Photo by Haley Enos
Tori Boutin is a senior Athletic Training major at UNE, currently in the first year of her graduate program! She is set to graduate in 2023 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science and again in 2024 with a Master’s in Athletic Training. In an interview, Tori spoke about the way that her involvement in sports as a freshman actually helped her to become more social and find a way to balance her time. She explained that being a part of a team was an easy way for her to spend time with her friends outside of class, while also giving her an opportunity to be active.
Tori also stressed that school doesn’t always have to be your focus 100% of the time. “The worst thing I’ve ever done is forced myself to get work done,” she states. She followed this up by explaining that school is clearly important and should be your focus while in college, but you simply can’t pour from an empty cup. She believes that you need dedicated time outside of the classroom, to be with friends and to be with yourself, so that you can reset and thus perform your best in the academic environment.
Later on in her college career after stepping back from sports, Tori felt like she was better able to navigate her social life and school life balance because she had developed the skills necessary to know when to say no. “A social life is important but self care should also be a priority for college students, I think. When you focus on prioritizing self care along with your academics it makes it a lot easier to know when you have time to hang with friends and when you don’t,” she explained. Tori believes that making time for self care can help you to make smarter decisions about what to do with your time. She expressed that knowing herself and her limits both in the classroom and in a social setting helped her to feel confident in her choices throughout college.
When asked for some advice surrounding this topic Tori said, “Try your hardest to make friends as a freshman while everybody is still trying to figure it out themselves. Nobody comes into college knowing exactly how to manage all that there is to do, but if you start working on it from the get go, you’ll get better at it as time goes on.”
Photo by Nate’s mom
I interviewed a senior to tell me about his experiences coming into a new place and how he managed to settle in with everything especially managing his time management. I interviewed Nate Carrier who is studying Oceanography and is a part of the club hockey team here at University of New England. When I asked Nate how he’s able to keep time for doing his work outside of class he said that when he gets work he needs to do he just tries to get it done right away so he doesn’t have to worry about it later on. He did mention that he does know how to take a break from his work because he “doesn’t want to get burnt out.” The follow up to that was if he struggled to say no to going to hangout with friends when he knows there is something due that he has to get done.
Nate mentioned that he sometimes has to force himself to say no and that it isn’t easy for him to do so because when given the choice of doing homework or hanging out with friends most of us would rather hang out with friends. I had asked him how he found his first group of friends when he first started going to UNE and he said he met one of his good buddies now through orientation and signing up to play club hockey. Nate wanted to give one piece of advice to anyone coming into this new setting. He said it makes life easier when you “put yourself out there and get involved” with those surrounding you.
