Baruch Scholars 2011

I’ve been through a lot in life, and what I am most proud of is my patience.  Back when I was a little boy, I used to throw very violent tantrums at my immediate family on a nearly daily basis – everything that didn’t go my way made me very angry.  One day, however, I asked myself “Why are these little things such a big deal to me?” There was no good answer in my mind for this question.  Since then, I’ve never lost my patience with anything and thrown unnecessary fits from the climaxes of emotions I used to fail to control.  I believe patience is a very necessary thing, and, with today’s technology we should in theory have plenty of time (seeing as the pilgrims had some free time without much technology) so we have no great reason to grow impatient and be in a hurry, some people need to calm down!

As a college student I expect to gain the knowledge and skills to acquire a job which will be enjoyable for me.  This is all I really expect from college, it is the sole reason I am attending, however, I’m sure many other things will come of it: friends, connections, and excitment).

I expect it to have less consistent assignments than high school, but when we do get work to do, it will be more lengthy, analytical, and will require more thought.

I hope my first semester will bring me many experiences which will assist me through the rest of college and I am moderately concerned with maintaining a GPA which will satisfy me.

Throughout my life, I’ve had a few hurdles to jump over. However, I’m still grateful for everything that I have and I’m glad that it wasn’t any worse. The thing that I suppose has shaped me the most are the fact that I’ve had to adapt in a variety of areas and situations. I attended three high schools and was new in each one for various reasons, but the main reason was my grandmother’s diagnosis of leukemia when I was in the ninth grade. My family and I basically put our lives on hold and moved to New York that year and adjusting to a new town was difficult and the loss of my grandmother proved to be even more difficult. I learned more about myself in these years and grew as a person. I realized how important family and friends are to me, and I realized that even in different situations, the way I act and work are basically the same. As a college student, I expect to improve my work ethic and grow in that sense as well as prepare more fervently for my future. My hopes are that I’ll succeed academically and socially this semester and my concern is primarily the uncertainty that is in college. I’m terrified that I’ll do poorly on my exams and papers primarily because I don’t know what to expect. I’ve never been so afraid for my grades before and I get nervous just thinking about it. Hopefully, these fears will disappear after my first major week of stress the first week of October when I have two exams and a paper due one day and another exam just a few days later. Wish me luck!

Hello, my name is Do Kyung Na and I go by Erica. I was born in Seoul, South Korea and lived there whole my life. After middle school, I was transferred to American high school and the biggest obstacle I faced was my English because my English was not good enough for communicating or understanding lectures. Improving my English and learning American culture were hard, but I was able to learn the importance of having confidence and opening up.

I am enjoying my life at CUNY Baruch so far. Classes are interesting and professors are nice and passionate overall. My essay grades were not as good as I expected and there are a lot reading assignments I have to do, but it makes me realize that I am now getting advanced education which means it is quite different from high school; it makes me work harder.

I hope I can maintain my GPA high enough throughout my college life and I want to be involved in many extracurricular activities, but there is a problem, which is that my time management skill is poor. I am an all-nighter, definitely not a morning person so I tend to stay up until 4:30 a.m. then go to bed and wake up at 10:00 a.m. However, I think I will have to change my schedule a little bit because it is not working well as it used to back in high school and I want to improve my time management skill so I can work efficiently.

Hello, my name is Do Kyung Na and I go by Erica. I was born in Seoul, South Korea and lived there whole my life. After middle school, I was transferred to American high school and the biggest obstacle I faced was my English because my English was not good enough for communicating or understanding lectures. Improving my English and learning American culture were hard, but I was able to learn the importance of having confidence and opening up.

I am enjoying my life at CUNY Baruch so far. Classes are interesting and professors are nice and passionate overall. My essay grades were not as good as I expected and there are a lot reading assignments I have to do, but it makes me realize that I am now getting advanced education which means it is quite different from high school; it makes me work harder.

I hope I can maintain my GPA high enough throughout my college life and I want to be involved in many extracurricular activities, but there is a problem, which is that my time management skill is poor. I am an all-nighter, definitely not a morning person so I tend to stay up until 4:30 a.m. then go to bed and wake up at 10:00 a.m. However, I think I will have to change my schedule a little bit because it is not working well as it used to back in high school and I want to improve my time management skill so I can work efficiently.

Welcome to Blogs@Baruch!

This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging.

Welcome to Blogs@Baruch!

This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging.

