Hello everyone, my name is Rina.

One of the most defining moments of my life came this summer when I realized that in college and adulthood, there is no reason to have meaningless friendships. During a casual day with my friends, I noticed two of the girls making fun of a third girl who wasn’t present at the time. I told them it was disrespectful to joke about someone who was supposedly their friend, and wasn’t even there to defend herself. Although they dismissed what I said, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. If they could easily make fun of her, what made me think they wouldn’t do it to me? I haven’t spoken to either of the girls since. I realize that I can’t waste my time on people who can throw others under the bus without a second thought. That moment significantly redefined how I viewed friendship and its importance.

As an incoming freshman, I see college as a world of opportunities. Cliché, I know. I expect college to be a place where I can find not only what I am good at, but what I really love to do, whether or not those end up being the same things. Not paying for college is like icing on the cake because it lets me take more diverse classes without worrying about the cost. My hope for this first semester is to keep my grade point average high and really retain some knowledge from my classes. I am taking some really interesting courses, like psychology and speech, which can give me important lessons for the future. With my excitement for the future come many worries. One of my biggest concerns is underestimating the work load ahead of me. For now, I have not been receiving too much work, and I am afraid I will get used to this. However, I am trying to stay ahead of the game and not slack off. I am also concerned that finals week will be too much to handle, but there is still time before I have to worry about that.

Hi everyone! My name is Ryan Cox, and I am a Freshman at Baruch. I’d love for you to get to know more about who I am! Now, people who know me personally, know that I talk about my beloved France and Italy just about 24/7. Every year, I spend my whole summer visiting my mother’s birthplace of Corsica, a French Island in the Mediterranean Sea, and my family in Calabria, southern Italy. These summers have undoubtedly impacted every aspect of my life, and shaped the person who I am today. My yearly trips instilled a intense passion to travel and sparked my love for learning and speaking different languages. Most importantly, these trips have given me two very valuable perspectives on life. Growing up in New York City, we are often trained to go to school or work, commute home, and do the same the next day. This routine becomes so robotic and tedious, that it often doesn’t enable for time to truly enjoy life. Life in Europe, at least in Southern France and Italy, is drastically different. People take time out of their day to live their life to the fullest, whether that be spending time with family, or being outdoors with nature. Over the years, this principle has grounded me in my busy life as a New Yorker, and has made me realize that life is too short not to enjoy.

As a college student, I am looking forward to taking classes in which I actually see an issue or subject in a new perspective. Finding classes relevant to my life or my future is something I haven’t experienced in a long time! During my first semester, I look forward to adjusting to college life, and most of all being s organized as I possibly can. Hopefully I can keep procrastination at bay!

Until next time,

Ryan Cox

Hi everyone! My name is Ryan Cox, and I am a Freshman at Baruch. I’d love for you to get to know more about who I am! Now, people who know me personally, know that I talk about my beloved France and Italy just about 24/7. Every year, I spend my whole summer visiting my mother’s birthplace of Corsica, a French Island in the Mediterranean Sea, and my family in Calabria, southern Italy. These summers have undoubtedly impacted every aspect of my life, and shaped the person who I am today. My yearly trips instilled a intense passion to travel and sparked my love for learning and speaking different languages. Most importantly, these trips have given me two very valuable perspectives on life. Growing up in New York City, we are often trained to go to school or work, commute home, and do the same the next day. This routine becomes so robotic and tedious, that it often doesn’t enable for time to truly enjoy life. Life in Europe, at least in Southern France and Italy, is drastically different. People take time out of their day to live their life to the fullest, whether that be spending time with family, or being outdoors with nature. Over the years, this principle has grounded me in my busy life as a New Yorker, and has made me realize that life is too short not to enjoy.

As a college student, I am looking forward to taking classes in which I actually see an issue or subject in a new perspective. Finding classes relevant to my life or my future is something I haven’t experienced in a long time! During my first semester, I look forward to adjusting to college life, and most of all being s organized as I possibly can. Hopefully I can keep procrastination at bay!

