Author Archives: han.ding

Thus far my experience at Baruch College has met my expectations. I entered with a set of goals, and I appear to be on track for meeting them. I didn’t really expect anything I could have encountered here to be an obstacle of any sort, though the scheduling of classes could have been better. I prefered my high school’s scheduling system, wherein I had classes continuously from a set time until a set time with little breaks in between. I think the considerable temporal gap between classes (especially on Mondays and Wednesdays) isn’t the most conducive to my performance, for once my brain leaves academic mode it can take a while for it to return.

I think my first semester has gone decently well. My grades are all high, but I’ve recently developed grade-anxiety. After taking tests or handing in other major projects I tend to over-ponder about it even though I realize no amount of thinking can now affect what’s in my professor’s hands. I am relieved when my professors return things to me, but soon the cycle repeats when something else is due.

If given the chance, I would have either grouped my current classes more contiguously or taken more classes to fill the time gap between my classes as they currently are. Though the latter proposal would squeeze out work-study (which can be readjusted accordingly), I feel that, at the same time, it would have been a better vehicle for the achievement of my goals.

Since I arrived here, I have become more focused in my schoolwork. I have also had to become more independent, for now I have more decisions to make. For example, lunch wasn’t an issue in high school, but now, given the overall high prices and dearth of local dining options, I have had to adapt accordingly (but I won’t reveal my secret plan). I also participate more often in college than I did in high school, though it’s hard to pinpoint the precise source of the newfound confidence, which I hope will carry over into other aspects both now and in the future. Further, because of the spare time I have between classes and workstudy, I have had more time to read many interesting literary works (though most are from the philosophy anthology–I might not finish the entire thing before I have to return it, for it is a library book) such as Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols. My English teacher also recommended the author in passing, but I probably would have read him on my own anyway.

As a closing comment, I’d like to say that one of the positives is the integrating nature of the learning community system. In high school most of my classes were isolated contentwise, but here I have been able to incorporate many instances of history and philosophy in multiple classes.

Hello, my name is Han. The last few weeks have gone pretty well. My biggest challenge in college right now is arriving at classes on time; I always seem to be doing something. Even when I’ve completed my scheduled tasks, I would suddenly remember something else that I think would be better completed early. I can correct my punctuality issues by becoming more efficient in my organization, prioritization, and execution of tasks.

I’ve enjoyed my philosophy class the most. Most other subjects, ranging from literature to political science, have roots firmly grounded in philosophy. Also, exploring our ancient predecessors’ thought processes and seeing that they were not so different after all are immensely refreshing. Even great minds like Decartes and Immanuel Kant faced problems and puzzles they could not immediately solve. I’ve pondered many phenomena before, and although philosophical text does not provide a definitive answer to all of them, combination and application of great philosophers’ ideas is a great start.

I feel most empowered when I’m involved in dialectics with either my peers or a professor. Being able to counter others’ arguments while defending my own keep my mind active and engaged. Likewise, my most embarrassing moments often comprise vocalization dead-ends wherein, not having thought of what to say before diving into conversation, I spew only tangentially relevant sentences that provides not strong support, but only a façade of knowledgeableness. I think my best trait is my willingness to learn, as I find learning enjoyable. Unfortunately, various constraints such as time and other responsibilities conflict with this.

My personal motto is “every man is the artisan of his own fortune,” because I think everything can be done well by simply focusing one’s own efforts into a worthy cause. I don’t think I actively play one role; rather, I play many roles for myself, depending on what the situation requires.

The thing most important to me now is obtaining all A’s. Consequently in this context, I feel most happy when I feel that I’m performing well in my classes. Conversely, I’m most afraid of not performing up to par. The first few weeks have been relatively mild. However, as midterms and more advanced topics draw closer across the board, I’ll have to raise my concentration and effort accordingly. I hope I can accomplish that.

I don’t have any electronic photos of myself, so I’ll share this:

which I thought was really cool.

my favorite speech was rezwan’s. It seemed extremely honest and down to earth.

I also liked Lucas’s because of his energy and hansel’s because of his jokes.

1. I’m not really sure who I am. I don’t think there exist any significant differences between me and those around me–friends and strangers alike–so any qualities you see in others you’ll probably also see in me to one degree or another.
2. My biggest concern is maintaining effective time-management. In contrast to high school, where my next destination was usually my next class until the last one of the day ended, there will be many gaps between classes and other activities to be filled. I hope I make the most out of those gaps. Also looming over my head are the classes I’ll be able to register for next semester. There are some class that I would really prefer to complete as soon as possible, but freshmen receive lowest priority in class selection. Finally, I worry about arriving at my classes on time, a concern that has some connections with my first one.
3. The classes I’m currently enrolled in vary in enrollment from 19 to about 100. This wide range is different from the more-or-less constant enrollments across my high school classes, and can take some adjustment because different class sizes elicit different participation patterns. Additionally, the class size is usually inversely proportional to the amount of attention the professor can afford to any particular student.
4. I don’t think how it will change me or how much it will can be accurately predicted because all changes occur, I think, gradually and subliminally. In a way, we are constantly changing; fittingly, we just notice the significant ones more.