So far at baruch, there are some things that i like and dislike. I like coming to school in the city and being around so many different and new people, it makes me feel like im on my own. Baruch is actually a pretty nice school for its size. Classes are much harder than high school. High school seems like a joke compared to some of these classes when it comes to how much preparation you need to do each day. For the most part, my first semester went pretty well. There is always room for improvement though. Most of my classes i am getting good grades but there are a few which im going to need to do really well on finals to get a grade that i am going to be happy with. Being at baruch, i have changed the way i prepare and study for classes than i used to in high school. i definately start my work earlier during the night that i used to and i dont always wait for the night before to do my work. i dont think as a person i have changed ever since i have come to baruch, but i probably have gotten better at public speaking because of my speech class.

First I wanted to clear up a misconception I feel many people might have with what I aspire to be, that it is a life you choose when you are good for nothing. I take my time to reference this because, I think many people assume that a traditional nomadic life doesn’t get you anywhere. That maybe true if you idea of getting somewhere revolves around climbing the social or economical ladder. Mine doesn’t. I like knowledge, discovery through exploration, and nature. There is one way to achieve all three.

I mentioned in class that I wanted to be a nomad, I still stand by that–it wasn’t a joke. I know the idea itself seems absurd. The times are gone, where one could venture out into the world unexpectedly of what lies ahead, and truly live life exploring the vastness of the world as an adventurer.  I wanted to be like Ash Ketchum from Pokemon; like Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, free from everything and living life on the edge. Unfortunately their world is different from ours.  In ours, our life is laid out in front of us. The milestones in life are quite the same for most people throughout the world now, you are born –> go to school/college –> find a job –> get married –> have kids –> hopefully have grand kids –> retire –> go fishing –> and finally be buried, all this with minor variations.  It is boring.  For those accustomed to it, it is a great life to have, from me it is lacking so much.

I guess modern nomadic experiences can be similar to traditional ones. Entrepreneurship maybe the answer, or a substitute and I think Baruch at the most part can enhance the entrepreneur within me. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that I don’t care much for money, even though amongst friends and family I might show aspiration to be richer than Bill Gates. Whether that is even remotely possible is not important, but it is important that Baruch can help me achieve the fundamental aims that I’ve carried with me for a long time. To gain knowledge, and explore/discover and prevent people continuing to harm nature/Earth.

I assume my goals are fairly different from most others, its just the way it is. Nonetheless other peoples views are also fairly important to me and surely will help me grow as a person. Baruch has plenty of faculty and students that are intelligent, and unique. Hopefully I will learn from a lot from them over the next few years. So far the experience has been awesome, it has definitely lived up to my expectations, and even though I haven’t noticed any immediate and recognizable change within me, I am sure in some unconscious way my time at Baruch has had an effect on who I am and most probably will continue to do so.  I am looking forward to my time here.

My first semester at Baruch was nothing like what I expected it would be. I think things changed once I started going to school here. At first I was just like “yeaaaaa!!!! COLLEGE!!! In the best city in the world!!!” lol. As time went on I think i started losing a lot of momentum and that “drive” to do perfect. Academically even though I’m doing well,  I know I could have done better but I’m not upset. I know how much I need to know in order to really do well academically and how to approach things differently from now on. Being the first semester I think I was very lucky and fortunate for things to turn out the way they did even though that’s not how I expected.I think I got a lot of breaks here and there which I wouldn’t expect on a college level. For example, a really good and generous Calculus Prof. I have always struggled in math and it was one of the things bothering me coming into Baruch. I made new friends and adjusted to the Baruch system well.  If I could do something differently for my first semester, I wouldn’t have procrastinated a lot. I don’t think as a person I have changed but my outlook towards my future has. At first all I thought to myself was “just go to college, get that degree, and become an accountant”. But now, I’ve been thinking about ways to combine my passions with what I will gain from my education to do something enjoyable in life rather than for the sake formality. At the same time, with so much competition these days, things seem scary sometimes. Life is just one big race. If you dont’ run fast enough, you’ll get trampled and left behind. Heck, even to be born we had to race against millions of sperm cells. smh.

