and the more time that goes on the more I see us staying a unit of friends into adulthood. Seeing family over the holidays is what makes coming home really worth it. Besides the obvious benefit of being showered in gifts, it also really great to spend quality time with people who love you the most. Although my family drives me nuts sometimes, it can be quite nice waking up to my mother and brothers in the morning. Of course as sweet as coming home is, it gets old pretty quickly and I personally spend the last weeks of break excited to return to my friends and my life in Albany.

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Melissa F.
Class of 2018
Majors: Spanish & Communication
Blog Theme: Fierce & Freaked

Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Advisement Services Center. These are their stories and their voices.

Fierce and Freaked and Finishing Finals

For most people the beginning of December brings holiday joy and cheer. For the overworked and mentally deteriorating college student the only thing it brings is stress, anxiety, and late nights in the library. The perfect ending to 16 weeks of classes is an accumulation of exams, projects, and papers, all conveniently condensed into a short strenuous time period. The final stretch before a well needed and earned break from school, Finals week is universally dreaded by all who encounter it. That being said the desperation of students actually brings the UAlbany community together.

The New You

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I want to see the world. I want to be able to meet a million people at all corners of the earth and learn their stories. I want to learn to speak different languages and I want to experience other people’s culture. I guess that why I chose to be a Communications and Spanish major. I don’t know just yet what I’ll be doing to achieve my goal of seeing the world, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I also am the only girl in my family, growing up with 3 brothers. I got my first pet when I was 18 and his name is Chief and now I love cats, who knew. I love people, I love talking, and I love sharing my voice. It’s strange to think about the person I am now in comparison to the person I was all throughout high school. On the surface we look the same, and we sound the same but that’s about where the similarities stop as they are only skin deep.

Explore outside UAlbany’s Door

With the size and amount of people at UAlbany, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there is a world out side of it. Campus has so much to offer and there is always something to do at some point in the day. Over 20,000 students attend this school and at times it can seem that UAlbany is its own bustling city separate from Albany its self. As a freshman the only time I stepped foot off campus was for that rare trip to Crossgates or Walmart, both which by bus take less than 5 minutes to reach. It wasn’t until sophomore year that I realized where I was actually living, and that my world wasn’t just limited to campus. If you have the time, patience, and means of transportation, you will be able to discover what this city has to offer you.

It’s Sick Being Sick

     My inspiration for my blog this week came from my garbage can that’s overflowing with tissues as well as empty bags of cough drops that sit on my night stand. Yes, as Albany temperatures continue to drop, the number of sick students has risen drastically. It’s bound to happen with so many people sharing the same area, whether it be the dorms, the bathrooms, or even the bus. The germs have come out to play. To say I hate this time of year is an understatement, as I have without fail, gotten sick every year I’ve been here. The worst part about getting sick in college is the longevity of the sickness, as it never seems to truly go away for weeks. The number of people spreading different sicknesses sweeps through the whole campus and also everybody gets a taste of it. One year I came down with strep throat and when that finally cleared up I got a sinus infection. I couldn’t catch a break back then and still can’t now as I spent my weekend permanently glued to my bed.

The Minor Problem with Picking a Major

So here’s the deal. You graduate high school and go to college for 4 years, studying so that you can get the degree of your choice, so that you can get a job with that degree, so that you can provide for yourself and the family you’ll eventually have and so that one day you can send your kids to college. It’s the circle of life, how beautiful. Not. Not for me at least. You see I unfortunately wasn’t blessed with knowing exactly what I want to do with my life. There are some people, actually many people who come into college fully aware of what path they want to take in. This benefits them in many ways, the biggest being that they are able to plan. Plan what classes to take, what grad schools to look into, what internships to apply for.

Tales from a Careful, Carless Commuter

     With each year that passes I look back and I can see how much I’ve grown as a person. My slow transformation into adulthood took a huge step this year when I decided to rent my first apartment with four of my close girl friends. Having lived on campus for two years prior, I was excited to see what this new living environment would bring. Our 5-bedroom apartment is on the second floor of an old townhouse, and right in the middle of downtown life. Little bodegas litter the street I live on and I get to call an old brick coffee house my next door neighbor. The neighborhood is a mixture of college students and people who live there all year round. You may have a frat house on one side of you and a family of five on the other. The clash of the different cultures is very prevalent yet we all coexist together peacefully. One of my biggest concerns when moving into my apartment was my safety. I just spent all this time living in this monitored, super safe bubble that is campus housing and now I’m suddenly walking the streets of Albany alone just to get home. With all the dangers that lurk in the neighborhood I live in, I try to be as smart and safe as possible. Despite all this, it’s still amazing to have a place to call my own. There’s a lot more responsibility that come with having an apartment but my housemates and I have been up for the challenge and there’s honestly no better feeling than being able to share a space with my best friends.  

From Zero Point Five to Hero

All throughout high school I would have considered myself a certified slacker. Procrastination is one of my biggest weaknesses and is something I have struggled with my whole schooling career, including now. The idea of doing school work days before it was due didn’t appeal to me much especially if there was something better I could be doing with my time. The ticking hours before a deadline was my motivation to power through an assignment or study for a test. In spite of this, I wasn’t always handing in quality work, rushing to finish in time. I knew I could do better if I tried, but my laziness pulled me into doing the bare minimum. Due to my good memory and test taking skills I was able to slide by in high school despite missing home works and handing in assignments late. I often think that if I had put the effort into my high school classes that I put into my work now, I would be going to Harvard. One of the biggest challenges a student experiences when transitioning into college is the work load.

Don’t be a Dormmat

There are not many times in your life where you will be living in a dorm room. It’s definitely an experience I miss sometimes since moving into my first apartment this year. The environment of living in a dorm room and hall is like nothing I’ve experienced before in my life. Ever since I found out what college was, I dreamed about living in a dorm. I dreamed of how I would decorate my side,and late nights with my roommate watching movies and doing our nails. I had seen movies and dorm life seemed amazing. Throughout high school, the older I got, the more disgruntled I became living in my house with my parents. I wanted to escape off to college and when the time finally came I couldn’t have been more excited. I finally went shopping for my dream dorm, picking out lamps and comforters after years of thinking about it. I guess my excitement blinded me from the fact that I never lived with another person before. Sure, I lived with my family in our house but I still had my own room, my own sanctuary. I would be sharing a living space with another person and at the time I didn’t realize how much time I would be spending with that person. I took those small moments of solitude in my room for granted and realized it only once my excitement died down.