Monthly Archives: November 2010

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Beginning College at Baruch was a great opportunity for me and did live up to my expectations. At first I was very proud of myself that I had made it into a very good school yet I still had some reservations. I was wondering if I could get good grades in a very competitive environment. Right now my grades are OK.They as splendid as I would like them to be but I am still proud of what I have achieved here.

      The only disappointment or negative I take with me this semester, is the fact that I had to drop calculus in my first semester. I hope I can ace it next semester. I have met many new people here who become dear friends to me it is something I appreciate very much. I guess I could have done better academically if Ihad taken my classes seriously from the start. I am determined to do that next semester. Baruch has really opened my eyes to the world. Icame into Baruch thinking at the end of four years, I will become an accountant but now I see that i have more options. I do not necessary have to go into business.

        After taking different classes, I have seen that i also have valuable skills in other areas that i can pursue.This is something I appreciate very much. I might transfer to a school closer to me and not entirely focused on business after next semester but that decision has been higly influenced by my time here at Baruch. This is a place i will never forget. Before  I  forget, the gym has been a very relaxing and stess releasing place for me. I loved going there everyday especially before giving my speeches to release my nervousness.

      I feel like Baruch has trasformed me into a new person, a better person, a more responsible and determined person. It has made me stronger that I could overcome any obstacles that may come my way that nothing can stop me from achieving my goals.

I am not the art kind of person and I rarely if ever visit any musuems. I only go to such places if it is mandatory. The last time I went to a musuem was like two to three years ago for a school project.Still going to the Rubin was a good experience. I got the opportunity to explore some asian religious art and thought me a lot about their religions. What struck me most was the diversity in the art. I thought it was going to be the same boring art on all floors but in fact each floor had a totally different and interesting theme. Initially I had planned on spending less than 20 munitesthere but I got so caught up in it that by the time I realized I had been at the place close to an hour. Also I was a little bit freak out by some buddhist shrine at the musuem. It was a bit scary. In all it was a good experience. Now i will think about appreciating art more.

When I think of museums in the city I think of the MOMA, the American Museum of Natural History, Guggenheim Museums and other notable museums. However, when we were told we had to visit the Rubin Museum of Art i was intrigued to find out what is housed in the museum. When I went to the museum, by looking from the outside I would not expect to see all the wonderful art that was inside. The one art work that stood out the most to me was a colorful painted cloth that was on display in the Nepalese Legacy exhibit. What struck me was all the bright colors that were used, and looking at it and seeing all the gods just made you feel very peaceful and relaxed. Looking at any work of art I enjoy to know some historical context and this Nepalese cloth has a lot of rich history, making it an even more significant masterpiece to display. I enjoyed my time at the Rubin Museum of Art and I would consider going back there to see what new exhibits they have on display.

My first thought of going to the Rubin Museum of Art sounded interesting. I never go to a Museum on a regular basis and I was thrilled to try something new. I did not know what to expect from the museum but I can honestly say that I was glad that I went. I think it was interesting since each floor had a completely different theme than the one before it. Of all of the art work that was presented, one stood out to me. I found out that I really enjoyed the copper Durga, which is the fearsome goddess. I thought that it represented spiritual people and I was forced to do more research on it. In my research I had found out that Durga represents a female warrior. I really appreciate the fact that even though the object was made in the eleventh century, the Hindus didn’t discriminate or think twice about questioning the possibility of having a powerful female as a god.

I will never forget about my first semester at Baruch College. It has not only lived up to my expectations but this college has exceeded my expectations. When I first arrived to Baruch I didn’t know what to expect. I was worried I might have chose the wrong College to attend and was considering transferring out.  The idea of transferring out has gone away and now I am certain I choose the right college and all of my experiences that I had have affected my thoughts. I slowly started to get adjusted and realize what a great opportunity I have to attend Baruch because most of my teachers work with the students more than we need and are willing to offer plenty of assistance or direct us to someone who can help us in any academic or personal problems we might face. I did not have such strong good feelings towards Baruch when I first started to take classes but as I got more serious and increased my drive to do well, I saw what a great learning opportunity Baruch has to offer.

I can not really say how well my first semester at Baruch College went academically because I do not know my grades, but overall I’m sure I did well. And if I didn’t do well, I definitely learned a lot. I also made a lot of friends and got closer with the friends that I already had.

If I can do my first semester over again, I would most likely spend more time in the library than I did in the beginning. I say this because the library is a great place to get all of your work done. I believe that your peers are a great influence on people and when I’m in the library and I look around, all I see is people doing work and it motivates me to do more work as well.

I have gained a lot of confidence in myself since I started at Baruch. I’m sure there are many reasons for it but one factor that contributed to the increase of my confidence is the fact that I’m adjusting, improving, and learning how to be on my own. It feels phenomenal to know that I can do well if I apply myself whether or not anyone is making me do it. I can honestly say that I have learned a lot about myself since arriving at Baruch College.

Honestly when I walked to Baruch on the first day of classes, I was nervous because I did not know what to expect and I wondering would be as good at Baruch as I was in high school. I kept thinking to myself as I entered school that day “did I make the right choice?”

