Baruch Scholars 2011

Hi, my name is Steven Teng and there were many things in my past that helped shape who I am. However, in order to understand everything, we’ll have to start at the beginning. I grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and as a child, I wasn’t the ideal student. I vaguely remember getting low grades on my exams and annoying my teachers. However, I changed into a different person from 4th grade and on. My parents started comparing me to other students and how my grades were so low. It was also the time where I joined the school chorus, after several years of trying to get in. My experiences in the chorus taught me that hard work pays off and that I’ll have to work hard to please my parents. With this mentality, I entered Cunningham Junior High. Cunningham helped me academically and allowed me to try different things, such as playing an instrument. I have always loved music and I took the chance that my school gave me to join the school band. After trying hard to learn the flute, I was able to become one of the better players in the band. With everything that Cunningham gave me, I was able to enter Stuyvesant High School. I learned a lot from Stuyvesant and met people that will be lifelong friends.

Outside of Stuyvesant, I got my first job at a tutoring place. At that time, I was extremely timid and did not like talking to people that I didn’t know, especially those older than I was. However, I enjoyed the work that my boss gave me and it required me to communicate with the teachers. After working there for a few summers, I was able to interact with teachers, parents, and students comfortably. These are valuable life experiences that I can only gain by working at places such as the tutoring place that I am currently employed at.

The schools I attended and my work experience helped shape who I am now. These experiences changed me from a troublemaker to a timid boy to someone who is not afraid to speak with others. Now, I am in Baruch College, hoping for a good education. I have two cousins that attend Baruch and I often look to them for help. I hope to do as well as they do in school and live up to the expectations of my family and friends. The thing that I am concerned about is the format of how college classes and college in general is structured. However, I believe that Mr. Medina and Maria, along with my classmates and friends, will help me overcome this worry. I expect to have a lot of fun in Baruch and get a good education.

Hello, my name is Michael Chin.  I can be described as a relaxed and laid back person.  I try not to stress my self out when problems occur and always keep a cool head in pressure situations.  I love food and also love to play handball.  One experience or recurring experience that shaped who I am is the camping trip I always go on every year.  I go with my father and his friends up to the Adirondacks and camp at Saranac Lake since I was 5.  The experience is enlightening in a way as I am away from technology.  I have no TV to stare at or computer to use.  I get to experience nature the way it should be.  Almost every night has a sky filled with stars and is illuminated by the moonlight alone.  The many years that I have been camping for makes me appreciate what I have.  I try not to bicker or fuss when I’m frustrated.  I  just try to look at situations from a different perspective and try to solve a problem in an unorthodox way.  Going camping has made me resourceful because when I am in the Adirondacks I have to cut my own wood, start my own fire, and pitch my own tent.  I just try to do what I have to do to succeed in life.

I know it is cliche but starting college is really like turning over a new life for me.  A good example would be the question many people ask another as freshman, where did you go to school for high school.  I would sadly answer University Neighborhood High School.  It is pretty much a fact that no one knows where this school is or what it is.  I would always answer a school in the lower east side then almost everyone answers with Oh and then goes silent.  Lets just say I am embarrassed about my school and could be described by this.  Yes, that is my school in the video and the student mentioned in the video was not just stabbed but stabbed in the butt from his bestfriend.  That was the kind of school I went too but it was not always that bad.  It wasn’t great but I still met good people there.  Sadly over the summer I had a falling out with my friends many of which go to BMCC.

What i expect from college is to meet new people and to learn new things.  I expect to be challenged and for my mind to be stretched.  I know my workload with significantly be increased from high school but, I am okay with that.  It is time for me to start a new part of my life and to take that step I need to take for the future.

