PROFESSOR:
Photo Credit: Joe Habraken
- CAN YOU PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND AFFILIATION WITH UNE?
“Hi, I’m Joe Habraken, an associate professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, and I teach in the communications program.”
- WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A FIRST-YEAR STUDENT?
“Showing up for class is one of the biggest things. It’s a totally new environment, and students are living away from home for the first time. So try to establish a to-do list, show up to class, stay caught up with the readings, and engage with professors. That way, we can not only teach you, but we can also support you as you take on all these new endeavors.”
- WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL STUDENT?
“I would say that a good student takes an active role in determining what they do here. When in advising, they’re picking the classes and not just waiting to be told, ‘you should just take this and this;’ they’re actually enjoying the process. This is one of those formative experiences that will probably be important for the rest of your life. Not that you can’t do a 180 and go in a different direction, but I would say you make the best choices you can in the present. I think that a successful student would be someone who is taking responsibility for their experience here; someone who’s engaged, but they’re making their own decisions.”
- LOOKING BACK AT YOUR COLLEGE YEARS, TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU FAILED ACADEMICALLY AND WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM IT
“ I’ll be honest, in my calculus course, I got a D and barely skated by. I was always sort of mediocre in relation to math, and that course made me cringe to think about. I didn’t always show up, so that certainly didn’t assuage my fear of the topic. I fell into this pattern of ‘oh god I can’t go face that class’ which was silly because I was taking all sorts of science classes and I kept up with those. Calculus was intimidating for me, and rather than going and getting extra help, I just didn’t do anything.”
COACH:
Photo by: Zak Ramos
Trevor Therrien- A graduate of the University of New England in August of 2021. Is now the defensive line coach here for the football team. In college he was an applied exercise science major and had a minor in coaching.
ZAK: COACH WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE TO AN INCOMING FRESHMAN ATLETE WHO IS NEW TO THE COLLEGE LIFESTYLE AS YOU HAVE HAD EXPERIENCE IN THIS SITUATION ?:
“The biggest piece of advice I could give to someone who’s an athlete is time management. As an athlete your workload is a lot different and more challenging than it was when you were an athlete in high school. As a member of the team you have required lifts, meetings in the AT room, along with practice and as a football player I’m not sure about other teams but we have required study hall hours for all freshmen. So using your time wisely and being smart about it is the best advice I could give to an athlete who is playing a sport at the college level.”
ZAK: IN GENERAL WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A FRESHMAN ABOUT THE BALANCE OF WORK AND FUN?:
“That is a tough one because you definitely need that social aspect of college, being a former graduate of UNE I definitely recognize that and even as a former athlete here at UNE I definitely recognize that, It in a way has to be a 50/50 you want to be able to enjoy your experience here because you are only a freshman in college once however you need to understand that the goal of coming here is earning a degree key word there is earning.”
SENIORS:
Photo by: Zak Ramos
Nick Van Der Merwe (Vandy) is a senior at UNE who plays Defensive tackle for the football team. He is an Applied Exercise Science major here at the university as well.
ZAK: WHAT WOULD BE YOUR BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU COULD GIVE TO A FRESHMAN WHO IS NEW TO THE UNIVERSITY AND COULD USE SOME HELP?
NICK: ” I would definitely say that time management is the biggest piece of advice I would give someone new to college as corny as it sounds. I’d also say to do your best to get everything done when it is assigned because you don’t want that extra weight on your shoulders because believe me that pressure will add up and when it does you may start to feel overwhelmed. Personally, I still as a senior have trouble with this sometimes and end up shooting myself in the foot when it comes to getting my work done and I always feel miserable when I allow myself to do this. Along with this I’d say to try and figure out when you have free time because you can use it wisely to get your work done so that you can enjoy yourself later and hangout with your friends when you want to but as a whole just find a nice balance between work and social life”
Photo by: Maddie McDonald
Ryan Dews is a senior at University of New England who is expected to graduate this coming year in 2023. He is a marine bio major and environmental studies minor who has enjoyed it all so far.
WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR INCOMING FRESHMAN?
Ryan was eager to share a few words with the new students on campus, “Stay passionate, it’s really easy to get burnt out here, or just at college in general, so try to care about what you do. Also stay connected, don’t just exist, find clubs or hobbies to keep you involved.” This is a really important thing, lots of students let the fact that they don’t have their lives 100% figured out yet prevent them from being into something. When in reality it’s the opposite, there are so many options and things to do at school, it’s the perfect time to experience it all. It’s more common than students think to not have everything figured out.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU LEARNED AFTER COMING TO COLLEGE?
Dews had an interesting explanation of his study tactics and said how, “in high school I never had to study, and then coming to college it was kind of a slap in the face and I had to learn quickly. A tactic I like to employ is when I am in class and bored, or am drained while studying is pretending I’m an alien sent here to study this planet. It sounds dumb but it really motivates to learn so that the so called “mothership” doesnt get mad. It’s all about finding a creative way to convince yourself what you are doing is important.” This was a unique comment, however if a student gains something by tapping into this mindset then by all means why not. Who knows… maybe we are aliens sent here to study earth. At this point anything is possible. In all seriousness though, a common theme throughout this handbook is about figuring out what works for you.
