Introduction

My name is Albana Gurra. I am from Albania, and came to US 5 years ago. After finishing my Associate in Applied Science majoring in Business Management last semester in Borough of Manhattan Community College, I thought I was going to be done with school. But, I change my mind and with the support of my husband, now I’m attempting to achieve a Bachelor in Finance.

Having a book in my hands, happens to me often to think, that are not only words, but inside of it is the time: time to write the book and the time to enjoy it. When I read, I can connect myself with the certain character of the story, experiencing everything that he/she does in the novel.  My favorite book as a child was “The adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi, an Italian writer. At that time I was afraid to tell lies, because I was afraid to become like “Pinocchio nose”.

I am a book lover, and I respect all generations of writers and I appreciate each book. Where ever I am at one moment in time, a certain book may be a companion, light, relief or inspiration.  Typically, I do prefer to read books in their original language, when I can understand the language. In the translation, the actual message told in the original version of the book, may be misinterpreted.

I think reading can improve our life. There are so many people who just read words, but to be a real reader one has to see the values and stories behind the words. I hope that I’m not the only person who reads this way!

Hi everyone,

My name is Brandon Green and this will be my third semester here at Baruch, although this will technically be the beginning of my junior year as I have put myself on a schedule that allows me to graduate in three years. I am majoring in Finance and hope to pursue a career in Sales and Trading.

If i’m honest, I must say that i’m not a huge reader. I have only ever read one book series for pleasure, D. J. MacHale’s Pendragon.  It is a fiction series that focuses on the main character as he goes from universe to universe, protecting each one from a villain. It’s really a classic superhero plot line. Outside of my reading for school, I focus my reading for pleasure on two categories, books and news that are related to my future career, and automotive journalism. As for the first category, I am currently in the middle of reading a handbook titled Fundamentals of Corporate Valuation, which I find very interesting. My boss from this last summer turned me onto reading macroeconomic reports from various sources, coupled with world news, and this greatly helps my understanding of why certain shifts in the world markets occur.

I have been a car guy for as long as I can remember, so naturally, I spend a lot of time reading automotive journalism. My favorite site for automotive news and commentary is Jalopnik.com. I find that the journalists on this site tend to have less bias than those from major publications like MotorTrend or Car & Driver, and are not afraid to tell you like it is. On any given day, I probably log onto this site AT LEAST three times. If anyone ever needs car advice, I am literally a walking car encyclopedia, so don’t hesitate to ask!

I look forward to a great semester with everyone!

My name is Yanfen Wu and I am an intended Digital Marketing major with a minor in Graphic Design. Truthfully, my career path is an unfathomable maze. I find it difficult to stick with a concentration, not because I’m intrigued by many fields, but because I’m reluctant to fail and restart. Currently, I am trying my best to suppress my inner pessimist, and following the ingenuous aphorism of carpe diem.

I was an avid reader when I was in elementary and middle school. I am honored to say that I have reread the whole book series of “The Boxcar Children” a stunning total of approximately fifteen times when I was in third and fourth grade. My older brother had made a face somewhere in between resignation and pure disgust whenever he had seen that I was reading “The Boxcar Children” for the umpteenth time. He had asked me if I were possessed by the devil, to which I insisted with the best possible diction of a grade-schooler that the series was a marvelous, unparalleled work of art that delved the reader into a different dimension.

After my episodic, possibly unhealthy obsession in that specific book series, I began to frequent my local public library. I ventured into the section of ‘manga’ (Japanese comic books) when I was in middle school. I could frankly spend my entire life talking about the beauty of manga, but what captivated me into loving it was its uniqueness and diversity in terms of genre. From my discovery of manga, my interest in actual novels spiraled downward into oblivion. Nearly a whole decade later, I am still helplessly and conceivably infatuated with manga. I’d say it both ruined and saved my life.

Presently, I would love to set aside some time to get into reading novels once again. I have always especially adored fiction novels because of their intriguing plots that embody fictitious, yet highly relatable characters. (I remember that I loved James Patterson as an author.) However, it is hard for me to manage some time to read as I currently part-time in a Library Services Center in Queens before and after classes, as well as on some of my days off. It is also an excruciatingly long commute from my home to Baruch because I reside in southern Brooklyn. I practically live on the train.

Lastly, my most scandalous revelation is that I have never read Harry Potter.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Ismael Ramirez, I just recently transferred from BMCC after completing my associates degree in Business Administration this past summer session. I was born and raised here in New York City and although born in the Bronx I have resided most of my life in Manhattan. My family immigrated from Ecuador and I am a first generation American. I studied for two years in Ecuador , I speak fluent Spanish but I still tend to struggle with my writing and reading skills. My current major is Accounting and I hope to graduate by the year 2018. Apart from school I work the night shift in UPS, meaning my days start a bit early than the average person and my nights are still when the sun is out. This has made it quite difficult to find a lot of time for the normal college lifestyle since I am in bed usually by 6pm. After reading some of my fellow classmates introduction, I now consider myself quite lucky to be able to come to class with just about a 30 to 45 minute commute.

