Author: Omar Abdel Salam

I really enjoyed my first semester at baruch college. I had alot of fun with my LC and made a bunch of new friends through the group work we had to do for projects and just through hanging out with them after class. In the beginning of the semester I was actually nervous about making new friends. Honestly, I thought the majority of people in college would be stuck up, but it was actually the complete opposite. Everyone was very nice and helpful whether it be professors, other students and peer mentors. I was really able to assimilate into college based on the learning bloc I was in as wel as freshman seminar. One thing I was fearfu of was making classes for next semester and after we had the class speaker that explained how to make classes I elt better and more confident about making my schedule for next semeter. In my eyes that was the two most helpful parts about freshman seminar and the learning community was the fact that it made it easier for us to make friends and taught us how to make classes for next semester.

Omar Abdel Salam

We went to the Mason Hall on this Tuesday to watch a panel discussion between Professor Stan Altman, Tashi Chodron, Katrin Hansing, Bruce Payne, as well as the author of The Bitter Sea, Charles N. Li. In their discussion they discussed past experience that led them to who they are today. They discussed certain situations they encountered that helped shape their identity. This actually got me thinking about what experiences shaped my identity and comparing them to the ones mentioned by the panelists. I thought this workshop helped me begin to think deeply about my identity in the same way the panelists did. I also enjoyed this workshop as I got to enjoy my time with my LC class mates and at the same time I was able to listen to a discussion about identity that was very interesting. I also got to see Charles N. Li the author of the freshman reading assignment that I read this summer. I got to see the way Charles N. Li handles himself and how he speaks. I thought the question asking segment at the end was great as students were able to ask Li any question they had for him. I learned certain new things that about Charles N. Li’s perspective on certain things that related to the book based on this question and answer segment. Overall, I viewed this workshop as a new nice experience.

I went to a career workshop at star in room 2-190. I was nervous at first since there was many other students outside our LC, including some sophmores, juniors and seniors. I had never been to a career exploration workshop so I didnt know what to expect. This workshop was from 12:30 – 2:30 and I didnt know what we were going to do for two hours. Our workshop leader was named June and was very nice. At first we signed in and filled out a worksheet with several questions about people that are important in our lives. It was very awkward at first and I was pretty nervous because there were so many new people in the room.

The first activity, managed to make me lose that nervousness. June seperated us into groups that related us with each other such as the boroughs we were from, our age, our favorite ice cream, and we would introduce ourselves to others within our groups so we would get to know each other. After this activity I began to become comfortable as I managed to exchange names with several people in the room.

June then began lecturing us about networking and how important it is. It turned out that networking is the way a lot of people get their jobs. I was surprised to learn about how important marketing actually was. June explained to us several ways of networking, such at certain business parties. She also told us about LINKEDIN a website like facebook, but for business networking. I thought this website would be helpful for future purposes.

Later, we did another introduction activity in which we would share information about ourselves and if someone shared a similarity they would say me too and you would hold one end of the piece of yarn and toss the other to that person and then they would share information about themselves and this would go on and on until everyone in the class shared something about themself. This activity was to show the connection between all of us and how many of us shared similar interests.

June then continued to lecture and explained to us the importance of business cards. She showed us how to accept business cards and to not put them in our pockets but hold on to them as a sign of respect. I thought this was helpful because this was never told to me before.

By the end of the workshop I was surprised about how helpful it actually was. I learned many things I will need for the future. I may actually decide to go to more of this workshops and utilize the information I learn in them and apply them into my life when looking for a job. I honestly enjoyed going to this workshop.

When I was told we were going to go to an art gallery I expected to see several abstract picture that were painted based on what I had seen on T.V. about art galleries. I had been to museums before, but never to an art gallery. The fact that we went as a group though helped because we were together, and it made the experience more fun and interesting.

When I arrived the place was very quiet and empty and honestly i thought that the gallery was closed and I was about to turn around and walk away. But Dr. Sandra Kraskin introduced herself and explained to us what we would be doing today. When we got the tour of the gallery, I saw that the pictures where photographs that showed different social groups as Dr. Sandra Kraskin explained to us. I thought a a lot of the art we saw was very interesting especially the pictures that showed the African genocides (even though they were depressing). You could feel what the people in the picture felt by looking at their facial expressions.

I really liked the fact that Dr. Sandra Kraskin got us involved by asking us question instead of just talking the whole time. After showing us a few of the pictures she allowed us to view the pictures on our own which I liked since it gave me a chance to focus on the pictures that caught my eyes. Overall, I thought this was a new, good experience.

Hello my name is Omar Abdel Salam.

So far, I think Baruch is just fine. I am already starting to get used to Baruch and the commute as well as my professors and classes. School is an important part of my life and I need to dedicate a lot of my time to it so I can get good grades. I already made some new friends at Baruch and met some of my old friends from Forest Hills High School here. After these past weeks I learned that college requires a lot of hard work and time. It is a lot more challenging than high school. I expected this, but after a laid back senior year getting back to doing so much work is very hard. I have a lot of good professors and I hope I get good grades in all my classes.

My biggest challenge so far is my philosophy class. It is a difficult course and it is very hard to pay attention in class. Our grade in that class is based on readings and homework writing assignments. The main problem is that, I don’t understand the readings most of the time. All I do in order to write the homework assignments is basically take everything the professor said in the lecture put it into my own words without understanding anything I am writing. The main thing I enjoy about college is the freedom I have, something we didn’t really have in high school.

What am I afraid of? I am afraid of being unsuccessful. I am afraid of being unhappy. I am afraid of failing. I am also afraid of getting lost. I am afraid of closed trash cans. My fear of getting lost is due to tramatic experiences I had as a child. My fear of getting lost comes from actually getting lost once when I was around five years old in a fair in Egypt. My fear of closed trash cans comes from me taking the lid off the trash can once to throw out the garbage and a cat jumped out of the trash can and jumped off my shoulder and in the process scratched my shoulder. Now I don’t throw out garbage that’s the only chore I refuse to do unless I absolutely have to do it.

There are many things that make me happy. My family and friends make me happy. Achieving something I thought I couldn’t make me happy. Going out with friends makes me happy. Sometimes change makes me happy.

There are also many things that are important to me. My family and friends are important to me. Doing well in school is important to me. The way people treat me is important to me.

I like and dislike certain things. I like being happy. I like having fun. I like playing video games and sports. I like hanging out with my friends. I like spending time with my family. I like driving around in the car with my friends. I like listening to my IPod. I like watching T.V. I dislike having to do something I don’t want to do or going out with someone I don’t want to go out with. I dislike being bored. I dislike being alone. I dislike being embarrassed. I dislike people who are judgmental. I identify myself by the way I think, the way I treat people as well as my values and morals.

I have two personal mottos. These mottos are “No matter how many times you fall get up and try again” and “It is not about how many mistakes you make, but what you learn from them.” I apply these mottos to my life a lot. I try not to give up no matter how many times I fail at an attempt to do something. I also try to learn from all the mistakes I make and try not to repeat them more than once.