One.

My name is Julia Leung, I just recently turned eighteen on September 13, and I live in Queens, New York. These are just substantial facts that do not define me as a person. I am an entity of confusion, doubts, hopes, and dreams. I thought I knew who I was back four years ago, as I began my freshman year in high school. But since then, I had realized that I was not exactly who I thought I was. With the loss of my track team captainship, my position on my high school yearbook committee, my boyfriend, and close friends upon graduation, I find myself asking: who am I? A question that I hope to find answers to in four years’ time, when I graduate from college.

As I enter my freshman year at Baruch College, I find myself worrying about the top three things that plague almost every other freshman students’ mind: grade point average, finding a place for myself in a commuter school, and my future. It is a fresh, clean slate for all of us – a new chance to make amends to past grades and mistakes. It is something so pristine that I hope that I would not ruin, as many would wish not to. Finding my own place in this vast commuter school is another worry on my list. I am a sociable person, but I feel that many of the friends that I make here will be nothing more than passerbys that I wave hello and goodbye to in the hallways. I long for a more deeper and committed level of friendship to keep past the length of college. My future is another thought that often consumes my mind. I’m worried that, perhaps, business is not the right career track for me. I find myself conflicted between listening to my parents and following their foolproof plan to a financially secure life and between following my own passions in a area of study completely opposite of business.

Baruch seems to be not much different than my high school in the regards that I am still commuting and in a large student body, but the atmosphere seems to be a welcomed change. The students seem to be more open and friendly and the air is always tinged with an electricity of busyness. There are also options that were inconceivable in my high school – such as the opportunity to study abroad, something that has been on my mind constantly and, hopefully, something that I can endeavor in my sophomore year. This first year of college is one of excitement and a beginning of a journey that won’t be completed for a while. The change that I anticipate for myself would be mostly introspective – maturing mentally and emotionally. This first year will allow me to embark on a personal revelation of what I want for my future, how to accomplish these goals, and, also, to find out, for myself, what sort of person I hope to become to be.