My thought on how my life in Baruch College was going to be was something along the lines of repetition and boredom. However, my LC 10 group and my FRO 1000 class showed me that college is not all about studying and trying really hard to fit in a couple of paragraphs to finish your papers, but also about making new friends and being able to actually have fun IN college with those friends. Baruch College has met my expectations not because of the work that I had to go through but because of all the cool friends that I have made. Honestly, without LC 10 I do not think I would’ve survived my classes because we all helped in all of our classes.

My first semester in Baruch went fairly smooth. It would have been much more rough on my part if it wasn’t for the LC 10 group but obviously that wasn’t the case. Even with the help of my friends in college I got to admit, I have been slackin’ A LOT….! I mean, because I’m still in that high school, summer vacation phase, I have yet to feel the importance of school work. I have been lazy with my work, getting mediocre grades, and not really caring about the work given to me. I’m definitely out of that phase as of now however.

If I could relive my first semester in Baruch, FIRST THING I would do is GET OUT OF LC 10 and choose some other LC group because all the kids in my LC 10 group are not cool. Haha well that was some horrible joke, but no, that’s not what I’ll do, how can I do such thing? I love my LC 10 group. But if I were to relive my first semester I guess I would change the way I work about the work given to me. I would’ve taken it more seriously and actually put in the effort to get good grades in the classes. That is about it. Everything is great about this semester, just as great as my anticipated winter vacation.

Hm… How have I changed, here, in Baruch since the first time I’ve stepped in Baruch? Hm.. well I do not exactly know the answer to this question but if I had to say, if anything, it would be that I’ve become more educated? Yeah.. I really don’t know.. But I’m trying to fill up the 500 word count… i have 393 now.. oh now I have 409.. hahaha no but if I were to think harder and reflect on how I’ve changed, I would have to say that I’ve become more like a college student. What I mean by this is that, I’ve become more responsible with the work that I am given, and more diligent in getting my work finished right on time. Also I have made great new friends which is also a change from the first time I’ve stepped into Baruch.

And now, I must say my goodbyes……. in 4 different languages…… because those are the only 4 goodbyes I know….. haha…..
Ahn-nyung(korean), adios, sayounara, and finally goodbye :/
(512 words ftw!!)(ooohh 516 now haha)

Sad, Sad Larry

My first semester experience at Baruch for the most part lived up to my expectations.  I liked majority of my professors and didn’t have trouble in any of my classes.  What did exceed my expectations was the amount of cool, down to earth, nice people I was able to meet in this LC.  First coming into Baruch I thought it was going to be a very anti-social environment and just be surrounded by a bunch of rude Asian robots (no offense ;).  But I’m happy to be proven wrong by this LC.  Being apart of this LC really made the transition from high school to college much easier and comforting.

This first semester at Baruch so far has gone well, even though the worst is to come (finals).  Everything went well so far except for one thing, registration.  Registration was by far the worst experience in Baruch so far.  I had made like 4 schedules and got closed out of all my class because I was one of the last to register.  But in the end it all worked out.  But the best thing was meeting new people that I hope to stay in touch with even if we never have a class together again, which I would think is highly unlikely cause we are all practically fighting for the same classes (all business school people).

If I could change anything this semester I would have liked to have tried harder, put more effort into classes.  Also, ANYTHING that I could do that would give me priority registration because for me registration was pure chaos.  I also would have liked to have found a club of my interest, perhaps something to do with food or rock music (not archery, that was horrible).

I don’t think I changed much since i started at Baruch.  If anything, I definitely don’t go out as often as used to.  I also learned a few lessons on time management and how procrastination really kills you.  But most important is, coming into Baruch I had no knowledge or experience on how things would work out.  I was nervous and scared about whether I had made the right decision to go here.  But now I feel much more prepared and ready to take on next semester, even though I am still unsure of my decision or what I am going to do with my life.  I know I wont end up like sad, sad Larry though…

Just to end with some humor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Kx5arCFI8

Is anyone else upset about the rejection of “alright” in English grammar. Instead it’s supposed to be “all right” but is that all right?

