Monthly Archives: October 2010

As a freshman at Baruch and a first time college student I believe that procrastination is the single most important thing that hinders me from completing my work on time. This is an especially bad habit that I am trying to break myself of. Whenever, I get an assignment I immediately look at the due date and count the time I have between the present and the due date. However, no matter how hard I try to plan in advance to work on something I almost always leave it to the night before. While that may have worked in high school where the work was comparatively far less difficult it will not cut it in college. The work is simply too much and too involving to leave it to the last minute. Leaving it to the last minute leaves me overwhelmed and frustrated. Most times before a paper is due, I am up late into the night writing, rereading and proofreading what I have written. I know that writing a paper beforehand, and giving myself more time to proofread it, always gives me a better essay.

I need to break myself of the mindset that the assignment is due later so I can push it out of my mind. The moment the work gets out of mind then I forget about it until I hear an announcement in class or I remember from reading old notes that something is due. College professors do not remind me when something is due or not due, so the responsibility lies completely on me. The transition is somewhat difficult because I am accustomed to high school where there are constant reminders as to when something is due. In fact many teachers often take the extra step of getting students emails to remind them when certain assignments are due. None of this happens in college, which gives me a certain amount of liberty and responsibility to make decisions as to how I manage my work load.

This whole procrastination issue I believe cannot be solved overnight. I am trying to balance my time between a job, school and my social life. This juggling act takes its toll on me but I need to understand that no matter what, school comes first before everything else. I am paying for these classes and if I fail them it is only going to hurt me. The professors don’t care about individual students. In a class where they have hundreds of students they cannot be bothered to learn everyone’s name. At the end of the day they are still making their money and my pass or fail means nothing to them. So I’ve learned to put school first before anything else.

In addition the school has provided planners which I do not make good use of. I believe that if I try to write everything down in the planner and utilize all its calendar reminders that I’ll be much better off. If I follow use my planner I’ll be in much better shape.

Procrastinating always leaves me with sleep deprivation because I work late into the night. This continues a cycle where I am less awake and less attentive in class. Not being at my peak hurts me because I absorb less of the lecture and it ends up in a cycle where I am always tired. Being at my peak will help me stop procrastinating because I will be more alert. I will also realize the consequences of leaving an assignment to the last minute. Leaving everything to the last minute results in a meltdown of my mind. I feel all the work pile on and my frustration increases and I get a huge headache. Being sleep deprived isn’t healthy either. My dad always told me to make sure that I got eight to nine hours of sleep no matter what. I often disobey his advice and I finally realize why he says what he does. The human body needs time to rest and recuperate after a long day. Sleeping is the body’s way of resting the mind and repairing any damage. Without a well rested mind I cannot hope to learn.

So in conclusion, what hinders me from doing my work is procrastination. I have realized what it does to me. It makes me turn out lesser quality work and it leads me to not finish some work on time and adds to my sleep deprivation. I pledge myself to stop procrastinating and to take the initiative on my work. I will start my assignments that day I get them!

Leon Vatmakhter

Asking a person who they are is a very complex question, and so this assignment brought me great difficulty. Everyone knows who they are but the problem is putting that into words. Although the following may not be exactly who I am, I believe its close enough.

I feel that to fully understand a person you must first know his past because his history is what makes that person who they are today. So as for me I was born on July 25^th 1992 in Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn. At that time my family and I were living on ocean pkwy and 18^th ave. In an apartment building in which almost everyone knew each other, all the kids played together and all of the adults sat around chatting. Such circumstances brought everyone a lot close together and so growing up in such a tight knit community brought me to become a very family oriented person. I know that I can always rely on my friends and family and they know they can rely on me. Also from this unique situation I learned that sharing really is caring, sounds corny but is actually true. Because when you’re hanging out with the same people everyday it’s nice to have everyone happy and then everyone has a good time.

