SASC Session

Recently I visited the SASC department at UNE on the second floor of the Commons for the first time. I attended the session about procrastination to learn strategies to combat procrastination and also learn why we procrastinate work. I enjoyed my experience with SASC because of the environment there and the instructor. The environment was nice because it was with a small group of people, so everyone was involved and engaged. The instructor was super nice and helpful and made sure that everyone understood what she was talking about. I learned a lot about some reasons why I might be procrastinating, as well as some new planning ideas to limit my procrastination. I am going to give it my best effort to use some of the strategies I learned at the session to help with the problem I have with procrastinating. One specific strategy that combats “Fun” procrastination is a reward system. For me, this would look like giving myself a break after every half hour to an hour of work to be on my phone or talk with my friends as a way to decompress for a few minutes before going back to work. I am optimistic that a strategy like this will help me be more productive and get my work done efficiently. The main way that I procrastinate is through “fun” procrastination, meaning I choose to do something fun like playing video games or hanging out with my friends before doing homework. This is something that I hope to limit in the future and I am confident that this SASC session will help me with this goal.

Football Game

A beyond-class activity that I attended was a UNE football game during homecoming weekend. This was the first time I went to the full length of a football game here at UNE, and honestly one of the few football games I have ever been to. The atmosphere at the field during the game was great. The stands were at maximum capacity because of homecoming weekend and everyone there seemed to be in a great mood and enjoying the game. Since my family wasn’t able to come up for the family weekend, I enjoyed the game with two of my friends and some of their family members that were visiting them for the day. I had a great time being outside and in an environment with a lot of people, supporting the team, and cheering on my peers. Most of the time I prefer to be in a smaller environment or in a setting with fewer people present, but the atmosphere of a sporting event will always be something that gets me out of my comfort zone and into the crowd of people. I am happy that I attended the game and the experience has made me excited to attend more games in the future, not just football, but anything that may be happening on campus. Specifically, I have heard that the hockey games are a blast on campus and I’m very excited for those to start.

Environmental Justice Fair

On campus recently the UNE School of Marine & Environmental Programs hosted an Environmental Justice Fair which included a screening of a documentary about the local Wabanaki Native Americans and their fight for their land and justice in Maine. I was interested in attending this event because it is a current issue that I wanted to learn more about, and it is also relevant to the major that I intend on declaring next fall. The documentary was very interesting and informative. I learned a lot about the lives of the members of the Wabanaki in Maine and how their lives have changed over time. At points, the documentary became very emotional, and the families and people that were shown in the documentary became people that I empathized with and cared for because of the ways they have been mistreated. I am glad that I attended this event and viewed the documentary. It was a great experience and I learned a lot from it. After the documentary, we had a brief discussion about some of the topics discussed in the documentary as a group. Seeing and hearing how the documentary affected others was very informative and eye-opening as to how many people this documentary affected, including me.

Club Fair

After attending the club and organization fair this past Friday, I found many clubs that I am interested in joining and will join. I am trying to put myself out there and get involved with as many clubs and organizations as possible to begin with. My thinking is that it is easier to drop out of a club I don’t like than it is to try to join late and possibly miss out on something this year. Some of the clubs may overlap or have conflicting events, so planning my schedule of clubs and classes will be important to maximizing my involvement. 

Some of the clubs I have signed up for or am considering signing up for including Ultimate Frisbee, Tennis, Volleyball, Outing Club, Gaming Club, and Philosophy Club. I wanted to join a few different clubs that would have some unique activities. I hope that at least some of these are clubs that I will continue to do. I am not expecting to love each and every club that I join, but if I make an attempt to participate in it, then I will be satisfied if I end up not liking it. I am really looking forward to these clubs, the opportunity to make new friends with common interests and ideas is what I believe much of college life is about.