Author: Jay

Last year if someone would have asked me where I saw myself in a year, I would have never had said Baruch College, or even college at all. I have always wanted to go to the Army (and still do), but because of my parents’ wishes for me to at least try college first, I ended up in Baruch. Thanks to them, I have met great professors and advisors, like Dr. Locke (who sparked my interest in psychology) and Mr. Medina, an amazing mentor, and (hopefully) lifelong friends (I can now say that my squad is everyone else’s “squad goals”).

In the span of 3 or so months, I created a bond with people stronger than I have with friends that I have known for years. One such bond was with Nadia, who showed me (and is continuing to show me) a whole new level of friendship that I have never been exposed to before.

While I chase my dream of joining the military, my college career will continue. I joined TEAM Baruch where I can hopefully learn much more things than a textbook can teach. I hope to join other clubs that interest me throughout my time in Baruch.

Even though Baruch is a commuter school and I told myself that if I were to ever go to college, I would be dorming on a big campus, the Baruch Scholars program really helped in getting me used to coming to school everyday. Waking up super early for a class was only bearable because it was psychology with Dr. Locke and the rest of the Baruch Scholars who I came to love over the course of this semester.

Nadia (in the Perspective of Jay)’s Story:

Time for an anecdote! A few weeks ago, in psychology, Dr. Locke asked us what our motivation was for coming to school. Breaking the silence of the classroom, I courageously raised my hand and said that the people in the room were my motivation for coming to school. With my face turning into the color of a grilled tomato and the embarrassing “awww Jayyyyy”, Dr. Locke exclaimed that it was a cute motivation to have and I regretted my comment the moment I said it. Now where was I going with this? Oh right, the Baruch Scholars program and coming to school. This school sucks but at least the people are nice. #SQUADDDDDD Shoutout to my homies who spend the long 4-hour breaks with me. Hope our friendship isn’t seasonal. (Nadia wrote this by the way)

In high school, by senior year, I had a set role. I was in JROTC and my roles and duties were  decided for me. I was the Drum Corps Commander, so I was supposed to lead the team. Transitioning into college took away that set role and forced me to start over. Over the course of the first month, my role was just to get used to Baruch and the little group of people that I traveled to most my classes with.

As i join clubs or find other things that I am passionate about, my role will grow and change. Right now, my role is just to be a good friend so I can actually keep my friends instead of ending up being by myself through this rough journey called college.

Other than my school role, my role in society is to be a good citizen. People will have different opinions on what that entails, but everyone would agree that community service or just helping out the community is one way to be a good citizen. Small things like picking up trash on the side of the sidewalk, or recycling instead of throwing out the paper bag in the trash might not seem like much, but they do add up.

The first time I did community service was for a project, similar to the one we are doing in our class. My group went to the Ronald McDonald House to bake for the families staying there. I didn’t even know how to bake or have the slightest idea how to make batter for the cookies, but I needed to get a good grade so I went along with it. The whole time we were baking, I kept questioning how making a couple cookies and brownies would make some kid happy, and how such a little thing could mean the world to someone. Once we were done baking, I could see that what we did actually had an impact on the kids. Their smiles and their shyness coming back for seconds touched me in a way that I’ve never felt before. I realized that although community service is about giving back, you also learn a lot from it too.

Our role as Honor Students should be to be able to do things like that. Give back to the community in any way possible. I feel that all of our roles should just be to leave Baruch better than we found it.

 

 

As you might have already noticed, I am not your average girl, or what a “normal” girl is supposed to be. I don’t wear dresses, or skirts (whatever the difference is), I don’t curl my hair or dye it, I don’t know what any kind of makeup is called, let alone know how to use it. Instead, I wear baggy clothes, have the same hairstyle everyday (since the 8th grade), and never wear makeup.

Ever since I could remember, I’ve always questioned why girls gravitated towards one sort of thing, while boys gravitated towards another. At age four, I wanted to play with my brother’s toy soldiers, not play dress up with my dolls. At age seven, I wanted to take Tae Kwon Do classes, not ballet. At age nine, I wanted to play baseball and soccer. At age twelve, I wanted to play the bass guitar, which apparently is a “boy instrument” according to the salesman at Guitar Center. At age fifteen, I wanted to play the biggest and loudest drum in Drum Corps, one that no girl had ever played before in a parade. Now at eighteen, I want to join the military.

All my life, up to this point, I’ve had to prove myself to everyone else. That I could do it, whatever it was, just as well, or even better than others could. When everyone told me I couldn’t, I only had a few tell me I could and will do it. Having to constantly compete with other people’s idea of what a “normal” girl, over time, caused me to become tougher and more determined to prove them wrong. Now, whenever someone tells me that I cannot do something, for whatever reason, I make it my mission to do it.

Doing things that were widely perceived to being “boy” activities has shaped me into the person I am today. I always set out to do my best in anything that I do, including school work. I don’t make excuses, but find ways to get things done.

I’m not your “typical girl”, but then again, who is?