Leisure reading has not been something that I enjoy doing very often since most of my reading have been because the text are required for class. Although recently to not fall asleep on my train rides to work, I have attempted to pick up reading again and have struggled to find a book that I enjoy enough to try and finish. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Color of Water by James McBride are two books that I have recently read and have captured my attention enough to read them to completion. What I hope to gain from this class is a better understanding of the literature and try to find a genre that could resonate with me as a reader, as well as improving my writing since it is something that I have struggled with in the past. I hope to get to know all of you during our class discussions and help one another grow as scholars.

Hello, everyone, my name is Angela Wong. I am beginning my sophomore year at Baruch this fall and I am intending to major in accounting. My family and I are from Hong Kong, and we are living in Bayside, Queens. It takes about an hour and a half to commute to Baruch, so I try to schedule all my classes into two days. Having a large sum of spare time, I work as a receptionist in an acupuncture office. I first learned English when I was nine years old when my younger brother and I studied in a boarding school in England. Unlike some of my classmates have mentioned, I don’t particularly like to read for leisure. Almost all the books I read are because it’s required.

Growing up, I’ve always been fascinated by war-related and family oriented works. “Private Peaceful” by Michael Morpurgo is a war novel which I read for my English class when I was in England. It was the first book that I took my time to read for leisure because I enjoyed it so much when I was reading it for class. Other than English, I can also read in Chinese both traditional and simplified characters, I try to read short stories in Chinese in order not to forget Chinese. Although I lack the passion for reading, I am looking forward to the works which we will read in this class to get to know the different cultures and to enhance my writing and communication skills.

Best regards,

Angela Wong

Hello class, my name is Alec Schonfeld. I am a sophomore and am excited for my second year in Baruch College. Even though I enjoyed my freshman year I am even more excited to start my second year with the knowledge I now have from one year in college. I grew up in Long Island, New York which is fairly close to the city, so even though I am not living at home with my family I could always just get onto a train and be home within the hour. I have one sibling, an older sister, who I am very close to and she also lives in the city. I enjoy living in the city and at the same time being so close to my family. I feel it is the best of both worlds, being able to live on my own while still being close to my family.  I wouldn’t call myself an avid reader, but I do enjoy reading about topics that interest me. Anything to do with basketball, biographies of people I admire, and books about finance. I read articles regularly on bleacher report( a sports website) and CNBC. I could read and speak in Hebrew as well. I took French in high school but due to my teacher or my lack of paying attention, my vocabulary doesn’t extend much past bonjour. One of my favorite books as a child was Dr. Seuss. I’m looking forward to a semester with you guys and learning about the great works of American literature. From our first day  in class I could tell it will be a very interesting and exciting class. I’m looking forward to reading these Great Works as well as discussing them in class with all my classmates. I have taken an English class in my first two semesters and they were both great experiences, so I’m happy I have the opportunity to take another English class this upcoming semester.

Hello everyone! My legal name is Yinan He, but I prefer to be called Jacqueline. I was originally born and raised in China, specifically in the  FuZhou province. I moved to New York when I was nine years old and I definitely think that moving here was the greatest decision I have ever made. I am currently a sophomore here at Baruch, but I am transferring to Hunter because I have recently decided that business is not for me and that I want to pursue a career in the  medical field. I want to major in biological sciences and minor in psychology. I enjoy sports such as swimming, handball, and racquetball. And I currently work part time in retail at a store called Tommy Bahama.

I was never big on reading novels or anything because the pressure of having to finish a piece of work and having to write a five page paper analyzing it by a deadline causes me to lose interest in reading it completely. I would say the genres I enjoy reading the most are realistic fiction or science fiction. I like a few books from what I read back in middle school and high school. For example, “The Giver” and “Of Mice and Men”. Even though I mostly read for assignments for school, I did read a few novels for leisure as well, and my current favorite author is Haruki Murakami. I read his book “Norwegian Wood” over the summer and I absolutely loved it and would definitely recommend. I do not read books in any other language, however, I can read and write simplified Chinese. I hope this class is better than my last and that it can help me appreciate literature, and give me more interest and motivation to read more.

Hello Everybody,

My name is Jacob Flikshteyn, but everyone either calls me Jake or Jay. My family and I are from Russia and we reside in Queens. Besides being a sophomore here at Baruch, I spend my mornings as a truck driver doing local deliveries, and my evenings as a real estate agent. I leave very little time for myself to rest or sleep, which I don’t mind as much as most would assume. It is very difficult for me to go through my day without having a task to attack. Not having an agenda always causes me to feel anxious, and as a result I keep myself very busy and always under pressure.

This neurotic trait of mine has always made buckling down on a book a challenge for me. I do most of my reading on subway rides between the city and queens, reading a few chapters a day. However, I prefer to read a book from start to finish. I hate leaving tasks undone and when I start something; I usually work until it is complete. As a result, reading a book at the pace of a few chapters a week has always bothered me.

Growing up, my favorite book was, “Where the Wild things Are.” It was about a boy that would go to his room at night and conjure up these dreams of him being king of the wild. Looking back, I think I liked the book so much because I was able to relate to the boy in the story. My imagination ran as wild as his and I was able to draw a parallel between the two of us. Now as an adult, I feel as though the books I enjoy most are still the ones I easily relate to. For example, I really enjoyed both texts, “Catcher in the Rye,” and “Into the Wild,” which both works about teenagers that try to pave a way for their future.