The summer when I turned 6 was the first summer that my parents sent me away to summer camp. At first I was a scared of being alone the entire summer, but now I’m very grateful to my parents for all of the lessons that I learned there over the course of 11 summers. Independence was a key trait that I acquired there, as I learned to be self sufficient and learned how to take care of myself, including any problems I ran into. I learned how to make friends and how to keep them. This I find to be very important since friends, real friends, are like your second family and will always help you in your time of need. Lastly I became a pretty good athlete even won the very prestige’s Jeff Herman award for the best athlete in camp.

I think when people first look at me all they see is a skinny, average height, white kid but thank god there’s more to me than that. I’m kind and most of the time will help those who need assistance if they deserve it, because what’s the point of helping out someone if when you need their help they are nowhere to be found. I am trustworthy, always holding my promises. I feel that I have a pretty good sense of humor that I use to break tension and lighten the mood, as one of my philosophies is if everyone is laughing then everyone is happy. And who wants to be serious all the time anyway, that gets boring quickly.

One of my other philosophies that I live my life by is that you live to improve your soul. If you live your whole life and end up the same person as you started then I say you have achieved nothing. I myself don’t know exactly how I plan on improving myself but I know that when the opportunity comes, I will not waste any time. I also believe that hard work is a very important factor of life, especially in a land of opportunity such as America. If you want to make it in this world then you have to work for it, it’s not just going to jump on your lap. Even if you win the lottery there is still a lot of work involved, no one wins there first time.

So in conclusion, next time someone asks me who I am I know exactly what to say. I am Leon Vatmakhter, five foot nine, blonde hair, athletic, funny, kind and believe in hard work and improvement. Other than that you are going to have to come hang out with me.

Hey everyone. My name is Princess. There are a few ways that I could describe myself; I’m tall, friendly, kind, optimistic, cheerful and somewhat independent. In relations to other people, I am a daughter, sister, Aunt, friend, and student. Daughter: I am a daughter to two of the most beautiful parents. I’m so glad to have an intelligent and beautiful mother and a smart and hardworking father. Sister: I’m a sister to four beautiful and bright young ladies. My four older sisters are such an inspiration to me. They help me out whenever I need them because they’ve kind of experienced the same things that I’m going through now. They also inspire me with everything they have achieved, and when I grow up I want to be just like themJ. I’m also an aunt to two joyous and cheerful kids and they make my life a whole lot better. They always bring a smile to my face and I wouldn’t ask for any two other kids.

Lastly, I am a student here at Baruch. I love Baruch College. I love the fact that it’s in the city and it has a lot of diverse people who dress differently and speak different languages. Everyone is their own person here, and I love that about this school. I love all the friends that I have made and all my classmates. People don’t really believe me when I say that, but I really do love everyone and wish the best for everyone. I would hate for anyone to get really sick or fail out of school.  

One thing I hate about Baruch is that I have to take the subway to get to school every day. I hate the subway and I feel like it is very dirty and at times I get a little paranoid and don’t feel protected.

My goal at Baruch College would be to graduate with honors after four years and hopefully get a great opportunity to work for a marketing team at a really good company. My dream job would be to work for Apple™.

A moment I felt empowered was the time I took the train by myself. I never liked taking the subway, so when I finally took it, I felt a little independence.

One of my biggest fears is losing anyone close to me. I would really hate to lose one of my close friends or anyone in my family. Especially anyone in my family. I have such a close family, and I can’t imagine living my life without any of them. They all mean so much to me and losing anyone of them would really be a heart wrenching moment.

In my spare time, I like to watch Television and cook or bake. I love watching anything that’s a comedy. I love to laugh, so anything that can make me laugh would become one of my favorite shows. I also love the food channel, because of my passion for cooking.

A quote that I live by is “above all, to thine own self be true” by William Shakespeare. The first time I read this quote in Hamlet, it really spoke to me. It means that you should always be yourself no matter what you do or where you go. And I live by this quote everyday here at Baruch because I feel like if I’m myself, people will like me for who I am.

I’m Sam, born in India, curly-haired, and 6’2” as of now. I’m an ordinary individual with a lifestyle like your everyday average student. I work, go to school, live in an apartment, and have several interests, passions, and hobbies.

