LC 10

How you look at yourself is completely different from how everyone else looks at you. In my life I play the role of a committed son and an older brother with lots of expectations. I expect too much out of him because I want him to succeed where ever I have failed. In this world there are two types of people. People that work hard to get what they want and people that are born successful. I tend to believe I am the hard worker but procrastinating and taking things for granted sometimes leads to my downfall. I’m the first from my family to go to college. My parents gave up their education to build my life. Their generation made a sacrifice for me and I carry that burden. I have a soft heart but from the outside I’m as hard as a rock. I can’t deal with death so I don’t attend funerals. I believe in “love at first sight” and God making all relationships. I’m a competitor with a killer instinct and I love to win.

IT’S TRUE THAT WHEN PEOPLE SAY “THE OLDER YOU GET, THE FASTER TIME PASSES.” IT’S ALREADY 2 MONTHS INTO COLLEGE AND ALL THE WORK WE DONE FEELS LIKE NOTHING. ANYWAY IN THESE FEW MONTHS, I FEEL THAT COLLEGE IS SUCH AN UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. AFTER TRANSITING FROM HIGH SCHOOL AND SETTLING IN WITH ALL MY CLASSMATES I FEEL THAT EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT AND INTERESTING IN THEIR OWN WAY. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION A FEW THAT I’LL REMEMBER YEARS FROM NOW EVEN THOUGH I WILL DEFINITELY REMEMBER EVERYONE. MIKE LAST NAME IS SO FREAKING COOL AND HE TOLD HIS MONOLOGUE IN ITALIAN HOW “FREAKING FLY IS THAT?” TED IMPERSONATION OF “P.H. (CODE WORD SO HE WON’T FIND OUT” IS HILARIOUS  AHAHHA “WHAT DID YOU SAY?” AND RAJ, THIS GUY IS IN EVERY IPAD RAFFLE CAN’T BLAME HIM LOL!!!!!!! MAKE SURE YOU ENTER THE MUSEUM ONE. LMAO.

SO I’M GOING TO KEEP THIS SHORT, AND HOPEFULLY ALL YOU GUYS WILL DO GREAT NOT ONLY THIS YEAR BUT, IN THE FUTURE. I’M SO GLAD TO HAVE MET ALL OF YOU GUYS, AND GOOD LUCK!

This monologue is supposed to be about me and I think what makes me me has a lot to do with who my friends are. They’re the ones that keep me patient, make me do wild crazy and sometimes stupid things and they’re the ones that keep me from sleeping until 2:30 in the morning. In this first month of college I’ve started to realize who my true friends are and those that were just people that I saw everyday in high school. My friends are those that I can tell everything to, trust them, and know that they’ll be there for me when I need them the most. Just two and a half weeks ago I cut off all contact with someone that I knew for four years and I thought was one of my best friends. I confided with him and told him things I wouldn’t tell other people. College or college expectations can change a person and he can become someone completely different than what you thought he was.

When you lose something though, you understand the precious value of what you have left which is worth more than anything that doesn’t deserve your attention. Two days ago I found out that the mom of my best friend of ten years and whom I knew since third grade passed away. She was a strong woman but sickness takes a toll on anyone. I got to know my best friend’s family these past years because I lived two blocks from them. I can’t imagine what grief they must be going through but I know that they and my best friend especially need comfort and support from close friends now more than ever. I’ll always try to be there for them and do whatever I can to help because they have always been there for me through joyous and distressful times. With this I would like to end with dedicating this monologue in the memory of my best friend’s mom, a truly affable and self sacrificing woman whose smile could warm your heart.

Who am I?

My name is Jon and I’m a freshman at Baruch college. I’m a pretty good student, i occasionally enjoy going to class and learning new things. I love sports, sports are my life. My favorite sport is football. It’s really hard on Sundays trying to do work when there’s 14 games going on and i can’t watch them because i need to do some stupid essay. On the weekends, i love going out and having a good time with my friends. Since i live in the city, there’s places all around for me to go and I’m looking forward to what will come next.

One of my first concerns this year at Baruch is the amount of work i’ll get. I’m not very good with keeping up with work until last minute. I need to change my work ethic and learn how to stop procrastinating and do my work before the night it’s due. Another concern i have this year are the tests. Usually, tests aren’t a huge deal if you don’t do well on a couple per semester. Now, each test is huge and there’s so much pressure on me to do well on every single test. My final concern is being able to say i got the full college experience. I have a couple friends who go to Baruch as well. However, a lot of my friends went to party schools and they’re telling me what a good time they’re having and i wish i had that also. Baruch is mainly a commuter school, there’s no true campus where people live. I need to do my best to stay active and find things to do to interact.

