Author Archives: steven.coniglio

The Career Exploration presentation was, unfortunately, very similar to how Academic Enrichment exercise was conducted.  Failing to maintain the attention of almost anybody in the audience who was forced to attend, this exercise which could have been extreemly helpful wound up being extreemly boring.  The Career Development Center is a very helpful place for those looking for jobs.  Conducting mock interviews and reviewing essays seemed to me like the most important action that is conducted.  I am afraid that almost every other thing offered by them was lost.  If Baruch wants these seminars to be any use to us they have to either make it more engaging, or make it a voluntary event.  If it remains a mandatory event then the same result will most likely occur and people will continue to nap.  (Harsh but true)

The panal discussion that we attended seemed like it had great potential to be interesting.  However, I found that the majority of the panal was a dissapointment.  The Author of the Bitter Sea was quite interesting, while the rest failed to captivate most people in the audience.  I couldn’t help but notice that almost everybody in the audience that was forced to be there turned to the person next to them and started to talk when it was the turn of the other members of the panal.  I have to admit that I did the same along with most of the people in LC 17 that were forced to go.  The questioning of the author at the end was interesting although the way it was conducted made it awkward for people to ask questions to the writer.  I wish I had more positives things to say because it was truly a great opportunity to learn more about Charles Li.

            What I hate the most is not bugs.  It’s not losing.  It’s not even democrat ideals, although that may surprise most of you.  What I hate most is awkward silence.  When I was in high school I was a very shy guy.  Don’t get me wrong I had plenty of friends and a lot of people liked me.  However, I was very quiet at a lot of times.  I am not usually one of those people who can keep talking and talking, I usually have to be goaded to be open.  It is one of the most annoying, not the mention the most frustrating, characteristics about me.  Because it is so hard for me to open up sometimes and talk there is usually that dreaded awkward silence.  Those scenarios happen all in often in my life and the fear of it recurring holds me back from a lot of things. 

            What I love the most is volleyball and my brother Brian.  I won’t delve into volleyball because most people play sports and understand why I love it so much.  But my brother, he is something else.  Brian is by far the weirdest and funniest person I ever met.  He never fails at making me laugh, even if I really don’t want to.  I heard stories from my parents, and I remember vaguely, how they could never punish him as a kid because he never took them seriously and would just laugh whenever they tried.  Not in a malice full fashion like, “You can’t possibly punish me.”  Just in a way that he wholeheartedly thought it was funny.  I miss him the most while I am here at college. 

            I live at the dorms now and it’s great.  There are lots of cool people, in a good area, and right down the street from Little Italy which is any Italians’ dream.  Classes are pretty good, no complaints.  Can’t stay awake in Anthropology, but every other class is good.  I am slightly worried down the road though because when volleyball starts up I will lose a lot of time and might be overloaded.  I would have to practice every day except Saturday or Sunday for several hours every day.  I’m just concerned that when classes get more difficult next semester, which I am predicting they will, I might not be able to keep up with my work.  But that will work itself out another time. 

            The most important to me is not being a jerk to people.  Messing with people is one thing, which I thoroughly enjoy doing.  Being a jerk is something a whole lot worse.  When I was in middle school and high school all around me there were jerks.  People who made fun of those less fortunate than themselves.  People who acted arrogant and treated people poorly as a result.  People who ruined teachers classes and were cruel to the teachers themselves.  I have also been a victim of these activities.  I know what you are all thinking, “How can this tall guy have possibly been picked on?”  I was the only Freshman pranked on Freshman Friday.  I also stopped a bully picking on one of my friends and instead drew their jeers at me.  Jerks suck.  I want to make sure that I never come even remotely close to being one.

I think that I am a laid back, extremely tall college guy. Plain and simple! One of my passions is volleyball and I am learning German. I like to think that I am a pretty honorable guy and that I make quite an impression on people. However, I am also extremely shy. I had some serious problems in High School was opening up. However, once I loosened up I am able to just keep talking and talking. That is what I think will separate my High School experience from my College experience. I don’t want to just be that guy that everybody knows of but nobody really knows. I want to open myself up more to people and, above all, meet as many new people and make as many friends as I possibly can.
I have gone to extreme lengths to achieve this goal by doing things such as not bringing my Xbox 360 to college so that I wouldn’t be stuck playing videogames in my room. Also, I made sure that I am not alone most of the day and that I am out and about doing whatever with whoever. If I am ever with a room with somebody I don’t know, I introduce myself to somebody and network. That is how my college experience will be different from my high school experience.
There are a few things that I am concerned about for my freshman year at college. One of them is being overwhelmed with school work. I have heard a lot of BAD stories of people getting overwhelmed fast. I am also worried about doing too much. I play volleyball for the school, which is already extremely demanding, and I plan to join clubs too. I want to join the Archery Club as well as AIESEC which could definitely strain my schedule. My last worry for freshman year is that I don’t want to get lost in the city. I am from Long Island originally. Although Long Island is not that far from the city I still don’t know it well. I am learning pretty fast, but if somebody placed me in a random spot in the city I wouldn’t know what to do.
I think that my first year of college will change me in a lot of ways because of all the different activities that I plan to do. I believe that I will gain a better understanding of teamwork by playing on a higher level volleyball team then High School and club volleyball. I believe that I will be a better leader and also gain knowledge of the world through clubs. I plan to learn how to thrive in the business world with interns. I believe that I will make a ton of new friends that will last a lifetime. I believe that a lot of things will happen here at Baruch. Right now I’m off to a great start with classes that I enjoy, teachers that are relatable, and a friendly community around me. I’m stoked!