Hi, My name is Emily Hedegard. I am double majoring in English and Communications with a minor in writing. I am a sophomore and will graduate in 2025. As a second-year student, I am finally in a place where I am beginning to become acclimated to college life. Entering college is not an easy transition to make, and I, along with my peers, have had to learn many hard lessons along the way. Thankfully, UNE has resources to help incoming first-year students so they don’t have to figure out college on their own. As a way to further support new and anxious students, my team and I have created this handbook. After reading this handbook, I hope students will feel more confident about their transition into college. Although this transition is a big one, this guide’s resources are here to motivate and ground students. The central resource in this guide, the three big lessons, are carefully curated by myself and the other authors to provide an honest and accessible guide for any student. Along with a list of on-campus resources and eight different testimonies from students and faculty, this handbook is here to ease the anxieties of any new students.
My name is Maddie McDonald, I am a sophomore at UNE and I am expecting to graduate in 2025. I am an environmental major with a writing minor although I originally came to UNE undecided, which I was worried about at first seeing that all my friends seemed to have their lives figured out. However, coming undecided ended up being one of the best decisions I made because I was then able to test the waters for different majors and find which classes I really like. As a sophomore I feel like I have been able to hit my stride a little more than I did freshman year. I think this is because I’ve begun to know where things are, I have some classes completed and gotten to know some of the students or staff around me. These little things really have made a difference and in no way am I even close to having things all figured out, I just feel like things are less new for me now and I’m more self aware of my individual needs or interests. Freshman year I struggled with wondering what I was going to become as an undecided student and I hope that students who read this handbook understand that it’s not always easy but asking questions and taking advice is really what’s going to help you most in the long run.
My name is Zak Ramos. I’m a freshman from Gardner Massachusetts and I play football here at UNE. I am a communications major with the hopes of becoming a sports broadcaster. I enjoy hanging out with my friends, relaxing when I need to and watching and playing sports. I plan on graduating in 2026 (hopefully). I hope that first year students can see our handbook that we’ve made and can use it as a guide as they go through the newest and maybe the hardest chapter of their life. College is a big change and I hope that with our handbook a student can be more comfortable in the big adjustment.
My name is Liam Whitehouse. I am a 21 year old freshman business major here at the University of New England. Over the past four years of my life I have lived in Connecticut, New York, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, traveling all over the country playing ice hockey before enrolling here starting in September. Along with hockey, I enjoy fishing, hiking, hanging out with my friends and learning. My Goal in life is to one day own my own business. As a freshman here, I hope I can provide next year’s freshman class with some information about this beautiful school I now call home. I hope new students can take advantage of the informative handbook we have created in hopes that students will feel less anxiety about attempting the large transition into college life. We created this handbook to ease the transition in a way that is tailored to new University of New England students by current University of New England students.
