Students share summer memories
By: Angela Scipione
Creative Editor
Summer for every student means something different. It could mean lazy days spent at the beach or for others, long hours studying for summer classes.
Mechanical engineering student, Farzana Akhter, looked back on spending time with her family at the beach in Long Island and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Akhter often visits museums with her family and believes it is important for people to travel during their time off from school, saying, “I think it helps [people] develop and see the world for what it really is, otherwise it’s just school and home.”
Nonetheless, Akhter understands that some students are bogged down by summer classes. “I think what happens sometimes over the summer, at least for me, is that I get caught up in schoolwork a lot. Especially if you have a demanding field like engineering, so for the past three summers I’ve been spending my summers taking classes.”
Students who are not from New York have a different perspective on summer. Colorado native, Blas Deering, who is in the photovoltaic installation program, says that coming to New York was one of his favorite summer memories. The outdoorsman specifically enjoyed “going hiking for a bit [in the Adirondacks] and just seeing what Albany’s all about.”
You may be wondering why he chose to come all this way for school. “It’s a new place, I’ve always lived in Colorado,” Deering says. “New York’s pretty cool.”
Criminal justice major, Jerché Murphy, had a much different opinion on New York, Troy specifically. Being from Queens, Murphy is used to a fast-paced environment with something new around every corner. His perception of Troy is very different to someone who grew up in upstate New York. “It’s very slow paced, there’s nothing happening up here. I don’t see anybody walking. It’s just kinda bland, everybody’s in their car, or they’re minding their business.”
Florence J. Parmelee, an environmental science student, only has good memories from this summer. “Going to Syracuse was awesome. We went to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo and we went letterboxing which is like an international scavenger hunt.” Parmelee is a member of the zoo and sends money a few times a year to sponsor animals. She attended the annual Member Appreciation Event which included exhibits that were kept opened late and zookeepers present to answer questions.
Dave LeBlang, triple majoring in accounting, philosophy and data science, also had nothing bad to say about his summer. After struggling in his calculus II class, LeBlang started going to the LAC and made some new friends along the way. “We’ve been in here every single day and honestly we formed a really good group of people. It’s made what I thought was going to be a terrible six week course a lot better. And I’m not just saying that for the plug, I really mean that.”
For Peter Wiwczar, an entrepreneurship major, summer had high highs, as well as low lows. Speaking of his favorite memory on Independence Day, “I went up to the Great Sacandaga Lake and we watched fireworks on the lake. I hung out with all my family and friends and we just had a great time.”
Wiwczar also expressed his enjoyment in joining a sports team, a summer tradition for him, “I play for the Brunswick Bearcats. It’s a semi professional football team.” He attends practice three times a week and plays games on Saturday’s.
Although, not all of summer has been fun for him. “I actually lost a friend a couple weeks ago in an accident. He was walking out of SPAC and he got hit by a car. He was 19 years old and was actually going to graduate from Hudson Valley this year.” Wiwczar, however, is looking on the bright side and remembers his friend fondly.