Going into Baruch I only expected three things. The first thing is that there will be a lot more work than high school. Next, the professors would be extremely strict. Lastly, I am going to school in the city, so I felt that I was going to see amazing things. Baruch has fulfilled two of my expectation, the amount of work and witness amazing activities and events. Luckily, Baruch did not live up to the one expectation of professors being strict. My professors this semester have been so helpful to and they answered any questions and concerns I had about the class or Baruch in general.

I felt my first semester at Baruch went okay. Academically, I struggled with some of my class; I needed to learn how to manage my time and analyze reading better. However, coming to Baruch I have meet so many diverse people here. Therefore, I feel even though I might now have achieved my academic goal I did have a great semester socially.

The one regret I have, is I should have taken more advantage of what Baruch has to offer. For example, going to more meetings and trying different clubs and organizations at the school. Another, thing I would redo is that I would participate more in class. Even though I cannot relive my first semester here at Baruch, I will take these lessons and put it towards my second semester and future here at Baruch.

I do not feel I have changed that much after my first semester. I have matured a little, and I tend to be a bit more stressed out, but other than that I feel that did not change. Overall, the past semester had its positives and negatives, but I look forward to my future at Baruch.

The thought of going to the museum, especially one that was not well known seemed odd to me. I have never heard of the Rubin museum and from the name of it I didn’t think it was anything special. It wasn’t until I had actually gone inside that my mind completely changed. Every floor had a dominant theme; some floors were Buddhist while others were contemporary and modern. The work that most caught my attention was a picture of Times Square. That historic landmark – right in the heart of the city that never sleeps… was completely empty! No one was walking or on the streets, but all the lights that we are accustomed to seeing was on. That was exactly how I felt in the Rubin museum. It was located in the city, but it seemed so relaxed and warming. Overall the event was an eye opener and I am glad I went to see it.

Baruch College has lived up to my expectations.  Coming here, I already had a sense of what I would be dealing with so I was not disappointed.  It would be somewhat (not entirely) similar to High School – commuting to school, moving around in a heavily populated environment and the usual New York City life.  Many of my friends are not in the city for college and some are already planning to transfer as well after this semester or year so that means I would have to meet more people.  My first semester at Baruch College went well.  I’m not doing poor in any classes, I’m surviving calculus, and I’ve made a few friends thanks to the LC community.

I believe I’ve gotten to know more about what Baruch can offer in terms of resources and I am thankful for that considering I am not planning to transfer anytime soon and will be here for awhile.  Given that, I plan to make the most of it while being here.  I have experienced the “college life” outside of the city with a trip to Syracuse and I really enjoyed it while I was there for a couple of nights. Some of my friends have even encouraged me to transfer to their schools with them and I would like to but financial reasons have prohibited me from doing so but I do not mind at all!  Sure I would love to dorm and have the experience but I’m definitely not paying 10k+ a year, it’s not like I don’t like Baruch and not to mention, I like the city.  The food, taking crazy train rides plus I still have my job.  I understand that I will be missing some of what college will be about (living independently, large campuses, parties, sports pride, etc), but I look at this as a positive thing.  I plan on visiting my friend’s schools during holidays or long weekends more similar to my Syracuse trip.  This would be like a mini-vacation out of the city, see some friends and enjoy what I “am missing” (according to some people) without having to pay 8-10k a year :].

I do not think I would do much differently during my first semester if I could do it all again.  I probably would have worked harder and to shrug off the High school mentality.  Starting at Baruch, I will definitely try to procrastinate less because not procrastinating at all is like asking a tree to give you money – it will never happen.  Work will continue to pile up and I have to be ready for it. I am actually looking forward to see how large lecture classes will be like considering the largest class I have taken in the first semester was only about 100 people.  Looking at my schedule for next semester, I expect my future at Baruch to be an interesting experience.

The workshop about resumes, internships, and professionalism was kind of useless other then the fact that it taught us how to use Starr Search.  In my high school I was part of the academy of finance program that guaranteed us an internship during summer of our junior year. That meant that the program had to teach how to create a resume and act professionally. However what I really appreciated and enjoyed most about the workshop is they taught how to use the complicated system of Starr Search. Before the workshop I attempted to go on that website and had many difficulties with it. The seminar helped us get adjusted with Starr Search and told us that it is possible to get an internship as freshman.

Most of the panel discussion about the Bitter Sea was about identity, the panelists were sharing there most important moments in their life’s that helped them define who they are. After listening to the entire panelist group about there experiences that really defined who they are I began to think about my own experiences that make me who I am. As I pondered about this question I kept thinking about soccer. Does soccer really define who I am? Is it possible that it can? Well makes sense since I am constantly a rounded it. Ever since I was introduced to that sport my life began to change. I met my closest friends and it became my hobby. But what was really life changing was when I scored my first goal for my first professional team. It was feeling that I would never forget. The excitement and chanting of the fans , my team jumping on top of me as we celebrated that goal because it was the winning goal as well. I believe that if anyone asked the question Who Am I? I would them to go watch one of my soccer games.