Monthly Archives: September 2010

Yes. I did just use Eminem lyrics as my Blog title. I couldn’t help it; it was the first thing that came to mind. That should give you a hint about what type of person I am. And no I am not comparing myself to Eminem. The first thing that I think of whenever I hear a word or phrase is usually a song, or a book. Maybe that’s why I have a hard time remembering other things; my brain is full of trivial information.

As far as the actual quote goes, I am definitely not whatever you say I am.

Since this is a Baruch Blog, I shouldn’t probably talk about Baruch a bit. So far, it’s interesting. I wish I spent more time here, or with Baruch students in general, but sadly I must leave right after class. This limits my actual experience with Baruch. My main concern is not being able to utilize the opportunities offered because of my hectic life.

Now on to the last question, how will my first year of college change me? Honestly I have no idea. I was not born with the gift of fortune telling, (I’d be rich if I had) or even foresight for that matter. I just hope that I’ll be involved enough for it to have a true impact.

And finally, before I leave you all too much more exciting things I would like to provide a link. While writing this I remembered that at one point I had my own personal blog. I re read it for fun moments ago. If you would like to get a sense of a younger me, just click below. One request though, don’t judge too harshly. Remember yourselves back then.

I’m Chevoni, I’m very humble and generous. I like hanging out with friends, walking long distances and going new places. I enjoy watching movies, old and new. I like doing things my own way, and is convinced my way is always best, so sometimes I’m considered to be stubborn especially by my mom and sister. I take little interest in sports but observe it whenever I get the chance or have nothing else to do. I am very quiet at times but once I get comfortable around you I’ll take more. I also think I have stress issues because I worry a lot over the smallest things.
As a Baruch freshman, I am concerned with adapting the right attitude towards classes, not taking what I do here lightly as I did in high school, but developing a positive, go getter attidude that pushes me to do my best. Another concern is keeping up with my assignments so I don’t repeat the course next semester. Also making the right connections so as to get the full Baruch experience and something extra to keep me on track.
The fact that I make my own schedule and choose my own classes, alone, makes college different from high school. It puts me in a position to be more responsible and proactive. This year will have a big effect on me because I feel like its no longer about my parents or anyone else, its about me. It’ll help me to see what I want to obtain personally. And it will shape who I become by measuring how much I really want to get where I’d like to be.

I am an 18 year old Puerto Rican and Cuban woman, commonly mistaken for everything but what I am. I live for music, and not much else in this world holds me entranced quite the way music does. There are few things that don’t interest me though; I’m always open to trying new things.

I do struggle with self-esteem issues, for so many reasons. My self-esteem, or lack thereof it, usually holds me back. Since I started college I have felt a lot more confident and empowered. My view on myself is slowly changing for the positive and I like it. I feel more able to stand up straight and look people in the eyes, because I know that I have earned that right. I have come from a very strange background, I have 4 parents and I’m okay with that. On my maternal side of the family I’m the first to graduate high school, much less go to college. That in itself is helping me become more confident, because I did what no one else could.

There are some things in Baruch that do make me nervous though. First, this math is intimidating. I graduated early from high school and I haven’t had a math course since fall of my junior year. So, while math isn’t a weak subject of mine, it is giving me a hard time because I’m so out of practice.

The second most nerve racking thing is the course load. I have never had this much homework, ever. It takes a lot out of me to be looking for a job, managing a social life and handling my course work. I know it’s not impossible, because I’ve been doing it thus far but, it certainly isn’t easy.

My biggest concern is money. I had a decent part time job for a year and right now, I’m unemployed. That was one of my biggest fears as I was starting college and sadly, it came true. My job loss has set me back financially, forcing me to be dependent on my family, and has forced me to push back my plans of getting my own place.

All of my monetary setbacks are not going to stop me from keeping to my goals. College is a must, as is moving out. I refuse to go into my teen angst about why moving out is so important but, to say the least I need space to define myself outside of my family’s grasp. I have been through so much with my family, that I have spent a vast majority of my teen years depressed and rebelling. The whole situation of having 4 parents is so awkward to explain that one can imagine how weird it is to live.