I’ve been playing guitar for 3 years, and I believe I still have a lot to learn. I think playing an instrument expands creativity, opens up your ears, and makes listening to music a whole new experience. If you haven’t done so already, learn to play one as soon as you can!

Video games help me out when I’m bored or stressed with school work. Like many other people, I play Call of Duty and Halo for hours of fun. I also love story-driven video games like Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid; I feel they are a much more entertaining alternative to books or movies because they are interactive, so you feel closer to the characters and story.

I work out often and am very health-conscious. I think that staying in shape plays a very big part in self-esteem. I love technology and love computers; I am an expert in helping people buy computers that are actually worth the price. You could say I’m a tech-geek.

I’m afraid of anything that crawls or looks creepy. It’s just terrifying when a living, breathing creature is crawling on you and most of the time you don’t even know it.

What I like about myself: I’m diligent, hard-working, and active-minded. I believe I’m a good older brother and son. I don’t dissrespect my parents unlike some people my age.

What I dislike about myself: I’m indecisive and tend to bite my nails a lot when under pressure.

What I think about Baruch so far: The library is massive, the gym is great, and the wifi is very convenient. You can always find places to eat, which is also very convenient. I was also lucky enough to have great professors that explain everything clearly.

I think that my biggest challenge right now is time management. In high school, my schedule was the same everyday and I used to come home at the same time every day. In college I have to keep track of all of my classes because I don’t have the same classses everyday. I also come home at different times of the day, so this forces me to plan my free time accordingly, which is already limited because of working on weekends. There’s also lot of reading required to stay on track with the class compared the reading done in high school, which was a joke.

I agree with the quote “Success is 99% mistakes and 1% learning from them” There is no way you will directly reach your goals without a few mistakes. Need to memorize some material for a test? You will not memorize in one go; of course you will make mistakes in the process. Need to lose weight? You will likely make some mistakes in changing your diet and excersizing properly. Can’t get past that level in that video game? You’ll probably need a better strategy until you finally beat it. In any case, the important thing is that you use your mistakes to improve and succeed.

I have many philosophies and rants on various topics and people. I’m not going to write all of them down here, but if you want to know more, just come and talk to me!

The name is Sean Budhua. Doesn’t seem very original but the person behind it is very unique. I have a variety of different roles in my life. I am a son, brother, grandson, & a student.  I’m a new freshman in college, I assume everyone else here is the same. We seem to all have a basic set of morals which is to graduate college and have good careers. What is different indeed between all of us, is just that. We are all different.  I hate being under pressure, especially by people who annoy me. Basically not being able to do what I want urks me the most. Parents seem to give lectures to either guide us or slowly kill us.  I find myself to be outgoing, sarcastic, and open minded and laid back.  I have fears just like any other person out there. I am a afraid of failing. I am afraid of not being able to live up to my potential. I don’t want to end up settling for less than what I am capable of.  At times I am scared of what life has in store for me. I don’t want to regret anything. What I like best is having fun, hanging out with my friends, partying, socially drinking. I love food. I think it’s one of Gods greatest gifts on this earth. Pizza is the best, Buffalo wings, & cheese burgers just to name a few. Lastly, who can forget about the thing that makes the world go round, the basis of all evil money. A personal motto of mine would be “ Live life to the fullest” I never really used to care about what I get done, but when my grandmother fell into what seemed like an acoma I really realized how short and valuable life really is. My grandmother to me is like a second mother. You see, my parents are divorced and I hardly ever see my mom. She doesn’t live far away or nothing but it’s not until now, that I realized all of the things that were rough on my dad. You don’t normally hear about parents getting divorced and the father ending up with custody. He is one of the strictest people I know. School was never hard for me which is why I find college a bit different. All this work seems to creep on you when you are unaware. Kind of like a five minute monologue that seems to take a million years to finish. I’m not complaining though. This is by far one of the easiest classes.  But never the less i plan on giving it my best. A friend once said to me “the road to success is always under construction” and it stuck with me because I’ve realized that we build the path in which we intend to walk on, with the choices we make and every construction site has its setbacks but i know being the determined individual I am I will strive through it with slight difficulty and great success.

