Transitioning from high school to college can definitely be a big change. I got accustomed to the teaching styles that my high school had by the time I came to Baruch. When I started my classes, I realized that you may not always learn everything in class and that you must take an initiative to learn the material, regardless if it is taught in class. I wanted to maintain an A in my Applied Calculus course, but as the material began to get harder and the professor would skip over lectures in order to finish the course in time for the final, that caused me a lot of stress. I was accustomed to always do well in math classes, as it was something I enjoyed, but this situation made me feel as if I wasn’t so great at math anymore and that was an upsetting feeling. After finding out from my professor that tutoring at Baruch is free and available to everyone, I went to SACC. I started off by signing up for weekly reviews to make sure I understood the material well, but as time went on and more material was skipped, I began to sign up for private tutoring. It was an amazing experience and I’m so happy that it is available for everyone. The day after my tutoring session we had a quiz in class and I was ecstatic to find out that what I learned in tutoring was never mentioned in class and it just so happened to be on the quiz. I am definitely going to attend more tutoring sessions throughout my years here at Baruch, because even if I understand the material, just being able to practice it and get some pointers is something that I appreciate.
I am also very grateful to have the Bowery Mission as my Community Service Project. I love working with people and helping the community grow, so I am really happy that we found out about other students’ volunteer experience there. I look forward to volunteering and gaining new experience there in my following semester. I have always loved helping those in need as I have done lots of volunteering before. Whether it be handing out supplies to the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy or even volunteering at the New York City Fire Museum, I believe that one small act of kindness can go a long way.
In the next three years, I hope to gain a lot of new experiences. My time at Baruch thus far has shown me that the world has an abundance of things that I have not yet discovered. I hope that by then I will have found my place in the world and grown as a person.