College Story Podcast: Part I
Key Themes:
- Extracurricular: Staying active with Tennis…
Week 2 (Sep. 1st – 7th): “I started Club Tennis and Soccer this week. I really missed each of those sports. Especially Tennis. I made a new friend named Addie. She is just as involved and in love with tennis as I am, and happens to share the same name as my best friend/sister, so it’s not a hard name to remember. We had practice from 4 to 6, and then stayed an extra hour afterwards to play around by ourselves and our coach Joal. He’s on the marketing team here and UNE. Joal said that we would both probably be a part of the traveling team because of our skillset and will definitely go to the New England Tennis tournament at the end of October, which I am really excited about. We get to play teams like UConn, Harvard, Yale, etc. Teams that we will most likely lose too, but the experience is still exciting and will be fun.”
Week 3 (Sep 8th – 14th): “This past Thursday, I made the travel roster cut for Tennis, and we have a match on the 21st at Boston University, and to keep my position, I have decided to go to the match and skip going home. My heart breaks a little bit, and all I want to do is go home, but I also want to continue my athletic journey and I believe it to be essential to take this opportunity…”
Week 6 (Sep 29th – 5th): I went to Colby College and had fun with the team. Since Colby College is around 40 minutes from my house, my entire family came to watch which was really exciting and fun.
- Academic: Taking opportunities and stepping out of comfort zones…
Week 4-12: It all started with my acting class…This class was so different from everythings else going on in my academic and personal life, and I was really nervous but excited to begin. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I found a love for it. By week 12, I discussed how we are working on your Monologues–our final–and all the positive feedback I got from my professor and classmates. My performance was rated top 2 out of the class!
Week 6-7: This step also set me forth to trying new things and putting myself out there when it came to other academics and programs. I took the opportunity to be the assistant director in the Rick Goldsmith interview during early October, and got involved with the Saco, Biddeford, and Dayton community through my Community News Fellowship Program.
- Personal: Making friends, changing personal relationships…
Week 1 & 13: College I knew was going to be a difficult transition for me. I am a homebody in every sense of the word–I LOVE my home, my family. However, in May of 2024 I met two girls online and we ended up creating a friendship that lasted throughout Summer Orientation and the beginning of school. We actually got put in the same hall and floor! This really helped in my transition, and throughout the semester our bonds have strengthened…
Week 13: I’ve also made new friends in Tennis…
Week 8: Meanwhile, my personal relationships with my family and friends back home started to change. The biggest change was between my sister and I. We are each other’s best friends. I was the oldest out of four growing up so it was always my responsibility to look out for them, take care of them, and since I was able to make my own money way before everyone else, I would buy them things when we went out. I did my younger sister’s hair, gave her fashion advice, helped her with schoolwork, took her to practices, shopping, appointments. Now with me being here, things have changed… When I went home for my birthday I realized how independent she has become. Braiding her own hair, getting rides to practices, being fashionable, and the one thing that hit my heart most was paying for things. On my birthday we went shopping and out to eat. She paid for everything, and I realized how old we have gotten and how our roles and responsibilities have changed.