My name is Joanna. I grew up and live in Woodhaven, Queens, and attended Archbishop Molloy High school in Briarwood, New York. Being only 18, I’m not really sure what it is that identifies me yet. I don’t know much but I do know that whatever I think identifies me will change in a month or so. Except music. That’s one constant in my life.

Music is the one thing I like best. I don’t know how my obsession with music began, perhaps it had something to do with taking piano when I was younger, though I know that whatever I end up doing for the rest of my life has to involve music. Music is what makes me truly happy. Instead of turning to material things to feel better, I turn to music. Being able to listen to someone pour out their soul for all to hear, and letting themselves be that vulnerable is a trait I greatly admire. That’s probably because it’s one of the things that you can say I am most afraid of. Along with vulnerability, another thing I am afraid of is not living up to expectations. I’ve learned that trying to live up to other people’s expectations is an impossible task. However, it’s one thing that I like least. Each person has a right to decide on how they want their life to turn out, and I don’t think anyone should try to control or manipulate that. For this reason, independence is something that is important to me. Being able to smoothly manage your own life without the help of others is a skill that I believe everyone should possess. However, independence is a learning process. Therefore, there have been many moments that I’ve felt ashamed, embarrassed, or guilty. Unfortunately, the ones that come to mind, I can’t say out loud. But what they are isn’t important. What is, is that I’m learning from them, and trying to avoid reverting back to the same mistakes.

Though I am only 18, there are many roles that I play in life. Daughter, sister, best friend, girlfriend, student. You name it. In fact, I’d have to say that my best friend, Amanda, is the most important person to me. We have been best friends since kindergarden, and she is more of a sister to me than my own sister. However, student has easily become my most difficult role. My first day of college I came home crying. I haven’t done that again so I guess you can say it’s getting better. Though it’s still the most confusing and frustrating thing I’ve ever experienced. I’m hoping that I get used to this change, and I’m hoping that’ll happen soon. But I have to admit, that so far I don’t really like college. All I think about every day is how much I regret not doing more research on other schools, and how much I regret not going away. As a result liking school has become my biggest challenge, along with Calculus class. I’ve never taken pre calc, and I’m not a fan of math to begin with, so it’ll be a miracle if I don’t fail. Despite all the things that I don’t like about college so far, my greater freedom is one thing I do enjoy. Unfortunately, with all the workload I get, all my free time is spent on schoolwork or sleep anyway.

My name is Dawa Sherpa. But really, who am I? Off the top of my head, I can list three things: a student, a Sherpa, and a regular teenager.

I am a freshman at Baruch College and I love the campus. There are so many opportunities to take advantage of and I know that I will make the most of every day. I meet new people everyday and have conquered my shyness by practicing my communications skills. I am also more confident since many of the friends who  I met an Baruch are very supportive.
Recently, I turned 18, which was a milestone for me. I wondered whether or not I viewed myself as an adult or still a teen. I know that I now have many more responsibilities but I also know that there are many rewards.

Overall, as a student, I am a freshman who is eager to learn and explore new opportunities.

But by my ethnic background I play a different role. I am from Nepal, a relatively small nation which is bordered by India and China. Sherpas are a group of people who are traditionally known for their ability to trek the Himalayas. They are known around the world as skilled mountaineers and I can say that I love hiking. I love my culture and am proud of where I come from.

But I must admit that assimilating into America has changed me to become a much different person. I have learned so much from my experiences here that I also identify myself as part American.

As a ordinary teenager, I love playing sports and spending time with friends. I enjoy good movies and look for fun. I can get bored easily and can have trouble with my impatience. I face challenges that sometimes seem very big. For one, I am still having difficulty with time management because I try to do so many things in one day.

So, there you have it, the answer to question: Who am I? I am student, a Sherpa, and ordinary person like you. Thank you

Link to image of college student: http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/projects/ttr/2010/clipartcolor/images/college_450.jpg