My first semester at Baruch mostly did meet my expectations. I suppose that is because my idea of a “bad college” had not been fully met. Though, some of the bad things that did occur soured my expectations of Baruch.

I will begin with all the things I liked about Baruch. I loved all my classes and felt I learned a lot from them. The teachers were indeed helpful. The cafeteria has a good variety of meals. To me, the library is probably the best accomplishment. In the library there’s usually a place to sit and study, either on the couches or the seats on the higher floors that have a lot of space to accommodate students. There are even little study pods where you can go to if you need to study comfortably. Renting laptops for varying hours of use is also available. The library also has outlets in the tables in case your device needs charging. The only sad thing is the lack of books available since it has become harder for Baruch to obtain the money for them.

Now I’ll switch to the bad things at Baruch. Firstly, the system for clubs and organizations is CRAP. In the beginning of the semester I had tried to enter the Math Club but they didn’t even have a room yet. So I left them a letter in the student info place. They never got back to me, which led me to join another club. Joining math club would have probably helped me do better on my Math class but oh well. This leads me to my next concern, spreading the awareness of such clubs. Unless you happen to read a flyer (that costs money) on a wall full of flyers talking about a club then it’s unlikely you would know anything about such clubs. It would’ve have been WAAAAAYYY better to just send a description of each AVAILABLE club to every student through e-mail instead. Plus, with every new club member comes a chance to put something new on a student’s resume which gives the student a better chance at a good job that in turn gives the school prestige through its successful students. The bathrooms are by no means excluded from this rant. The bathrooms hardly have soap in their dispensers. Also, they have a horrible faucet system that sometimes doesn’t even allow you to wash both hands at once. Eww?

As for myself, I think I did average this semester, which is bad. The fact that I’m not sure I got A’s or even B’s in some of my classes is very disappointing. If I could redo the semester over again I would have studied more and gone to the SACCs help center to get tutored. This experience has allowed me to change my attitude and take things more seriously than I’ve been doing. College, Baruch College, has taught me to discipline myself more in my studies and to become a better student.

College so far has been a roller coaster. You get going on one thing and totally forget the other stuff. Like the time when I had to do a huge homework assignment for class but then totally forgot about the history homework I had due. Reading the assigned pages of books can be a hassle as well because you have to make time to read a whole class worth of work as well as understand the whole discussion.

It’s not only the work that sucks but the textbooks don’t make things any easier themselves. You’d think that since textbooks are such huge budget problems that the colleges would provide aid faster. Sadly that isn’t the case. Financial aid usually comes in between the middle to the end of the semester, which I would say is not very compatible to the students. Some students I know couldn’t get their books until 3 to 4 weeks in to college. I actually consider myself lucky to have had some money available to use on the textbooks.

Now that I have totally vilified college, let me says a couple of good things about college, mainly Baruch college.

College in general is a place where students learn about the world, both intellectually and socially. I think Baruch does that pretty well. Either I am damn lucky or the school is overall great because I have to say that I love all my classes. It is not to say that we don’t have the right to sometimes hate a teacher but overall I think most teachers are pretty likable.

One thing I found wonderful about Baruch is the block program and the learning community programs. Some people may think that blocks are horrible and that they take away the freedom of choice from the student. I would beg to differ on that opinion because I believe it actually stimulates student interaction and relationships. I would be less inclined to befriend a person I see twice a week than a person I see five or six times a week. This is why I think block programs are awesome. Learning communities are great as well because you, the students, are hanging out with two teachers that everyone has and you are spending time with your classmates and teachers as regular people. I mean hey, we all gotta remind ourselves that everyone is human every now and then.

Identity. That is something we all think about. I have to say that I feel guilty that I haven’t thought too much about my own tastes and likings compared to other people, however, I still feel I have an adequate view of myself.

I’m a 17 year old boy who’s still searching for himself. I’m somewhat of an optimist, though I may not show it. I play roles of a brother, a son, a student, a friendly individual to many, and a close friend to some. Even though I am both Dominican and Pakistani I, gifts which I inherited from my parents, I don’t feel inclined to put one over the other. People say I’m shy, which I’m willing to believe to an extent, but part of my social awkwardness, I believe, comes from my laziness(who isn’t lazy these days) and unwillingness to comply with the responsibilities that follow with being social. I talk alot when I’m bored or when I feel a need to say something relevant or helpful. Sometimes I’m funny to people, sometimes people don’t get my jokes. Sometimes I wish I had the qualities or opportunities that others have, but when I look in the mirror at the end of the day I know I wouldn’t want to be anyone else but me, Naveed Butt.

Baruch has been a pleasant place for me since I arrived. Sure there is always the worry that there isn’t anything to do during free hours or the fact that the clubs are inhospitably unresponsive. Still, the three big worries are the general fears of textbooks(NO SURPRISE THERE!), grades(naturally), and the sudden impact of a greater sense of responsibility(for some of us at least, lol).

I couldn’t waste time scurrying around for better prices so I bought my textbooks from the Baruch BookStore. Sadly I didn’t have the money because for some reason the financial aid providers failed to warn me of the time I was going to receive the award(but I know now), so I had to borrow money from my family and friends, of which I will eventually have to pay back. As for grades…I’ve been lazy with homework and reading and I feel it’ll take some time to adjust to the work pattern. Simply being organized with all the homework given is hard enough because I end up forgetting that an assignment is due when the deadline is right around the corner. Getting noticed in HUGE classes is another hassle that I will have to get through. The aforementioned “bigger sense of responsibility” is a complex issue mainly because the responsibility I get from being in college is both overwhelming and satisfying at the same time. On one hand I’ll have to take the liberty of getting things done as well as remembering assignments, while on the other hand there is a sense of accomplishment from going through this strenuous situation.

Overall, I feel Baruch will foster the better qualities in me and I will learn not only about education but of the community as well.