Hello, my name is Michael Chin.  I can be described as a relaxed and laid back person.  I try not to stress my self out when problems occur and always keep a cool head in pressure situations.  I love food and also love to play handball.  One experience or recurring experience that shaped who I am is the camping trip I always go on every year.  I go with my father and his friends up to the Adirondacks and camp at Saranac Lake since I was 5.  The experience is enlightening in a way as I am away from technology.  I have no TV to stare at or computer to use.  I get to experience nature the way it should be.  Almost every night has a sky filled with stars and is illuminated by the moonlight alone.  The many years that I have been camping for makes me appreciate what I have.  I try not to bicker or fuss when I’m frustrated.  I  just try to look at situations from a different perspective and try to solve a problem in an unorthodox way.  Going camping has made me resourceful because when I am in the Adirondacks I have to cut my own wood, start my own fire, and pitch my own tent.  I just try to do what I have to do to succeed in life.

I know it is cliche but starting college is really like turning over a new life for me.  A good example would be the question many people ask another as freshman, where did you go to school for high school.  I would sadly answer University Neighborhood High School.  It is pretty much a fact that no one knows where this school is or what it is.  I would always answer a school in the lower east side then almost everyone answers with Oh and then goes silent.  Lets just say I am embarrassed about my school and could be described by this.  Yes, that is my school in the video and the student mentioned in the video was not just stabbed but stabbed in the butt from his bestfriend.  That was the kind of school I went too but it was not always that bad.  It wasn’t great but I still met good people there.  Sadly over the summer I had a falling out with my friends many of which go to BMCC.

What i expect from college is to meet new people and to learn new things.  I expect to be challenged and for my mind to be stretched.  I know my workload with significantly be increased from high school but, I am okay with that.  It is time for me to start a new part of my life and to take that step I need to take for the future.

It definitely isn’t easy to find the right words to describe myself. I guess I’ll start by talking about my transition from Hong Kong to New York. I moved here about 11 years ago and I think I’ve adjusted pretty well. I have a diverse group of friends and I’m glad it is like that. I feel like if you immigrate to another country, in order to be successful, you have to assimilate to their way of life. In high school I was pretty involved with my school. I ran for secretary at my school’s largest club and I got to go to conventions and meetings and met a lot of cool people. Since going to college is a place where you can meet all kinds of people, it is necessary for me to engage and get involved with everything that Baruch has to offer. Although I have not joined any clubs or fraternity this semester, I think it is best for me to join one sometime in the future.

I was a whole different individual. I wasn’t a college attending, studying honor student, but a rebellious average teenager. I never liked being graded and felt restricted by school from living my life. I did not like the fact that I was still a student and had to live like a student. I believed that without going to school you could still succeed as long as you are enjoying what you are doing.  I wanted to live my life like a rock star, carefree, just doing what I love doing. I was sleeping, I was dreaming, and I was foolish. I woke up from this dream when my Latin teacher called my parents regarding my absences in his class. I was going to get it. My mom picked me up right after she got that phone call and took me to my dad’s work place. My dad also got in the car parked on the sideway and it all began. My parents began to yell at me, “what were you thinking? How can you do this? Are you insane?” I didn’t care; I was just scared that they would kick me out. But the real wake up call came when my parents began to tell me about their work life, how much they had to put up with in order to just simply put food on the table and clothing on me. They could’ve stayed in Korea where they had much better jobs and status but by moving to America for my better future they gave up on their status and job for lower ones. My mother began to cry, I always hated seeing my mother cry and I began to hate myself for causing her to cry. Then my dad looked at me and said, “ Men with education can work in a nice, cool place during hot summer, and warm place during cold winter, but foolish men who didn’t pursue education work in a hot, uncomfortable place in summer and cold place during winter, suffering all year around. I don’t want you to become that foolish man because I am that man and I don’t want you to live my life.” This woke me up. As much as I respect my dad for all his hard work in his job I wanted a better job, I wanted to live a life of smart men who pursued education. I wanted to pursue higher education to make my parents proud and make their suffering worthwhile. Ever since that day, I studied harder than ever and desired success more than anything. Now I believe that education is the way to success and through hard work I will be able to earn success. My expectation as college student is through all my classes and activities in which college has to offer to make myself into not just a great successful man but also a well-rounded man. My hopes for first semester is to really make an impact and make that strong, steady corner stone in which I will build my college life and career upon.