Who do you think you are? A question that is universal yet vague. The answer is never straight but open-ended. A question with a formulate answer to assert it. I am a flirt. I am shy.  I am short. Even though it is a universal and vague question, the hidden meaning is direct – Who am I?

 Who am I, Who do you think you are- I am a conflicted soul. I want to be ambitious and be rich like Rockefeller, Gates, and Buffett.  I wonder if can I reach financial success with humble or integrity like Andrew Carnegie or deceit, cheat, and steal like Bernie Madoff. I want to be inspiring and be model for future generations like Obama, Kennedy, and Clinton. I want to encourage the public to tap into their potential or I can steal their potential for my own success. I want to be innovative and creative like Edison, Jobs, and Toyoda.  I want to improve the world and make the impossible into possible or I can be innovative base on other people work. I want to be a great polymath like Franklin, Da Vinci and Aristotle. It’s amazing to be a Renaissannce Man, a specialist on a wide variety of topics or   I can be a Jack of all trade and master of none and lie my way to the top. So, tell you who I think I am. I am Amenaghawon Enoma that knows what he wants but conflicted on the type of direction to take to reach it. Shall it be Integrity or Hypocrisy?

Freshman year at Baruch have been amazing so far but I have some concern. The top 3 are:

Baruch is known for its business program but I have research schools and their career returns. It is not has much as the Ivy League especially during the stagnant economy we have. Will Baruch be able to help me to achieve my dream goal?
Another concern I have is the four teachers cannot teach well. I cannot say bad teaching but the four teachers except for professor Pyson do not bring life to the class, there is no enthusiasm. It feels that most classes in Baruch will be banal. Banal classes do have poor grades and I do not want nothing less than a 3.8.
My last concern is that events are held but no food. Food is huge a factor for social networking. It’s a universal and I am always hungry so I need food when events are being held.

The Baruch experience is different from high school is the diversity. College is the only institution where diversity connect the world together. So I am connected with different people with different background. While high school was majority African-American.

How do you think your first year at college will change you? I do not know I can be the same kid from high school or a different person. That’s what make college especially Baruch fun.

The age old question “Who do you think you are?” seems to be forever popping up in my life. I am a daughter, sister, friend and a shopaholic. I love clothes and I definitely love shoes, so much that I’ve in fact renovated my walk in basement into a walk in closet. I have shoes laying everywhere. I don’t know what it is about shoes, but a brand new pair of cute shiny shoes can really make my day.
When I first stepped into Baruch, I was so nervous. After being a senior, I’m starting out at the bottom once again. I have no idea where my classes are; I didn’t see any classrooms at the first orientation. I heard that there were about 20,000 students, I wondered if we could all fit into the building.
I noticed on my schedule that I would have math once again, as a freshman in Baruch. I didn’t take math during my senior year, it was a sigh of relief that I was done with it. Math is almost like another language to me, foreign and strange, especially after they started mixing in the letters in algebra.
In addition, I don’t know why, but I seem to always be perpetually 5 minutes late. I know in college, being late will definitely take a toll on my grade. I absolutely have to think of a way to get to the train station 5 minutes earlier every day.
They always say, the transition from high school to college is a difficult one. I always said, “It’s going to be a piece of cake.” Here I was naively thinking that it was no different from high school. I have since learned that I am completely wrong. I hope that by the end of the year, I will learn to become more independent and definitely arrive on time.

Who am I ? I’m Douglas King. I’m also known as OriginL. I’m a person that wants to be one that brings change to the world. I’m also a rapper with a killer passion in music and songwriting. I’m 18, born on August 11. I’m also a freshman at Baruch College. There are many things about me that one can explore. I think I’m more than a great guy with a great personality, generous, caring, outgoing, as well as stylish. I got my own “swag.”

