One experience that has shaped who I am is the change of environment. I moved from China to Orlando, FL when I was ten. Then three years later, I moved from Orlando to New York. This experience enabled me to adapt to different environments more easily. I got to meet many Hispanic-speaking friends during my time at Orlando to the point where I understood everything they said even when they spoke to me in Spanish (though I forgot most of the words that they taught me after I moved to NY). And when I arrived in Brooklyn and went to the biggest Chinatown in the world, I was surprised to see how many Asians there are here. I truly experienced the ethnic and cultural diversity when I started attending school in New York. I believe a change of environment can help broader a person’s image of the world and to grow and mature.
Another experience that shaped the person I am is my AP American History class. For that class, I had a teacher who yelled out “I’m marking you unprepared” whenever someone said they don’t know the answer to a question or answered it incorrectly. Then she would go on about the absurdity of the student’s words and tell them to never come to class again if they did not read ahead in the textbook. In fear of being yelled at, I stayed up to review and annotate materials for the next lesson until 2 or 3am. I can’t recall how many tests I failed and how many essays I had to redo for that class. However, my hard work did pay off in terms of my AP score and my Regents grade. From that time on, I lived by the phrase: “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” The class helped me realize that if I put enough effort into something, I will eventually succeed/ do well on it.
As a college student, I expect to be exposed to a variety of classes and hopefully, they will help me choose the career path I will be truly interested in. I hope to meet more people from outside of the city and outside of the country throughout my time at Baruch. Also, I want to participate in the study abroad program and visit at least two countries from different continents that I have never been to.
For my first semester of college, I am concerned about meeting the GPA requirement for the Honors program. I hope to work more efficiently, be familiar with where everything is in Baruch, and start looking for possible opportunities to build a better resume (through clubs or internship programs).