When I was a small child instead of real toys and movies my brother and I were given science kits and owl pellets to dissect. We were allowed to have lots of pets, take care of  gardens, and create incredibly ugly art projects.  It wasn’t a particularly exciting childhood, or at least not cinema quality, but I suppose one could argue that it was the nights of rock tumbling and caring for hermit crabs, snapping turtles and snakes that shaped me, at least partially. I give this not to boast or claim a perfect cinematic, cliché indie film of a childhood (which it most definitely was not) but as a disclosure to hopefully explain away my many oddities and flaws.  Though the snake eventually escaped and we all walked a little more cautiously around the basement, I have nothing but fond memories of being little. I read, constantly, and from any book that is nearby. It could be cheesy science fiction, with the cover that only a truly oblivious author would accept, or old fashioned fairy tales, the kind in which rabbit holes are large enough to fall in and the doldrums is a place you pass on your way to Dictionopolis, or even just compilations of “fun facts”. The thing about literature that I love, and consequently the only thing that angry over-protective parents and I agree upon, is the magnitude of the effect that books and authors have on young minds. To this day I am terrified of Ebola Zaire, often finding any number of reasons to diagnose myself with this violent African strain. I hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu a year ago and after sixty miles my pinky toe nail fell off. I proceeded to terrify students and teachers alike with vivid imagery on the indicative signs that pointed to the Ebola virus as the culprit. Perhaps one might say that censorship has its place, if only for the sake of other people who have to listen to this absurdity. College was not exactly my first choice, I intended to join the circus, for about two years, and then applied to culinary school. On a whim I submitted the application  to Baruch honors and found myself enrolled this fall, much to the relief of my parents. Therefore my expectations were not fully formed upon arriving to such an institution. I despise inefficiency and much like the Ebola virus intend to work quickly and often  in order to meet whatever end to which college is supposed to bring me.

When I was a small child instead of real toys and movies my brother and I were given science kits and owl pellets to dissect. We were allowed to have lots of pets, take care of  gardens, and create incredibly ugly art projects.  It wasn’t a particularly exciting childhood, or at least not cinema quality, but I suppose one could argue that it was the nights of rock tumbling and caring for hermit crabs, snapping turtles and snakes that shaped me, at least partially. I give this not to boast or claim a perfect cinematic, cliché indie film of a childhood (which it most definitely was not) but as a disclosure to hopefully explain away my many oddities and flaws.  Though the snake eventually escaped and we all walked a little more cautiously around the basement, I have nothing but fond memories of being little. I read, constantly, and from any book that is nearby. It could be cheesy science fiction, with the cover that only a truly oblivious author would accept, or old fashioned fairy tales, the kind in which rabbit holes are large enough to fall in and the doldrums is a place you pass on your way to Dictionopolis, or even just compilations of “fun facts”. The thing about literature that I love, and consequently the only thing that angry over-protective parents and I agree upon, is the magnitude of the effect that books and authors have on young minds. To this day I am terrified of Ebola Zaire, often finding any number of reasons to diagnose myself with this violent African strain. I hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu a year ago and after sixty miles my pinky toe nail fell off. I proceeded to terrify students and teachers alike with vivid imagery on the indicative signs that pointed to the Ebola virus as the culprit. Perhaps one might say that censorship has its place, if only for the sake of other people who have to listen to this absurdity. College was not exactly my first choice, I intended to join the circus, for about two years, and then applied to culinary school. On a whim I submitted the application  to Baruch honors and found myself enrolled this fall, much to the relief of my parents. Therefore my expectations were not fully formed upon arriving to such an institution. I despise inefficiency and much like the Ebola virus intend to work quickly and often  in order to meet whatever end to which college is supposed to bring me.

