By: Mylo Fisherman
Before I even stepped foot on campus as a student, I wanted my first year here to be my fresh start full of new people, experiences, and opportunities that I never had before. At the end of my senior year of high school, I had the time to reflect on my time there and realized I had a lot of regret on opportunities that I had and didn’t take advantage of at the time. I wanted college to be my redemption, my chance to go all or nothing.
Coming from a small high school where I was with the same people from kindergarten up, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to make friends even though that is far from the truth. The friends I made here are friendships that I know will last a lifetime, and we haven’t even known each other for a year yet. Most of the friends I made came out of the LGBTQA+ First Year Experience program. This program allowed first year students who were LGBTQA+ identified the ability to interact with fellow first year students who are like them. Over the course of weeks, we bonded over similar struggles and triumphs as well as learning from one another.
One of the things I love about Adelphi
The author, Mylo Fisherman, poses on campus is the massive amount of clubs they
as a first-year in 2019-'20. have for you to get involved in. The
two clubs that I personally am involved with are the Delphian as well as the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA). I remember going to my first Delphian meeting. I didn’t plan on going until my friend said she has to leave me to go to the club meeting so I decided to join her. I love writing for the school newspaper, it is a creative outlet that allows you to have your voice heard by your fellow students. Before I even enrolled in classes, I knew I wanted to join the GSA. The GSA is a place for queer students and their straight cis allies to have an hour to relax and just be themselves in a judgment free environment. Over the course of two semesters, I became the club’s Public Relations Chair.
The switch from high school to Adelphi was amazing. I feel like I learn a lot better in Adelphi’s teaching environment than I ever did in my high school. I feel as though everything is a lot more individualized. I love getting to know my professors, it’s humanizing in a sense. I remember sitting down for my first class here and fearing my professor. But over time I got to know him and he was really nice and had a great sense of humor. Your professors are people just like you and in most cases, they want to get to learn about you, learn from you, and see you succeed.
I love how accessible and easy it is to find a tutor you want for any subject. I was a smart kid in high school, but I never studied a day in my life until I started college. Going to the tutoring center on a fairly regular basis allowed me to keep my grades up as well as not worry too much when I didn’t understand a little bit of the material I was learning in class. All the tutors that I had were really nice and wanted to make sure you understood the subject material before you left and if I ever didn’t finish what we were working on they let me know when and where I could find them again to get the help I needed to do my best.
Make the most of your first year at Adelphi. It may look different because of the pandemic, but nonetheless it doesn’t change the fact that it is your first year of college. It is a time to remember, a time to make memories, and a time to kill it in school and get good grades.