Three concerns I have about my freshmen year is getting used to the workload and time. I need to remind myself that I have homework for certain classes and I need to find the motivation to actually read the textbooks. I’m afraid of slacking off unintentionally simply due to the loss of time and attention to homework. I’ve always done my homework in school, but you never know, especially with the different system of assignments in college. My second concern is having fun. Why? Because I already enjoy all of my classes, classmates, professors, and the school in general. I might have so much fun throughout college that I might forget about my academics! My last concern would probably be whether or not to join a fraternity. I’m really not sure if I should join one, but I’m thinking about it.

Many things will make my Baruch College experience different from my high school experience. First of all, there’s so much more freedom and time on my hands. Second, it feels great to have larger classes where you don’t have a teacher constantly telling you what to do. Third, college life is just generally amazing compared to high school.

My first year in college will probably be amazing. I’m going to adapt to the parties, the workload, the freedom, and the new friends I make. Honestly I think I’m going to love it. It’ll change me as well – becoming more mature, being more independent, and exploring a lot of different things.

I think I would become an influential figure of my time. I am a passive, introvert, and hard-working individual who has not reach my greatest potential. My current traits do not show any signs of my success but I am confident that I would be recognized for some sort of greatness one day.

Baruch College is an entirely different experience from high school. There are no reminders and no announcements given on the deadlines I must make. There is no guidance councilor scheduling my classes. There would be nobody to tell me to go to class if I did not want to. My success would be determined by the decisions I make on my own.

High school to college is like the little league to the major league in baseball. The first day of college was rather relaxing because it was nice to meet my classmates and professors. However, I was bombarded with assignments and readings for homework. I was so overwhelmed with the workload and the expectations for the next class meeting, that I had to take a moment to take in a deep breath. Then I realized in order to reach my full potential, I would have to try my best for everything. Whenever I would fall, I cannot sulk and cry because time would have gone to waste or I would have nothing accomplished.

I am mainly concerned about keeping up with college. I am afraid that I would not be able to handle the workload, or being unable to understand and missing opportunities which would give great advantages. College is the real deal. If I get three strikes, I’m out. I feel like everything matters in college. I am afraid that my irresponsibility would lead to failure and becoming inexperienced.

Over the course of my freshmen year, I will become more responsible and intellectual. Although my physical traits don’t display any signs of success; I am positive I would be noted for some sort of greatness one day and even though I’m afraid now, at least I know I’m giving it my best. I think I would be an influential figure of my time one day!

Who do I think I am? Well that is a pretty good question. I feel that a lot of people don’t really know who they or they try to be something there really not.

When I look at this question my first thought would be  that my name is Adam Elfassi. I am 100% Moroccan.  I am 17 years old and I’m from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. But that isnt really what the question is asking. So who do I, myself think I am. Well I think that I’m a nice guy. I like to look out for others, especially my teammates. I try to get them better by doing what I’m supposed to do. I think that i have a good personality.

I kind of really only have one concern for my freshman year and that is that I dont do as well as I wanted.  I’m on the basketball team and the grade that you need to be on the team is a 2.0 and I feel like that is not the grade I should be aiming for. I want to be going for a 4.0 even though that might be hard to do, I can defiantly be right near that. The only thing that is good is that there are kids on the team that have good grades so I can always look at them and say I can do it also.

Well as of right now the biggest difference is that are girls in the school. The school that i went to was an all boys Catholic high school, Xavier High School. Also i think that playing basketball in college changes me from a kid that is not on a team. Its a different feeling and it gives you a bigger and easier chance of making a lot more friends rather if you weren’t on a team, it would be harder. In the end i will always be able to look forward to basketball at the end of the day even if im having a bad day. thats the good thing about a team. We become a family and will always look out for each other and have each others backs.

I don’t think i will really change. I like to just stay myself and it has worked all my life. People like me for who I am. They like my personality. I went to a high school that thought and prepared me for life in college. They made things harder there so when I came to college, everything would feel easy or simpler for me.

As a freshman at Baruch College, I, Frances Mitelman, am actually still trying to figure out who I really am.  I do have a brief idea of who I am:  I am a sister, daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, and a best friend.  Also, as Lucy Stone said, “My name is my identity,” and my name “Frances” means “free,” and that’s how I also see myself:  a free-spirited, strong, independent, caring, loving, active girl.