I am an only child. People always tell me that it “must have been lonely.” I was never lonely. In fact, growing up, I spent a lot of time with my cousins who I consider to be my “siblings.” In hindsight, they were even better than siblings- all the benefits of companionship without any of the fighting. But when they weren’t around, I had to find ways to entertain myself. You could usually find me building something out of cardboard boxes; I enjoyed creating forts and houses for myself. Cardboard was a very precious material for me back then.

It may surprise you to know that I never created an imaginary friend. I’ve always been a loner.  Maybe growing up as an only child conditioned me to be this way. Maybe I’m just this way at heart. Being a loner doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy company; it just means that I am not hesitant to be alone in all sorts of environments.

Growing up with nearly a dozen cousins gave me a good sampling of different beliefs and ideologies. I was never a particularly intolerant person. I held some common misconceptions about people and human nature as a kid, but I understand much more now. Though my beliefs have evolved over the years, one has remained constant: I do not accept the theory of a god. I’m not a militant atheist who believes that religion is a problem that needs solving; I am only concerned with my personal beliefs and their protection. I do my best to stay out of other people’s affairs.

That’s me in a nutshell- at least who I am now. Who I want to be isn’t different in terms of beliefs. I do see myself as having a high-paying career when I eventually get thrown out into the work force. I know that I should do something that I enjoy- something that really fulfills me. Fortunately for me, that something is making lots of cash. Some may say that money isn’t the right kind of motivation, but they only see the surface. It’s what I want to do with that money that really motivates me to attain my ideal future. I won’t go into details here.

I figured that the first major step towards my perfect economic status was getting a head start during my first semester. I’ve been doing my work and getting to know people. I would like to try to get an internship during the summer, but I know this will be difficult considering I’m really only taking core classes right now. Hopefully I can sell myself to employers well enough to overcome this.

I am an only child. People always tell me that it “must have been lonely.” I was never lonely. In fact, growing up, I spent a lot of time with my cousins who I consider to be my “siblings.” In hindsight, they were even better than siblings- all the benefits of companionship without any of the fighting. But when they weren’t around, I had to find ways to entertain myself. You could usually find me building something out of cardboard boxes; I enjoyed creating forts and houses for myself. Cardboard was a very precious material for me back then.

It may surprise you to know that I never created an imaginary friend. I’ve always been a loner.  Maybe growing up as an only child conditioned me to be this way. Maybe I’m just this way at heart. Being a loner doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy company; it just means that I am not hesitant to be alone in all sorts of environments.

Growing up with nearly a dozen cousins gave me a good sampling of different beliefs and ideologies. I was never a particularly intolerant person. I held some common misconceptions about people and human nature as a kid, but I understand much more now. Though my beliefs have evolved over the years, one has remained constant: I do not accept the theory of a god. I’m not a militant atheist who believes that religion is a problem that needs solving; I am only concerned with my personal beliefs and their protection. I do my best to stay out of other people’s affairs.

That’s me in a nutshell- at least who I am now. Who I want to be isn’t different in terms of beliefs. I do see myself as having a high-paying career when I eventually get thrown out into the work force. I know that I should do something that I enjoy- something that really fulfills me. Fortunately for me, that something is making lots of cash. Some may say that money isn’t the right kind of motivation, but they only see the surface. It’s what I want to do with that money that really motivates me to attain my ideal future. I won’t go into details here.

I figured that the first major step towards my perfect economic status was getting a head start during my first semester. I’ve been doing my work and getting to know people. I would like to try to get an internship during the summer, but I know this will be difficult considering I’m really only taking core classes right now. Hopefully I can sell myself to employers well enough to overcome this.

I grew up in the crappiest apartment in Brooklyn, in which had all sorts of rodents and insects, deteriorating floor boards, and broken walls, with a family of angry people. But it wasn’t always that way…

My family used to be “happy.” Although I am too young to remember, I’m sure those times were there. My mom told me of those glorious days. What I do remember is my parents arguing in the middle of the night, waking my brother and me up.

So as you would imagine, I always wanted to escape. I never wanted to be home. So I always stayed around the block with all the neighborhood kids. I was the only Chinese girl on the block that socialized, so they picked on me. Individually, they’d pretend to be my friend, but when I wasn’t around, they’d talk about me and plot ways to start fights with me. By the time I was in fifth grade, I “fought” the same girl three times. And after every fight, I wouldn’t speak to that girl, but she kept insisting to talk to me, because we took the bus together…

But as I grew older, I understood the meaning of using someone. I learned that she was using me… so I stopped talking to her, tried to distance myself. I developed a very strong personality from doing so.

