Author Archives: john.friia

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.

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.

I was looking at the other blogs about the academic workshop and I agree with Nicole that it is cool that Baruch was able to get Charles Li, the author of the Bitter Sea, to come and talk to the entire freshmen class. I had mixed feelings about the workshop, I felt that when Charles Li spoke it was very interesting, however when some of the other individuals spoke I found it a little boring. As I said I did enjoy listening to Li and hearing what he his life was like and what he had to overcome. I would suggest for future academic workshops, that maybe a dramatization of the novel that was read for the freshmen class or a one on one discussion with the author of the book. Overall, I did enjoy some parts of the workshop and did walk away with a new appreciation of what I have.

The career workshop that our learning community went to, I felt was very helpful and I found a lot of information. I was not aware of all the services the STARR program offered. I can honestly say I will take advantage of everything STARR has to offer. After going to the career enrichment workshop I did make a profile on STARR and hopefully, I can find an internship for this upcoming summer that will focus on my desired career of journalism. Having the capability to upload your resume and companies viewing them is amazing and looking for internships are the numerous ways Baruch will help you become successful after attending this college.

We have all had embarrassing moments that make us think, “Did that really happen?” I tend to have a lot of those moments, especially when I was in tenth grade and I fell asleep in my English class while my teacher was being observed my the superintendent.

I had English right after lunch, and I was always tired in that class. However, this one day seemed to be really bad. We were learning Macbeth, which was boring, and I feel my eyes getting heavy. I tried to fight falling asleep, but I lost the battle. I closed my eyes and my head fell on the desk. The next thing I remember was feeling a kick from my teacher making me get up. At that point I jumped up from my chair and the whole class was looking at me, and my teacher smirking asked, “if something was wrong?” I came up with a quick answer and I asked if I could go to the bathroom.

While I left the room, I kept thinking, “Did that just happen?” I felt so embarrassed, even though the students in the class forgot about that experience my English teacher still remembered it, even two years later when she wrote in my yearbook “good luck next year…try to stay awake during class.”

I consider myself a lot of things. First I am a brother, son, student, uncle, and friend. Right now I am just trying to figure out how I can handle work and school. I like to have a fun time, when I hangout with friends and other people. I always have a hard time writing about myself, because I never know what to say.

One of the main thing I am concerned about is just getting adjusted to the work that is given out in college. When I was in high school I had a good amount of work that needed to get done, but I had a longer amount of time to complete it, so now I have to do more work in a shorter amount of time. I just need to learn how to manage my time. Outside of school the one things I am concerned about is how I can work and go to school, I need the money but I can only work one day. This sort falls in the category of managing my time, probably once I get used to all the work I may be able to work a little more.  Other than that, I really don’t have any other concerns about y freshman year, so far it is going very well.

The “Baruch Experience” is already so much different than my high school experience. From just commute into the city to the work that needs to get done it is already so much different. But I think I am doing good from switching to a “high school state of mind” to a “college state of mind.”

Throughout my first year at Baruch, I think it will expose me to so many things that I would not have been exposed to if I went to school on the island. In just the few weeks we have been in school, I have seen so many interesting things not only at school but on my way going to class. I definitely made the right choice coming to Baruch and I am glad to say I am part of the class of 2014!