This really irritates me. “Alright” has always been in my life. People say it all the time around me so naturally it becomes a part of my speech but it’s not technically a real word. Yet I can’t replace it with saying “all right” because it’s both two words and simply doesn’t mean the same thing. If I ask you “how was the test?”and you say it was “all right” that implies you got a hundred, (or at least think you did) but if you say “alright” that means it was… ok, satisfactory, but not actually all right. Strangely enough, alright is never all right. It actually means that it’s not all right, but generally more right than not. I don’t like “all right”. It’s arrogant and out of place. I don’t know when I’d ever need to say something was “all right” because nothing is ever ALL right. But things are always alright.

I really like the word “alright”. You could say “ok” but that’s just pronouncing two letters and strikes me as an odd choice. It makes me feel like goofy. You could also say satisfactory but c’mon, that word is way too sterile to be used in actual conversation. Alright is prefect!! It’s the prefect balance of good and bad. It’s such a chill relaxed word and just sounds great! It’s also a great lyric for a song and has many more meaning and connotations than can be described.

So how has my semester gone? It’s been alright! Have I changed? In ways yes and no. Probably not fundamentally or physically. My morals are always maturing and my outlook on life constantly expanding, but I couldn’t tell you if these were directly related to my time at Baruch. I do know that I wouldn’t change anything about this first semester. I’ve worked hard and have had plenty of enjoyment from my time spent here in the city. Regardless of how I may or may not have changed, the experience was enjoyable.

Finally, my expectations told me the school was gonna be alright! And the expectations have certainly been met. I seem to always expect things to be alright because it’s the most realistic and the chance for this to be exceeded is better than if I expect great things. Although I’m optimistic I don’t care for over blowing something. If your expectations are modest than the outcome will seem all the more better for it. SO in this case Baruch has exceeded my “alright” expectations and i think it can even be considered great. I’ve met some great some people, had some great classes and I’m looking forward to continuing this trend. I can’t say I’m expecting the next semester to be great, but maybe it’ll be alright.

When I first came to Baruch, I actually wasn’t sure what to expect. I had gone to the Open House, attended the Orientation, and did some research. I knew it was a great business school but I didn’t know what the atmosphere was like or how my classes would run. As the semester continued, I started to assimilate into the world of Baruch. At the very least I didn’t become lost and learned where all my classes were. It was interesting to me that the classes had a high school atmosphere to it in size. I thought that all my classes would be like our Music Class, one hundred or more people and an eccentric philosophical thinking professor. I kind of figured if I didn’t have high expectations or any at all, I would be able to be pleasantly surprised. I definitely was.

I think my first semester went reasonably well. I’m really glad that I had chosen to join a learning community, especially one as awesome as LC 10, because I got to meet some really amazing people. I always knew who I could turn to for help in our classes, what people I can have crazy conversations with and laugh with in the middle of class, and who I can always hang out with during our breaks. This semester I think that I was lucky to have all our professors that were relatively good teaching wise. I hope I’m able to earn pretty good grades this semester and do even better the next.

My biggest problem this semester was time management. There have been multiple times that I’ve pulled all nighters for speech outlines and English essays. I can never seem to find motivation to sit down and write all of them until the night before and even then I still don’t have a clear idea of what I’m writing. If I were to do something differently in my first semester if I had to do it again, I would probably try to organize myself and not procrastinate so much. Even now this blog is kind of late because I couldn’t get myself to write it. (Sorry Joanna!) That’s still a constant struggle in my academic life that I hope I will be able to improve as I continue to delve into the life that is Baruch.

This semester I may have been forced to write more scholarly like papers and expand my views on certain aspects but I feel like I haven’t had a ground breaking moment of change. In an essence I’m still the same person only learning more and working harder.