Until next time,

Ryan Cox

My name is Basya Buchbinder. I live and have grown up in Brooklyn. I was raised in a Jewish religious family and up to this point have attended religious schools my whole life. My parents are both hardworking individuals who have instilled in me the value of having a strong work ethic. Two extracurricular activities I participated in have helped shaped me as an individual. The first was volunteering (and eventually working) with the special needs children. This has made me a more accepting person and has made me less shy to volunteer in various circumstances. The other activity was being an “attorney” in my schools mock trial team. I joined on a whim since it seemed interesting. It turned out to be a great experience as my team was fortunate enough to get guidance from attorneys who work for the city government of New York. It was exciting to gain exposure to this field and perform in court. I am planning on joining the mock trial team in Baruch as a result of this experience.

As a college student I aim to further my education, become friends with people of various backgrounds and refine my organization skills. Although I have been having a difficult time transitioning from high school to college I hope I will become adept at time management by the end of this semester. I have recently begun taking advantage of all the assistance that this college offers (writing center, tutoring etc.) and they have proven to be helpful.I hope to remain in the honors program and take advantage of all that is being offered.

Being a Christian has without a doubt shaped who I am. Jesus died for our sins even though we didn’t deserve it. His radical self-sacrificing love makes me desire to do something bigger in this life and to love others unconditionally as well.

Nevertheless, being the only boy in a family of 6 (GAME:guess the remaining 5) has also influenced who I am. My father especially has been a role model in my life and with him working in Finance, I am leaning towards that major. Being the only boy, I try to be assertive and be a good role model for my younger siblings.

I expect that in Baruch College, I will find my career path and learn more about this world and City that I live in. Business is such a large field so as I begin to know more about all it’s different parts, I hope that God will lead me to choose something to focus on and make an impact in my society or even the world.

I also expect to learn more about this City. Before coming to Baruch, I could probably count the number of times I have been to the city with my hands. This city has so many things to offer besides food and I hope to learn more about it.

I also hope to make long-lasting relationships here. I have already begun to love the people in Baruch College. I am so fortunate to meet my professors, my fellow scholars, Mr. Medina, Crystal and many more. College is going to be a crucial time for me and I will make the most out of it.

Hello Readers! My name is Jason Nieh and I am a Freshman in Baruch College. I graduated from Townsend Harris High School but let’s not go into that. That’s old news.

Here in Baruch, I’m trying to get accustomed to the life of leaving the house sometimes at 10 then waking up sometimes at 5. This up and down rollercoaster really isn’t helping my transition. Nevertheless, I am so far really enjoying college. I am extremely fortunate to be able to share classes with some brilliant people who are also part of the Baruch Scholars program.

This is just an introduction and I look forward to writing  more posts on this blog.

Hello Readers! My name is Jason Nieh and I am a Freshman in Baruch College. I graduated from Townsend Harris High School but let’s not go into that. That’s old news.

Here in Baruch, I’m trying to get accustomed to the life of leaving the house sometimes at 10 then waking up sometimes at 5. This up and down rollercoaster really isn’t helping my transition. Nevertheless, I am so far really enjoying college. I am extremely fortunate to be able to share classes with some brilliant people who are also part of the Baruch Scholars program.

This is just an introduction and I look forward to writing  more posts on this blog.

Hi, my name is Jennifer. I’m from a family of five that lives in Brooklyn. As the oldest child of three, I was expected to be a responsible role model for my siblings. Since my parents both worked long hours every day, I was more or less in charge of my siblings. I can’t say I’ve doing a very good job at being a role model but if nothing else, I’m a hard worker. My parents don’t have to constantly be on my case about getting good grades because I’m my own motivator. If something that I do doesn’t seem 100% right, I change it until it’s satisfactory.

I attended Midwood High School before graduating and coming here to Baruch. In my high school, I was able to meet many people and mature as a person. Now that I’m at Baruch, I’m expecting an even greater experience. I wish to take courses that will increase my knowledge and allow me to grow even more as a person. Among all other things, I believe that Baruch has greater diversity and many more opportunities than my high school. There are probably tons of courses that I’ve never heard of before that are very interesting. Studying abroad is also something exciting that I plan on doing sometime in Baruch. I expect my first semester here in Baruch to be a little bumpy regarding the amount of work and getting used to a new environment. Hopefully, it’ll be smooth sailing after that and I can’t wait to get started.