Growing up I always had a belief that my siblings and I would end up at the same college. However, all five of us chose to go to separate colleges. Although some of us are only a short drive from each other, I miss them like crazy. I always feel like I am missing out on something involving my siblings. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I assume it’s my subconscious telling me that I miss my siblings and family. It’s important to mention that I am a quadruplet (meaning I am one of four, all born at the same time) and I have an older brother as well. Splitting up with my two sisters and brother of the same age was the hardest part of going to college for me. I thought it was going to be the classes that proved to be most difficult, but splitting up with them is a constant struggle for me. My entire life changed the day we said goodbye to each other. I was no longer just an “Amico”, I somehow became an individual. I was now, “Gianna Amico”(the individual) and it is still hard to believe.
Expectations
I was the girl in high school who could not wait another day to graduate and go to college. The day I got my acceptance letter I started a Pinterest board called “College”. I saved pins on how to study, stay organized and stay healthy. I even pinned room decor on this board. This Pinterest board kept me occupied on most of my sleepless nights but, it also made the end of the school year and summer feel like they were dragging on. I expected everything to work out perfectly when I got to college because I thought I had planned it so perfectly. This can also be the case in an academic environment. For example, have you ever expected to get a good grade on an exam and it ends up being your worst grade yet? Expectations can cause damage to students socially, mentally and academically. Continue reading “Expectations”
Growing Closer Through Distance
While looking through my classmate’s blog posts, I came across a post by Laura Skrzypczyk titled “Parental Partnerships.” She discussed how college has caused her relationship with her parents to equalize, rather than remaining “two separate parts of a parent-daughter relationship.” Her post influenced me to think about my relationship with my mother since I have begun college. Continue reading “Growing Closer Through Distance”
Solving the Dilemma
As an economics major, I’ve learned that business is all one big game. It’s about who makes the first move, who cheats the market, and the risks each firm takes. We’re taught this game as a “Prisoner’s Dilemma,” in which looking out for one’s self-interest results in lower profits for all firms in the market. By trying to get ahead while the other firms suffer, the results are worse off for everyone involved. Ideally, cooperation is key. However, because we are human, complete cooperation is not realistic. Sometimes, it may even be involuntary.
Our INTD course has shown me the “dilemma” that exists between students and their college institution. It’s opportunistic to believe that each party will uphold their responsibility in partnership. For the student, they put trust into the college to provide a valuable education and support throughout their time in school. The college, in return, expects students to follow the rules on campus and uphold their standard for academic excellence. But what happens if one part falls short of their respective duties? What’s the risk in that? Continue reading “Solving the Dilemma”
Taking a Break
As finals week approaches, the stress level in every college student goes up. The library and office hours are always packed full of students. Finals week is crammed with stress and tension. Taking breaks during these high-tension periods can help relax the mind and make studying more efficient. Continue reading “Taking a Break”
Feedback
Throughout this semester, Dr. McCoy has provided us with feedback to assist us in reaching the goals listed on the syllabus. The feedback was essential in improving my writing this semester. It helped me to learn and make changes as the semester progressed. Continue reading “Feedback”
GREAT Day
A few weeks ago Geneseo celebrated GREAT Day. After thinking about some of the discussions we’ve had in class I have realized that GREAT Day is more than just a day off from school, or a chance to learn about peer research. It’s an opportunity for students to show off how much they have grown, and what they have learned throughout the semester. One thing that I believe GREAT Day does a very good job of is demonstrating to faculty and students alike the learning outcomes outlined by the GLOBE. As students in college we are expected to grow as people and continuously learn throughout our entire college experience and lives. Geneseo has outlined ways to do this in the GLOBE, and GREAT Day is a great way to demonstrate that growth. Take critical thinking for example, by working on a semester long research project students have to think critically to make claims and test their hypotheses. Critical thinking is at the core of research, something it can not succeed without. Another example is communication, in which to paraphrase from the GLOBE “to compose written texts that effectively inform or persuade… to engage in discussion, debate and public speaking in a manner suitable to the listener(s) and the discourse.” This is what GREAT Day is all about, sharing and presenting research to others, in order to inform them of new ideas and persuade them to take action, in a way that they the listeners will understand. I believe that in this way GREAT Day fulfills all of the learning outcomes of the GLOBE in that it provides students will the opportunity to grow.
Partnerships with Professors
As I reflect on my freshman year of college, I recognize how different it has been from high school. My high school education experience was fulfilling, but I never felt as though as I could successfully confide in my teachers. Many of my teachers were overly dominant, which led to power struggles in our partnership’s. I rarely could communicate with them on an equal level, and at times they were unwilling to help students find success.
In many ways, my experience with teachers in high school reminded me of the relationship between Gan and T’Gatoi. My teachers sometimes ignored my viewpoint because they believed theirs was better. In Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild, Gan states that “it was a little frightening to know that only she stood between us and that desperation that could so easily swallow us.” I related to this statement because I often felt like I was under the power of my teachers. They had the ability to do what they wanted in the classroom without hearing the viewpoint of their students, and that was discouraging. I believed that this was how the partnership between teachers and students would remain as I furthered my education. I thought that professors would teach their class without listening to the thoughts of students. Thankfully, I was proven wrong.
The Importance of the SOFIs
As part of our final class period, we filled out the SOFI for Dr. McCoy. She asked us to take time to think about the feedback we give her, as she has spent so much time giving us appropriate feedback to better our class experience. Last semester I mindlessly filled out the SOFIs, not spending too much time on them, since I knew little of their purpose. Continue reading “The Importance of the SOFIs”
A Different Deadline
While getting my weekly amusing fix of Twitter, I came across a Tweet from one of my favorite authors, Jonny Sun: “if life didn’t have a deadline we’d never get anything done.”
As a student I’ve learned that with deadlines comes stress, exhaustion, and frustration. Most importantly, they also come with finality. Consequently, upon receiving Dr. McCoy’s feedback on our final “Bloodchild” essays, I was confounded when she included a suggestion to revisit the essay over the summer. Deadlines give us an excuse to abandon the thinkING the assignment required; once they pass, there is nothing else to be done. After 11:59 PM on May 23rd I had no intention of looking over the essay again. I’d barely considered revisiting my original rough draft, except my grade seemed dependent on it. Continue reading “A Different Deadline”