Thanks to everyone in LC 10 for making this first semester here at Baruch really memorable for me. I’ve had a lot of laughs, shared in many grieves of all our classes, and knew that there was always someone I can turn to if I had a problem or if I was just bored and wanted to talk to someone. Each of you have made me smile and taught me something new in your own way. Love you all and I hope we’ll meet up again soon.

The best LC that there ever was: LC 10 😀 <3

If there is one thing that i like in this world, it is being able to do what i want, when i want to do it. I like having the capability to snowboard, to drive a fast car at a fast pace, and to enjoy the company of other people on a regular basis. I understand that being able to to what one wants, however, is symptomatic of having enough money to dispel time consuming responsibilities that are not preferable. That is why i am going to college; so that if i should not have a genius idea to take over the world as mark zuckerburg did, i can at least have a place to start. That brings me to what i hate, which is coincidentally a lot of what college has entailed so far. Constraints, such as writing papers that i have no interest in or blogging on a website as a prerequisite to completing a course that yields no credit, define the most prominent stresses in my life. I wouldn’t consider myself a role model per say, however i would consider myself inspirational to some people that i am acquainted with. This is because i have a way of making some people do things which are productive, whether thats by dragging uninterested friends to the library, or by telling a friend that he will never drive an m3 if he doesn’t start going to wall street club. I also create an example for some friends by doing things that i hate, because it is the more responsible thing to do in a situation. These actions usually consist of blogging, going to work, or writing a paper.

My name is Kevin Aramalla. I enjoy a multitude of daily activities and affairs. It would be preposterous to attempt reiterating even a fraction of the ideas that run through my mind on a daily basis.

The greatest three issues i am facing at baruch thus far are the quality of my math related work, or lack thereof, not knowing where to look for possible scholarship opportunities, and learning to cope with the new and more complicated enviroment that is intertwined with my early college life.

at Baruch college, i have gained a far deeper respect for education and the obtaining of knowledge. When i recall high school it seems extraordinarily ludicrous to my that i did not utilize any of the potential that i had. Henceforth, i will make certain that i over-perform any and all goals that i take into consideration with concern to the educational process.

Lastly, i find the question “who am I” to be unreasonable for my current state, and would find it an act of idiocy to try to effectively answer this question. If i knew just exactly “who i was”, i probably would not be pursuing a full time college career. As a teenager in the midst of my development in body and character, I am enrolled at Baruch to build the knowledge which, i should hope should leave me somewhat more equipped to make the determination of who i am as a person, and what i intend to do with whatever days of which the life that i have left consists of. I am quite sure that my fellow freshman students would agree with this perception of the question.

Baruch has lived up to my expectations in that, it’s college… I know that sounds kind of stupid, but seriously. When I think of college, I think more responsibility. Professors aren’t going to spoon feed you te information you need to perform well; they give you the resources and then from there it’s what you make of it. It’s about taking advantage of the resources and doing your work and participating. I know that sounds really obvious, but thats my take on it. Also the freedom I have now is overwhelming. Not just because I can go out wherever I want with who and at whatever time, but because I really have to take care of  myself and create a budget. I think my first semester at Baruch was aaalright. I didn’t have many expectations regarding what the first semester would be like, but it was nice being in an LC and always seeing familiar faces. As far as grades go, I was definitely more driven and focused at the beginning of the year, and now I’m getting SO lazy. It’s pretty bad, but I hope I pull through though. I’m kinda worried that I wont. Anyway, if I could do anything differently during my first semester, I probably wouldn’t. Besides like, keeping the drive and focus to maintain good grades, I like where I am. The only thing I’m worried about are my grades, and that pretty much covers it really. I don’t think I’ve really changed much my first semester, I think I’m the same way.. And.. Yeah……….. Okay, I guess I’ll stop now since there’s nothing else to write about. Is this long enough? Whatever.. Okay yay bye 🙂