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Open Letters

An Open Letter to Ashley Before Her First Day of College:

Hey girl,

I know 4 years feels like forever, but the next 4 years of your life will change you forever. It’s a bit frightening to think that in a matter of hours that you will be an adult on her own for the first time. Classes seem like they are going to be challenging but interesting. You are now 400 miles away from home, but you can still call home if you need to, and Mom won’t be mad even if you call her late in the night. You’re moving in with someone who you’ve never met before and you’re sharing a room for the first time since you were 7. You’re anxious but your excitement is too great to even think about that. Remember your morals and values, as they will ground you in this new stage of life. You can make it and this will be great.

Growing Up and Growing Apart

278- that is the exact number of miles from my front door to Collins Circle. When I first came to UAlbany I was so excited to finally be away from home, away from my parents, and my sometimes annoying little sisters. As a freshman, the biggest downfall of going so far away from home was missing my friends. My group of friends grew up with each other for nearly 6-7 years. I also went to a very small high school and most of my friends went to the same colleges, so they frequently were hanging out and reconnecting; because I was so far I was forced to start over from scratch. At the time I found myself quite sad and alone. I wasn’t the best at making new friends with people I just met. However I was super lucky to meet a group of great people, many of which are still my friends today.

8 Lessons From Res Life As Told Through Song

With the Residential Life Resident Assistant Application closing soon I often get asked by residents, friends, and those just curious, what is it really like to be a Resident Assistant (RA) for UAlbany? I present to you…

8 Lessons From Res Life As Told Through Song

When the Going Gets Rough: DJ Khaled Quotes for a Mid-Semester Slump

If you’re like any other college student in the universe, by the middle of the semester you are feeling a bit burnt out– you’re tired of assignments, you’re tired of that 8:00am alarm so you can get to your 8:45, you’re tired of studying. It’s so easy to get lost in all the negatives you forget your reason for coming to college. To get us all back on track let’s hear it from the Lion himself…

“You gotta water your plants. Nobody can water them for you.”

DJ Khaled is always down for some self care. When it comes to taking care of yourself, no one else can do that for you, you have to do it for yourself. Be intentional in setting time away to do things that you want to do for fun, if that means getting a mani/pedi, catching up on your favorite show, or going for a run.

Dare to Vision & Grab Some Glue

Let us envision our future and make plans with as many art tools as we can muster up! Finals will be right around the corner and the semester will be over. Let’s get together to get it together.

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Ashley Whiteside is a Junior at the University at Albany. She is majoring in Social Welfare and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and is minoring in Education and Africana Studies.  Ashley is a member of the Department of Residential Life and loves being a Great Dane. Her theme for this year is “Through the Looking Glass”.

“As you get further along in college it is easy to become less motivated and unfocused. My theme is meant to help all students keep on, keeping on.”

We hope to see you there!

This is the End, or Maybe Not…

This semester has been one wild ride! I really hope by you reading this that you’ve gained something worthwhile to take away. This semester we’ve reflected on the person in the past, in the present, and imagined what they could be in the future. You, in this moment, are a compilation of experiences that you have gone through, yet those experiences do not have to define who you will be in the future. Always remember you hold the power to your own future, and it’s success depends on you and only you.

This semester, we talked about everything under the sun, from dealing with dying friendships back home, to working through the stress of midterms and finals, as well as finding out how to take charge of one’s future through applied learning and internships. Like said in one of my previous posts, “college is known as a time of experimentation and growth,” and it is important to frame your collegiate experience thinking about your future and building for a life that you love.

Find your passion and your purpose and let that propel you into your future.

Be happy,

Be healthy,

Be successful,

Ashley

 

 

 

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About the Author:

Ashley W.
Class of 2017
Major: Social Welfare
Blog/Workshop Theme: 
Through the Looking Glass
A Look at the Past and Present...

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.

Creatively Envisioning Your Future

 

Again, this was AWESOME!

At the end of Fall 2016,  we had a workshop creating vision boards for Project MyStory and it was AWESOME! We had a conference table full of magazines, scissors, glue, and various snack ems. Again, I cannot stress how awesome this was.

In mainstream media, many people have been talking about making vision boards. Even Oprah and Steve Harvey have spoken about it! Many people have usually heard of vision boards and there are still a lot of people who don’t understand what they are or their purpose.

Just me and my board!

First thing, there is no one way to complete a vision board. Vision boards are literally a visual reminder or representation of various things you want to actualize in your life. The goal is to surround yourself with various images of what you want your life to become. You can use magazines, quotes, you can write in words, draw things, put up selfies, whatever you believe would exemplify a goal that you have in your life.

Vision boards can be as large or as small as you want. They can be as broad or specific as you’d like, bottom line IT IS YOUR BOARD, DO YOU! You can have multiple smaller vision boards geared specifically towards various goals that you have (ie. travel, academics, personal life).

Doing Too Much: A Thick Black Line

Time to refocus your focus. Next stop, the 

This post is dedicated to the over dedicated, spread thin, hand-in-every-pot, yes-people. I feel your pain. I know what it is like to want to do everything and be everywhere. I know what it is like to have so many conflicting things that you want to do you wish you could clone yourself and be everywhere at once. I know what it is like to miss a bus and have it throw off your whole day. This post is for you all.

One major lesson I learned this semester was quality over quantity. It is much better to be awesome at a few things than be mediocre at a lot of things.