Baruch is definitely different than high school. At Baruch, everything is about me. Whether i go to class or not, that’s for me to decide if i want to learn and not take each class hour for granted. I make each choice here at Baruch, which makes me feel more independent and on my own. I don’t see my family every day anymore, so I’ve learned to take care of myself and gone to appreciate the things i used to have.

My first year of college will change me a lot, hopefully for the better. I hope after a year, i will be able to be more comfortable speaking in front of a large group of people, making a speech. My classes all have a business aspect to them, so i hope i will learn new ideas that go along with business. I will be more independent after this year, because i will be living without my family for a year. In addition, i will have a new group of friends which i will have enjoy my freshman year at Baruch college with.

Growing up as a kid, I was always active and ready for adventure. To this day, I still embody that eagerness. The new environments I have encountered have held different effects on my nature. In high school, I did not see the adventure awaiting me in the classroom. Instead, I saw a world of possibilities to have fun outside of class. In my freshman year at Baruch College I encompass a new outlook of a will to succeed. With a new eagerness to succeed, I see an adventure in the college that I did not see before.

With any new experience comes an amount of concerns. For my freshman year in Baruch, I can only wonder whether I can create work ethics that will propel me to do well, whether I can establish a presence in work or organizations outside of school, and whether I will have a fair amount of leisure time to relieve stress.

At first, Baruch College reminded me of the setup of my high school, Bronx Science. We were free to roam the campus during our free periods and I saw many of my high school friends. However as a couple weeks passed by, I began to notice the difference. In college, you are free to do as you choose. There are no guidance counselors and teachers to tell you that you aren’t doing well. There are also a variety of organizations that serve members of all kinds of interests.

The first year of college is the first year of an individuals’ freedom of choice. Individuals are recommended help and aid, but ultimately the choice to take initiative belongs to the individual. My first year in college will teach me to become self independent and create strong work ethics. A balance of time management will be necessary to break me or make me.

1.) Tell us who you think you are.

2.) Share your top 3 concerns about your freshmen year at Baruch College and explain why.

3.) So far, what do you think will make your Baruch College experience different from your high school experience?

4.) How do you think your first year at College will change you?

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1.) Okay, first off, I am Ji Won Seo (John), Korean, and 18. But those are basic facts. Personality wise I think I am a generous, friendly, and a shy type of a person. At first, around strangers I am extremely shy but once I get to know them I tend to get comfortable with them in no time. There are things that I do not like about my personality but I will not share that with you. Oh and I get discouraged real easily but I spring back up with confidence in a short amount of time.
2.)My main concern that I prioritize are probably my grades. My grades in high school were not the best but not the worst either. So in college, having a fresh start I want to get a high GPA so that if I would want to transfer out of Baruch to change my major I would be able to. My second concern is the fact of me getting more involved in Baruch. I believe I will be one of those type who go to class and go home right after which will bore me as I commute in Baruch. My last and third concern……… I can’t think of any but those two are plenty for me.
3.)My high school and college experience will differ mainly on the work I get. In high school you do not need to take more than an hour on a single homework assignment while in college you might have to take days. Another thing is that in college you get much more freedom than in high school. For example, you do not have to do the works if you don’t want to and the professors probably won’t care, on the other hand in high school the teacher will nag and scold you if you don’t do your work.
4.)I don’t think my first year in Baruch will change me, if anything, I will become a busier person since I get much more work than I did in my senior year in high school.

I don’t know why, but I could not get myself to write this blog post. As everyone has more or less stated, being asked to describe yourself, let alone asked “who are you?,” can possibly be one of the hardest things to answer. But here we go. I am a driven student, an AFS volunteer, an alter server, a great friend, a loving daughter, a funny sister, a crazy Latina, a responsible individual, a good listener, a leader. Someone who is outgoing, painfully shy, ambitious, realistic, impatient, reliable, sweet, loud, decisive, independent, thoughtful, competitive, adventurous. A person who loves to smile, laugh, travel, dance, go on roller coasters, listen to music, watch movies, watch television, study languages. A girl who loves her Italian host family, her friends, her crazy family, to meet new people, live for the future, and enjoy her present. I want a big family and get married, but not before the age of 27 and I’m a person with a lot of hopes and dreams. I guess this pretty much describes who I am. There’s a lot I probably can’t think of right now, or simply haven’t figured out yet, but this is a good start.

As a freshman my greatest concerns are my grades, and having the time to get involved. I’m really good at convincing myself to put things off until it is 3 am and my assignment is due in just hours. It was a continuing cycle in high school and there were times when I didn’t do my work all together. But my grade always remained high somehow. That’ll be one of the biggest differences between high school and college. In college you can’t bullshit your way to a good grade. A’s are obtained through sweat and tears, and I fully expect to shed a few tears. Time is very valuable; it was endless in high school, but not anymore. In high school I had all the time in the world to join a long list of clubs as well as run my own. Now, I feel as if I don’t even have time to sit and have lunch. Which brings me to my second concern; I need to find the time to get involved with the school. Clubs and organizations, made my high school experience as memorable as it was. I met great friends, attended fun events, and experienced being at the top of an exclusive club. I had a great time getting involved and I just hope that I find a way to do the same at Baruch.

a) Tell us who you think YOU are!

