Author Archives: jonathan.biton

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.

Academic Enrichment

The Panel Discussion was hard to understand because of the difficulty to hear the speakers but I was still able to understand the main points. Of all the main points, the focus on identity stood out to me the most. The focus on identity made sense to me since The Bitter Sea had also emphasized identity and its importance. Everyone at some point in their life questioned who they are. It is important to understand that everyone has their own background and grew up differently so don’t be too quickly to judge. This definitely applies to Baruch College because Baruch is a college with a very diverse student body. I thought that what was meant to be learned from the panel discussion and The Bitter Sea was to get to know people before you judge them because you have no idea what they have been through or anything about their past.

Career Exploration

I found theCareer Exploration workshop helpful. She just reenforced all of my knowledge that I had on writing a resume and getting interviewed. I paid attention and took notes because I found it as a big coincidence that the day after the Career Exploration workshop, I had an interview for a job. It helped me relax for the job interview since I knew how to prepare my self. It is important to remain calm and have confidence in yourself to make the hiring manager like you. I applied all of the ideas that the Workshop taught me and a couple days later I got a call and now I’m the newest employee at Steve Madden.

Jonathan Biton

10/17/10

LC 12

Dear Diary,

I got over my biggest fear yesterday: heights. I’ve always been afraid of high heights, especially on roller-coasters but of course I won’t let that stop me from going to six flags for fright fest. On Sunday I went to six flags with three of my friends and there was no way I’m backing out of any ride because like I’ve said before, “a life lived in fear is a life half lived”. The first couple of roller-coasters that we went on were not that scary but when my friend booked Kingda Ka on the flash pass, I’ll admit that I was reasonably scared. My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to die before I got on the ride, and of course we all decided to go on the front row. So there I am strapped into this green monster starting to think that I’m an idiot for getting on this ride. Before I knew it the ride started to move and there was no turning back now. I remember the loud speakers saying “head back, hands in, and enjoy the ride. After that, the roller-coaster took off. The ride goes 128mph in 3.5 seconds and is over 450 feet high. I was basically glued to the seat. I loved it. I came off that ride with the biggest smile and the best feeling. I have conquered one of my fears. Every roller-coaster after that felt like a little kids ride. Now that I did Kingda ka, its one step closer to bungee jumping and then sky diving for my nineteenth birthday. I love putting myself in uncomfortable and adrenaline rushing positions. I love doing what people say I can not do and doing what I think I would never be able to do. I basically love life right now and I want to take full advantage of everything that my life has to offer me.

I see myself as a young eighteen year old guy that just wants to enjoy life and have a good time. I’m extremely optimistic and I always think about how grateful I am for everything that I have. I recently got out of a two and a half year relationship and since then, my life has gotten much more exciting. I have been to trying so many new things and have an open mind about everything. If you asked me “who do you think you are?” two years ago I would say that I was serious and focused, but now my mind is all over the place. I can hardly concentrate in school and I don’t have the same attitude towards life that I used to have. I used to be quiet, a little shy and always think about the consequences; but now I’m trying to live my life with the most excitement as possible.

My very close cousin has recently got into a motorcycle accident and is in bad condition. He’s only thirty-one but I learned so much from him. After I heard what happened I was in shock and I realized how short life was. Anything can happen to anybody at any moment and that accident reinforced one of my proverbs that I live by which is “life is short”. Ever since then, I have doing whatever made me happy.

My newly found attitude in life also has flaws. I have so many things going on in my life that I have a hard time focusing in school and unlike high school, if you don’t keep up no ones there to remind you. My main concerns are procrastination, falling behind, and lack of fun. Unlike high school, procrastinating in college is much harder to get away with because every night there is at least 70 pages to read and work piles up on you. I’m also concerned that kids in Baruch don’t have the same mentality as I do. When I went to visit my friends that went away for college, everyone was very social and always having fun and I hope that Baruch students will have the same mentality.

I think Baruch will make me more mature and show me what life is like when I have to take care of myself. I will be moving out soon and thats a big change from when I was in high school. I also think Baruch College will help me become more of an individual and help me learn more on how the world works.