Author Archives: wilson.chow1

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.

Visiting the Rubin Museum was a unique experience.  I’m not a fan of museums nor art so you can already tell my mood walking through the doors.  However, it was free and I did not go alone so it was not so bad.  The museum seemed to focus a lot on the Asian Culture, particularly the Indian, and Southeast Asia regions.  There were Himalayan, Tibetan, Hindu, and other pieces of art.  There were a variety of different arts and each floor of the museum has a particular theme.  I may have had a spiritual connection but while I was walking in the museum, the atmosphere of the building seemed to bring out the true colors of its theme.  The lights were dim, there was plenty of space, the walls of the color matched well with the painting and there was an assortment of art to look at.  One piece of art I liked was the large mandala in the middle hanging by the stairways.  If you look very closely, you can see human figures on it but far away, it looks like various symbols or hieroglyphics.  For a small quiet museum that was free and that did not let anyone take pictures, it was pretty good.

The Career Exploration workshop did not provide me with much information that I did not already know.  Working in a business environment already (small law office), I knew much of what was being presented.  Preparation for the interviews and resume are simple tools that many people, including myself already know about.  I thought the workshop would focus more on how BARUCH can help us, the resources/tools/advisors they have and how we can use those.  Instead, it was a basic information session telling us the Do’s and Dont’s for many things we already know about.  However, speaking on a non-bias standpoint, this session may have helped others who are not so experienced with these types of things (people who are looking for a job, never learned about creating resumes in high school, etc.)

To be honest, I was not too interested in the Panel Discussion plus I had the worst possible seating anyone could ever ask for (Balcony, several rows back, leg room just enough for a toddler).  However, I still managed to catch their main emphasis on identity.   I believe the author has went through a lot in his life and has established a lot of credibility to be talking about a common subject such as identity.

I believe identity has no general definition, and that no other person can give someone an identity other than the person him/herself.  This identity can consist of whatever the person wants to be identified as, whether it be based on ethnicity, looks, beliefs, accomplishments, hobbies, etc.  Everyone’s identities are different from each other, and there is no limit to what someone’s identity is.  It is what it is and you are who you are.

Something about me is that I am a superstitious person.  No, I don’t carry lucky charms, voodoo dolls or any of that non sense but stuff about good luck, bad luck, jinxing and curses really get to me.  Lately, I’ve been taking that stuff seriously.  Like for instance, when I played the lottery on my birthday, I had like almost a ritual just to scratch a bunch of ticket.  You can be dam sure I need the right coin. Need the right time and place, listening to some good music and all that stuff.  Another thing about superstition is that it often comes to bite me back in the butt like when I’m playing a game, or doing a test or whatever.  Like before a basketball game with my friends, if I see people that look like “scrubs”, I start talking a lot of trash that ends up coming right back at me and before you know it, it’s a very closer game than I would expect, or I end up losing.  This also happens most of the time when I’m over confident taking a test or exam, and I’m telling myself and others that the test is going to be very easy and when I actually do get the test, it’s like I’m looking at a whole new language and I end up getting some score that’s unacceptable for my parents.  This happens a lot too so it’s not just a coincidence and I’m starting to further believe this whole jinxing effect.  I always believe everything happens for a reason, and that’s why I’m a superstitious person.  Don’t get me wrong I’m not some paranoid freak that thinks there’s a figure watching my every move.  But I’m pretty sure you guys have had that before, when you’re overly excited, confident or even cocky before doing something, and then you get that buzzkill. I’m not sure if it’s a bad habit but it certainly has kept me on my toes all the times and always thinking.

I would consider myself a student, brother, and a helpful, funny friend who has a passion for sports and uses that to help drive for success. I always want to do well at whatever I am dealing with, my job, playing sports, schoolwork,  and I would say my love for sports (especially playing basketball, and just watching football) has kept me going.  I never give up and even if everything looks terrible, I will keep pushing and at least try to finish the best I can which is similar to the mentality of many athletes who play sports.

My top 3 concerns about freshman year is pretty much similar to everyone else.  My main priority is to not let “senioritis” catch up to me coming from high school and to maintain a high GPA as it is very important especially for the freshman year because you hear everyone else saying it only gets harder. I understand that there will be more work, less time, there will be fewer reminders because everything is on the syllabus…basically telling me to “step up my game” (in sports terms) from high school.  Another concern I have is trying to make new friends.  Many of my friends are out of the city for college, and some of the remaining few in the city are already thinking/planning to transfer after this semester.  Basically, I’m the only one who doesn’t plan on transferring anytime soon but I look forward to this as a challenge.  This will be extremely difficult given the fact that many students’ schedules are different than another that it makes it even harder to catch up or socialize with others.  Also since I have work, that limits most of my time to even hang out with them after my classes end.  Lastly, another concern I have is basically dealing with the work overload that I have in store for me.  I often over think about situations which makes me worried and it doesn’t help at all.  I’m already thinking about the future papers, projects and speeches that I will be doing, what classes I am going to take next semester and how that is going to affect my work schedule.  Not to mention, trying to maintain a social life (friends, playing basketball, clubs, etc) has also been in my thought.

I think the general environment of being in college, let alone, a highly populated one will definitely differ from my high school experience which had only about 600 students.  I will definitely be able to meet more people, make new friends and hopefully improve my communication with others.

I hope the first year of college will help me become more independent, to not over think about every situation, and to become more social as I am not used to a very populated school environment.  In addition, I hope to manage my time better so I do not have to worry as much when dealing with school work, my job as well as social life.