haley

Haley


Haley is a junior at UNH with an English major and Art minor. An athlete all of her life, Haley came to UNH as a scholarship athlete in lacrosse. Haley wasn't prepared for the size of UNH, having grown up in small community environment  Now she is ready to conquer an even larger playing field; she plans to study in London during her second semester this year.


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COMING TO UNH


PLAYING DIVISION ONE LACROSSE


CHOOSING NOT TO PLAY LACROSSE
JOINING THE CYCLING TEAM


USING COLLEGE SERVICES
FINDING OUT I HAVE A LEARNING DISABILITY


 STRATEGIES


INDEPENDENCE


THE FUTURE


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COMING TO UNH
It was a big transition coming from a small 400 student high school to UNH. I had a lot of trouble transitioning here because I felt lost. I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know who to hang out with. I didn’t know where my classes were for the first two weeks of school.  It was like feeling my way in the dark. I figured with playing lacrosse I would have a connection with the school and the girls already. I figured they would introduce me to their friends. It didn’t happen as great as I thought; it was a good theory though!



PLAYING DIVISION ONE LACROSSE
My dad sent a tape of me playing lacrosse to UNH. They gave me a scholarship to play so obviously I was going to come. I knew there would be a time commitment right off the bat but I didn’t know it would go so far into my academics. I was scheduling my classes that fall around lacrosse not academics. The classes were killing me because they weren’t the classes I wanted to take. I had to take them because they fit into my practice schedule. I am the kind of person who wants to fully commit. I can’t do that if I am missing classes due to practice. I had no social life. Through the winter, it was horrible because we weren’t playing lacrosse. We were just lifting, my classes were tough, and the only person I really talked to was my roommate. That is when I began thinking that lacrosse might not be the best decision for me. I wanted time to enjoy myself, take the classes I wanted, and get involved in clubs. As a freshman, you are not playing as much as you did in high school. In high school, you might be captain and then here you are sitting on the bench each weekend maybe playing here and there.



CHOOSING NOT TO PLAY LACROSSE
The decision was extremely hard. I cried a lot over it. My dad has been an athletic director for over 30 years and he has coached just about every sport. I have always looked to him for support, encouragement and inspiration. He told me it was my decision to make.  Since I was 5, I have been playing something. It was so hard to say I don’t want to play. I was thinking what am I now? I was coming in as an athlete, so now what am I? It took a long time to figure out. All summer, I was thinking do I go for a 6 mile run today because I am going to play or do I do something fun? Or do I think about it more? It was an extremely hard decision but it was the right one. I am an athlete, but there is more to me. I think I always knew that. I went into the coach that summer. It was hard to face her and hear myself say, "I am not going to participate in a varsity sport this year".

 

JOINING THE CYCLING TEAM
My roommate and I are best friends and we do everything together. We joined the cycling team. I always loved to bike. I read Lance Armstrong’s book last year. I was like wow you could bike for a week long straight, meet all kinds of interesting people, and make money for such good causes. I am going to save up and get a bike.  I came back to school with a bike but thought where do I go? I don’t know any trails. I don’t want to get lost in N.H. I saw on line that we have a cycling team. They train for decathlons too. So I went to the meeting and joined. Since it is club, it is less time. I wanted to learn something different, to have a new experience. It is still a time commitment but it is much more relaxed and it is enjoyable. I still miss lacrosse. I have a passion for that sport but it was the right decision.



USING COLLEGE SERVICES
I went to a small prep school and there was a lot of support all of the time. My learning disability felt more hidden because there were a lot more students at my school with learning disabilities. When I first got my classes at UNH, I thought let’s see how far I can get. It didn’t take long before I realized that I needed a note-taker for a class. Plus my mom and dad were like, you have all the resources there but you need to go out and get them. They are all at your fingertips so why not do it? They were right. So at the end of my freshman year I realized I needed to go out and get the services. From Access and CFAR, I have all the help that I need now. When I go into the Access Office and there are people around seeing me, they wonder why I am going in there. I have to be okay with who I am. Why I need this is none of their business. It doesn’t matter what they think. It is not bad. I need to realize that I still have a learning disability. It is not going away. I need to live with it, deal with it.

I think you need to have a huge support system behind you. It is key for your parents to be supportive. I wouldn’t have gotten through if it wasn’t for them. Also I think getting help is important. At first you don’t want to get the help that you need. You think you can do it yourself. You need to understand your learning disability and reach out to those support services that you need. Otherwise you are not going to get through. You might, but it will be painful and a lot easier if you go get help.



FINDING OUT I HAVE A LEARNING DISABILITY
Even in elementary and middle school, I would work hard for my grades. I felt dumb. Why am I stupid? Why is she getting a better grade than me when I studied longer? Something was wrong. I didn’t know I had a learning disability. Starting my freshman year of high school, my classes were tough. I studied so many hours at night, doing all of this extra work and staying after with teachers.  My parent’s noticed it right away and the Dean suggested I get tested. I felt like if I got tested, they are going to say I am stupid. My parents always told me, you are not dumb. It is how you learn. You learn differently. Not everyone learns the same. My strengths are in the artistic, visual side, the right brain, hands on things. My major is English so there is a lot of writing which I love to do. It is creative. So it is with the artistic side.  But I also like Shakespeare. It is drama which is art. So it is all around Art which is what I learn the best.



STRATEGIES
I am an English major and Art minor so I have a lot of reading, writing papers, and art projects. My classes are time consuming but I don’t mind working hard. I have trouble with reading comprehension. As an English major, I need to do a lot of reading and writing.  So it takes me a long time to get it done. But I get it done, and I get it done the way it should be done. I take notes in class, get notes from my note-takers, and meet with the teacher. If I need help, I ask for it. I know now how to get through the reading so it will help me with my writing later. I think the most important things are highlighting what is important in the book and writing in the margins so when you read through it you can remember what you thought was important. I make notes in the margins using all kind of colors. I draw in my book which is fun and artistic. Probably the best thing I ever did was to get tested. I learned how I need to learn.


INDEPENDENCE
You learn how to be more independent in college. That is something I have learned and I am glad that I have. In high school, I had everyone there. There was no real independence. I have learned to be more self assertive and confident in what I need to do. Self esteem is still down but that is a habit I have to work on. I never give myself enough credit for things. Am I good enough? I could be, but I am not. I am just myself right now. As long as you know who you are, what you like to do, why you like to do the things you do, what makes you happy, who cares what other people think of you. That is who you are. I think I am still trying to figure those things out but I am on my way.



THE FUTURE
I love learning about people and their cultures. I plan on studying abroad next spring semester. I am so thrilled I will be living in a different culture, seeing different people, and having the experience to study in London. I am actually going this summer to London for a week and then to Italy. My family lives in Italy. I am going with my mom and my grandfather who is in his late 80s. This will be his last trip and it will be my first trip to Italy.

I want to get my Masters in Public Relations. I will definitely go to a city to do that. I love diversity.


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