Throughout my childhood, my parents were always angry at one another. My mom was angry because my dad kept gambling. My dad was angry because my mom was angry. As they argued, I learned who was “right” and who was “wrong.” My dad would steal money from my mom’s personal bank account, wallet … etc in order to fund his gambling addiction. My mom would be left with the burden of the bills. And when I learned and actually UNDERSTOOD the situation, I vowed never to gamble (except for the occasional scratch cards). I also promised that when I grow up, I would take good care of my mom.

Because of the disgusting place I was living in, I knew I never wanted to put my child, or myself in those living conditions ever again. So I set an ambition for myself, I had to make loads of money in order to live in a nice place – whether it be a BEAUTIFUL, modern apartment or a cozy classic home.

Finally approaching the end of my education, it’s basically crunch time for me. I NEED to do well in order to succeed in the future. If I want that money to take care of my family, and myself, I expect nothing less than great grades.

I’m still not sure whether or not I’m happy to be in Baruch Honors or not. I love being in the honors program, I feel especially privileged amongst the 3000 or 5000 other students here. But, everything feels so mundane. I expected college … slightly differently– more exciting.

I worry constantly about my old habits since high school. IAs of right now, I am certain they still follow me. When I return home, I don’t touch ANY homework. I go on Facebook, Tumblr.. etc. Homework is not a thought in my mind, I feel as though I have none, but in reality… that is not the case. The homework load is slightly more than that of Stuyvesant’s. So, finishing the work is not a problem, it’s the quality of the work that I worry about. I hope to rid myself of these habits…

I also hope to establish a ton of connections that would possibly come of use in the future.

I grew up in the crappiest apartment in Brooklyn, in which had all sorts of rodents and insects, deteriorating floor boards, and broken walls, with a family of angry people. But it wasn’t always that way…

My family used to be “happy.” Although I am too young to remember, I’m sure those times were there. My mom told me of those glorious days. What I do remember is my parents arguing in the middle of the night, waking my brother and me up.

So as you would imagine, I always wanted to escape. I never wanted to be home. So I always stayed around the block with all the neighborhood kids. I was the only Chinese girl on the block that socialized, so they picked on me. Individually, they’d pretend to be my friend, but when I wasn’t around, they’d talk about me and plot ways to start fights with me. By the time I was in fifth grade, I “fought” the same girl three times. And after every fight, I wouldn’t speak to that girl, but she kept insisting to talk to me, because we took the bus together…

But as I grew older, I understood the meaning of using someone. I learned that she was using me… so I stopped talking to her, tried to distance myself. I developed a very strong personality from doing so.

Throughout my childhood, my parents were always angry at one another. My mom was angry because my dad kept gambling. My dad was angry because my mom was angry. As they argued, I learned who was “right” and who was “wrong.” My dad would steal money from my mom’s personal bank account, wallet … etc in order to fund his gambling addiction. My mom would be left with the burden of the bills. And when I learned and actually UNDERSTOOD the situation, I vowed never to gamble (except for the occasional scratch cards). I also promised that when I grow up, I would take good care of my mom.

Because of the disgusting place I was living in, I knew I never wanted to put my child, or myself in those living conditions ever again. So I set an ambition for myself, I had to make loads of money in order to live in a nice place – whether it be a BEAUTIFUL, modern apartment or a cozy classic home.

Finally approaching the end of my education, it’s basically crunch time for me. I NEED to do well in order to succeed in the future. If I want that money to take care of my family, and myself, I expect nothing less than great grades.

I’m still not sure whether or not I’m happy to be in Baruch Honors or not. I love being in the honors program, I feel especially privileged amongst the 3000 or 5000 other students here. But, everything feels so mundane. I expected college … slightly differently– more exciting.

I worry constantly about my old habits since high school. IAs of right now, I am certain they still follow me. When I return home, I don’t touch ANY homework. I go on Facebook, Tumblr.. etc. Homework is not a thought in my mind, I feel as though I have none, but in reality… that is not the case. The homework load is slightly more than that of Stuyvesant’s. So, finishing the work is not a problem, it’s the quality of the work that I worry about. I hope to rid myself of these habits…

I also hope to establish a ton of connections that would possibly come of use in the future.