JUNIORS:
Photo by: Liam Whitehouse
Billy Girard is a 23 year old junior junior hockey player here at UNE. Billy is a sports management major and is expected to graduate in 2024.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE TO UPCOMING FRESHMAN?
I’d say just try and make some good friends, have a good solid base where you can go and always rely on someone and get help if you need it. I would also recommend really trying to stay on top of your schoolwork, try not to push things off to the last minute, I find that doesn’t always workout the best for me. Just try to stay on top of your stuff and have a good group of friends i’d say.
WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED AFTER COMING TO COLLEGE?
Along with time management, just overall college lifestyle, especially being a student athlete you won’t have as much time as most other students. I’ve learned how to really be on top of my schoolwork and get to practices, get to workouts and have a social life. It took me a while to find this balance but I feel like I have it figured out now.
Photo by: Emily Hedegard
“Hi, I’m Mya Hankes. I’m an English and communications double major with a minor in writing, and I am a Junior here at UNE.”
- WHAT IS THE BIGGEST THING YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN BEFORE COMING TO COLLEGE?
“ The biggest thing I wish I knew before coming into college was the fact that you don’t need an entire life plan at 18 years old. In my head, I thought that I had to have it all thought through. For me, that made it that I was in a major that I didn’t know what I wanted to do with or where I was going. I ended up switching it because I realized that I didn’t need to know everything about the rest of my life, and I think that’s something super important that freshmen need to remember; it’s such a big transition and step into the next part of your life, but you don’t need to have it all figured out.”
- TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU FELT THAT YOU FAILED ACADEMICALLY AND WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM THAT.
“ I think a large time I failed was coming in with a predetermined major that I didn’t know much about. It was throwing me into a whole new ocean of people who already knew a lot about psychology. I was coming in like a newborn baby, and I made a lot of mistakes along the way, like not getting as involved as I should have and just coasting through it. I was trying to figure out what the heck I was doing because I was not very passionate about psychology, and I didn’t know how to get out of it. Luckily I was able to figure that out, but it was a very difficult time for me at school.“
- WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST ADVICE FOR INCOMING FRESHMEN?
“The biggest advice I have for incoming students is to not feel the pressure to choose a major before coming in. That’s related to what I’ve been saying so far, but it’s really important to feel ok to come in undecided. UNE has the GUST program for a reason. I think that the biggest thing you can do freshman year is explore different majors and explore campus life itself. That is only going to open doors for you, help you find out what you want to do in your life, and gear you towards those next three years; they are the important ones, where freshman year is kind of that exploring time.”
- IF YOU COULD TELL YOUR FRESHMAN SELF ONE THING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
“It’s not high-stakes pressure, it is not as critical as it needs to be freshman year, and you have three more years to figure things out. I think I should have told myself to do a little bit more of that exploring freshman year, maybe I should have come in undecided and felt things out before diving into something that I might not have been ready for and found something I was passionate about.“
SOPHMORES:
Photo by: Maddie McDonald
Erin Murphy is a nineteen year old sophomore at the University of New England who is expecting to graduate in 2025. She came to school undecided but has now declared an education major that she is really excited about.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PEICE OF ADVICE TO UPCOMING FRESHMAN?
Erin had a few words of advice about cleanliness for new students on campus, “keep your room clean because even if it’s hard, staying organized really helps to create a good environment to be productive in.” Keeping a clean room can be one of those things that slip students’ minds, then once the room is messy it can feel like there’s no going back. Even if it’s something as small as putting your laundry away, making your bed or just cleaning up your desk after you sit at it, doing these things can help you avoid falling into a rut.
WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED AFTER COMING TO COLLEGE?
Only a sophomore Erin says, “I’m aware I still have things to learn and that I’m far from having college figured out, however I never used a planner in high school and ever since I started using one in college I have found that it has significantly helped me stay on top of my assignments. I would recommend a planner to anyone looking to keep themselves on track and it is something small that has made my life a lot easier.” A planner can really be a great way for students to hold themselves accountable for what they need to do during the week. It’s pretty easy to write down your homework after a class and stay on top of it rather than to just let it slip your mind. No one likes sitting in class, hearing the professor mention the homework and then realizing you didn’t do it. Moral of the story is to try and stay organized in any way you can because it will end up helping you greatly.
Photo by: Liam Whitehouse
Joe Stanizzi is a 22 year old sophomore hockey player here at UNE. Joe is a psychology and business double major and is expected to graduate in 2025.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE TO UPCOMING FRESHMAN?
I’d say probably make use of your professors in terms of using their office hours and get to know them as well, they’re not just your teachers you can build connections with them to improve your education here. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help, if you’re falling behind this school has a lot of resources for you to use and the people working in them want to help you. Also don’t take yourself too seriously, I get into college and it’s scary but… have a little fun.
WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED AFTER COMING TO COLLEGE?
I guess one thing that I’ve learned and utilized is time management skills, especially being on the hockey team. Just being able to manage a workload with school and being able to come to the rink for team workouts and practice and getting some extra stuff in as well, and then homework to finish the day. As a student athlete you really develop time management, which during freshman year was a sort of shock but I’ve gotten better at every year.