Well, even though I somewhat know who I am, I am still trying to find my identity, and college is definitely the place.  I have just started college, and I do have a few of concerns for my freshman year at Baruch College.

My first concern is that I’ll automatically fail college even if I tried my hardest.  The reason that I probably feel this way is that this is the pessimistic and paranoid side of me talking in order to push me to try hard and to do the best that I can here.

My second concern is “Freshman Fifteen.”  I have heard stories of students that were fit and thin at the beginning of their freshman year at college, and, at the end of the year, they gained fifteen pounds; for instance, I had a computer teacher at high school who was telling me that her son was thin before he started college; however, when she saw him again, she was shocked to see how much chubbier he got.  Considering that I do not want to be a victim of this, I need to make sure that I watch what I eat.

My third concern is that I wouldn’t take college seriously as I should.  I think the reason I feel this way is that I remember when I was a Senior in high school, I become very lazy and nonchalant, and it didn’t affect my grades, but I do know that in general, this wasn’t me, and I could do better.  I’m just hoping that this wouldn’t continue in college.

My Baruch college experience will definitely be different from my high school experience.  In high school, teachers would usually call the parents to tell that their child was absent or is failing a class.  Also, in high school, we would have Parent-Teacher Conferences, and mid-term report cards that informed the students and parents how the students are doing so far.  In Baruch, there are no phone calls, no conferences, and no progress report cards.  It is all up to the student to work hard and find out how they are doing in the class, which now brings me to answering the next question.  In Baruch, students like me are becoming more adult and more responsible, which is definitely how I think my first year at Baruch will change me; for instance, now, teachers will only tell you once when something due.  It’s up to students like me to write it down and remember when it’s due. I am willing to take on this responsibility.

I never really enjoyed writing about myself. But I have to do it anyway, right? My autobiography isn’t going write itself, and I have to pass Freshman Seminar.

I am a Belorussian-American, born here with two names. The one most people know me by is Kevin. Kevin is my father’s invention, a device used to Americanize me, to make sure nobody will have any problems saying my name. I was born to help people.

My other name is Konstantine. It was suggested by my grandmother at birth, but denied by my father, he thought the name was too complicated. In his eyes, simple minded Americans can’t handle long names. I only found out about this name after the divorce, at my first baptism, where I had to associate myself with a saint by name. Being devoid of any religion my entire childhood, I had no clue who any of these saints were. So my old name came up again, and I was baptized under Saint Constantine. Adding my own little flair, I spelled it with a K.

So now I have the occasional identity crisis. It’s reflected in many aspects of my life, from music taste, the company I keep, even the girls I date.

Everything affected by both worlds.

With all that, I never spent time trying to figure out what I wanted to do for a living. But I did know that one day, somehow, I want to become a father. I know that one day, I want to and will be a better father than my own has been.

So that brings me to college. It’s already something my father never did. In fact, I’m the first Khayutovsky to partake in higher education. College is an ambiguous task for me, I’m doing it because I’m supposed to, that’s what I’ve been told. There wasn’t a point in my life when not going to college was even a consideration.

I’ve finally started college, and honestly, I’ve been enjoying it. The old friends, the new friends, the interesting classes, the great schedule, all make this college thing a whole lot easier. Still, it isn’t perfect. The vast population can make it a bit intimidating, the freshman block schedule makes it feel like middle school, and I’m barely scraping by to pay for textbooks since they’re so expensive.

Besides that, I’m enjoying it. It’s only my 3rd week in, and I’m already enjoying Baruch as much as I enjoyed Brooklyn Tech. And I had a lot of fun in Brooklyn Tech. But I’m making sure my college life will be different from my high school life. I’m planning to sign up for as much as I can, staying active in the extracurricular part of Baruch, instead of just the classes. I’ve already signed up for a blood drive, made friends in the Undergrad Government, and I have an audition for a school play tomorrow.

I’m sure my first year in college will change me. I’m sure I’ll learn so much more about the world, and I’ll know what to do with my life. And if anything, I’ll finally learn who I really am.