Everyone has had those times in their lives on which they look back and think, “that’s when it all changed.” Whether the “it” that was forever different was minor, or whether it was a huge part of their lives. I am not any different. There are definitely several experiences in my life that have shaped who I am. But what is different about me, is that I’m not as much influenced by experiences as I am by people.

The people who have proved to be my influences and my main source of my values and morals are my parents. I am a perfectly balanced, mixed representation of both my mother and my father and I continue to realize this as I get older. I have my mother’s studious qualities, her timidness, along with her unfortunate worry issues. I have my father’s musical genes, his humor, but unfortunately his lack of patience. More importantly, I have both of their morals; morals of hard-working, honest, kind people who would never cheat anyone out of anything. I can say without a doubt, that I have a good head on my shoulders and a kind heart all because of them.

Even though I have had experiences and people that have altered me, I still don’t know where I’m going in life. What I do know is that because of my parents’ influences and their support, I will be going nowhere but up.

My hopes for the first semester is to excel in my classes. That’s all I want to focus on. I want to know that I have my classes under control before I jump into the rest of my college experience. It is the semesters that follow that I will focus on getting more involved in Baruch,getting to know more of the people who I go to school with, and having more fun.

My concerns for the first semester are to experience anything that will stray me away from my goals and from my schoolwork. I’m going to try my hardest to find balance in my life.

Everyone has had those times in their lives on which they look back and think, “that’s when it all changed.” Whether the “it” that was forever different was minor, or whether it was a huge part of their lives. I am not any different. There are definitely several experiences in my life that have shaped who I am. But what is different about me, is that I’m not as much influenced by experiences as I am by people.

The people who have proved to be my influences and my main source of my values and morals are my parents. I am a perfectly balanced, mixed representation of both my mother and my father and I continue to realize this as I get older. I have my mother’s studious qualities, her timidness, along with her unfortunate worry issues. I have my father’s musical genes, his humor, but unfortunately his lack of patience. More importantly, I have both of their morals; morals of hard-working, honest, kind people who would never cheat anyone out of anything. I can say without a doubt, that I have a good head on my shoulders and a kind heart all because of them.

Even though I have had experiences and people that have altered me, I still don’t know where I’m going in life. What I do know is that because of my parents’ influences and their support, I will be going nowhere but up.

My hopes for the first semester is to excel in my classes. That’s all I want to focus on. I want to know that I have my classes under control before I jump into the rest of my college experience. It is the semesters that follow that I will focus on getting more involved in Baruch,getting to know more of the people who I go to school with, and having more fun.

My concerns for the first semester are to experience anything that will stray me away from my goals and from my schoolwork. I’m going to try my hardest to find balance in my life.

So you want to get to know me. Here are the match.com generic facts: I’m pretty tall, maybe even 5′ 1″ which means I tower over everyone. It’s a hard life… Brown eyes, brown hair. The usual. My marital status- single (I’m only seventeen) and my faith is Jewish. My education is Baruch College, the Honors program. I’ve been playing the piano since first grade, and recently I’ve picked up guitar. I love shoes and clothes in what can only be described as an unhealthy way; I love my family and my friends. Now I suppose I should start with the real facts. I’m not really sure I’ve had experiences that have shaped who I am. I’m a college freshman- what experiences could I possibly have had that were life changing?  Maybe that’s what my hope is for this semester-  a change in perspective. But I don’t think it’s only one experience that can shape who you are- it’s the passage of time that has brought me to many conclusions. Trial and error has matured me in so many ways. I’ve learned through heartbreak; I’ve learned through my happiness and successes, and also disappointments and failures. I have regrets, but not about what you’d think. I don’t regret going through heartbreak, even though it’s made me wary. I do regret not taking more risks in high school. I don’t want to graduate college feeling like I didn’t live my time in college up to it’s potential. I don’t have many expectations of college, but I do have expectations for myself.