Who I think I am… I don’t know. I think there’s far too many things to list here in this blog, and it’s rather exhausting to try to do so. My friend says I’m a pessimist, but I consider myself a realist. I care a lot about my loved ones, I guess that’s kind of a give-in for everyone here, but I feel like it’s an important part of who I am. I don’t like to burn bridges, meaning, once I care for someone I don’t let them go easily. I really like to laugh.. And, I don’t know what else to say. Oh, I actually like free-writing. I really wish that I was creative. I feel like, when it comes to being creative I hit a brick wall. I hate wearing jeans. If I could I would go to school in sweats, but I.. Don’t know why. Being in the city makes me feel like I really shouldn’t be wearing sweats. I’m scared easily, and I’m really afraid of pigeons and squirrels; luckily I haven’t seen many since I moved in on Ludlow.

b) Share your top 3 concerns about your freshmen year at Baruch College and explain why.

One of my top three concerns at Baruch is choosing the right major… For obvious reasons. I don’t want to be stuck with a major that isn’t going to do anything for me economically, but at the same time I want to be happy and enjoy what ever I end up doing. My second concern is keeping my grades up. I really want to do well at Baruch, and I’m worried that I’m going to slack off. I’m extremely lazy, but I don’t want that to affect my grades the way it has in the past. My third concern is choosing classes.. I have no idea what to choose or how to choose.

c) So far, what do you think will make your Baruch College experience different from your high school experience?

Dorming definitely makes my Baruch College experience different from my high school experience. I no longer have the comfort of going home to my mother cooking dinner and my father sitting and watching the evening news. I have to budget my own money and figure out my own meals. The amount of freedom that college has is incredible. I’ve also realized that this freedom comes with a lot of responsibility. If I know I have plans for an upcoming weekend, I’ll do my work ahead of time so that I don’t have to worry about it later. I also have to find the willpower to go ahead and read the assigned pages even though the professor won’t really assign any handwritten work to accompany it.

d) How do you think your first year at College will change you?

I don’t think it will change me much asides from the fact that I’ll learn how to better manage my time. I’ll definitely meet more people and have other sets of friends that I’ll make, but as far as my personality and my morals and values – I doubt that those will change much.

Let me start off by saying, despite popular belief, I’m NOT this guy:

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My top three concerns about college are:
a) That I will end up partying too hard and die.
b) That I will not be able to keep all my classes in check and have to drop.
c) That I will get an STD. ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTION!!! …no, fo’reals.

Ok, I don’t think you can compare college to high school. High school, although essential, didn’t provide a very good way to learn, much the opposite. High school was boring, classes were too long, we would end up doing nothing productive all day except for maybe having lunch with a few friends. Oh, and of course, the high school favorite, memorizing a whole bunch of crap that you would forget as soon as you took your test the next day.

The difference between college and high school is simple. College = Learning ≠High School. I don’t have anything against having a school system for kids in that age bracket, it’s obviously necessary, it’s just done horribly wrong and, in my opinion, takes up too much of their time (Oh, and also starts way too early in the morning. You’re gonna start classes at 8 AM, really?).

I’ve already seen Baruch change me, just going to the city every day makes me a different person. Knowing my way around Manhattan will help once I’m looking for work. I’m gaining a new group of friends and new pass times. That’s what’s changing me, that’s why I’ll be different after my first year at Baruch.

Well on the most basic level, I’m a human. But I suppose thats not saying nearly enough. First and foremost I’m a friends, I will never betray those closest to me, I have few morals, but the one I have I’m adamant about.I’m also an athlete, I was on my school’s wrestling team, a comunity football league, did competitive swimming for four years, I cant stand to lose. I’m an artist, I love writing poetry in my spare time, and even made the semi-finals of a national competition once. I’m an academic, as is visable by the fac the I go to college and take my education seriously. I’m also a typical guy.

My first concern, as is everyone elses, is getting good grades as that will ultimately decide my future. My second concern is gettimng to know people, my high school was pretty small and with thousands of students in Baruch hopefully I’ll be able to make new friends. My final concern if having time for thingsa other than school, seeing as college takes up most of my day i hope it doesnt take over my life.

So far cellege has been very different from high school. There are WAY more students. Teachers don’t really teach but rant about whatever’s on their mind. While there isnt much homework, essays and big projects are given pretty frequently. And the professors are way more tech savvy.

I think college will finaly make me more responsible. And hopefully it’ll make me smarter too ;D