Author Archives: kristine.avsjukevich

Some aspects of my experience at Baruch did not live up to my expectations. I was absolutely not ready for such a great load of work. The transition from high school, where seniors did almost nothing, to college, where students have to complete almost 2 intensive/critical thinking essays weekly and read many chapters in a very short period of time, was terrible! It was very difficult to organize myself in the beginning. Thankfully I met a wonderful, enthusiastic, supportive friend who helped me through the tough assignments, encouraging me to be more focused on the tasks and not fool around during my spare time. There was actually a time when we spent 13 hours straight (with about 10 X-tra large cups of 7-11 coffee!) in the library studying for midterms! Thank you, (you know who you are). I’ve heard rumors saying that professors in college are very ignorant and do not really care about their student. However, I did not particularly find those rumors to be true; or maybe I just got very lucky this semester… All of my professors promptly responded to my emails and tried their best to help me understand the materials which I inquired questions about.

The first semester of college could definitely be better than it was for me. I didn’t have a great transition from HS, as I already mentioned. Also, I always felt rushed about the homework to the point where it seemed as if I wouldn’t be able to get anything done on time. Since I am, or at least was in High School, an A student, receiving B’s for every class (with one exception) is not the most fantastic feeling. And most certainly, I am not too proud about that either. I did meet a few awesome people without whom this semester would be a total disaster!

If I could do it over, I would most likely not work! Those 20 hours are very precious and could be productively used towards completing the homework. I realized that SO MUCH can be done in those 20 hours. However, it is impossible for me to stop working because then there wouldn’t be anybody who could pay for my college tuition. Even now, I do not make enough to cover all of my expenses. Another thing I could try to do differently is delete my Facebook account, or at least limit the amount of time I spend on browsing through it! That social network is extremely addictive and time consuming. Rather than sitting on FB, even for 5 minutes, I could’ve contributed to finish the assignments and study for exams. In addition, I could have been more dedicated to school work right at the begging of the year, not a month into the year. That would have saved me some nerves and wouldn’t put me through as much stress and pressure.

I think I changed a lot since the beginning of the semester. My level of commitment and devotion towards school increased tremendously. My work ethic improved as well. For example, instead of simply reading the texts, I began to annotate and outline them. It actually proved to help a lot in understanding and drawing connections in relation to the material. I also started spending more time in the school library after my classes, because it seems like I can concentrate better in a quiet, undisturbed environment. I have also become more independent, and stopped relying on professors and advisors to spoon feed me and hand everything on a silver platter.

Despite the negative aspects mentions, I am most definitely looking forward to pursuing my education and career at Baruch College.

To start off let me just tell you who I am. I am a former ballroom dancer who likes expressing herself through the movements of the body and music. It’s the only way to take myself away from the hardships of reality and fall into the fantasies of my dreams. I enjoyed dancing, going to competitions, doing my make-up, and designing my dresses. Unfortunately, that part of my life ended about two years ago when I experienced some difficulties in my last partnership. Now I am just an ordinary girl who goes to college and tries to get her ass through this world. When my dance career was over, I became very bored with my life and did not know what to do with myself and my time. Just imagine having a major part of your life taken from you. One day it’s there, and the next… it’s gone! I became almost depressed. There was no longer enough excitement in my life!

Well, now you might ask, why didn’t I go back and look for another partner? And the answer is not as simple. Max and I were truly amazing together. We connected very well with each other. We were fantastic dancers and held together for over 2 years, with wonderful results. We traveled a lot around the US and the rest of the world. We’ve been to States like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Utah, and also traveled to Germany for one of our international competitions. Competition after competition we showed constant improvements. Basically such success made a great impact on me, and once we split, I completely lost the spark! I miss it tremendously! The other reason why it’s difficult for me to go back is because it is an extremely expensive hobby. The lessons, the make-up, the shoes, the dresses, the participation in competitions, the travel expenses: all of these things cost BIG money! And by BIG I mean that we saved enough money for a downpayment for a house over the course of one year that I wasn’t dancing! So now you have a little clue of what professional ballroom dancing really is.

To cope with the loss of excitement, I started looking for a job. I became a cashier in a hardware store called Doody Home Center. This was, and still is, my first and only job. Despite the attitudes of certain customer, I love it there, because of great coworkers. We are like a family, no joke. Recently I was promoted to a little bit more serious position – a salesperson. I am a helping hand in putting out stock and keeping the displays neat and organized. However, as much as I love this job and don’t ever want to leave, I want to become someone important and successful in the field of business. When I graduate Baruch, it is my goal and dream to become a business woman; most likely an accountant. I want to work at an elite firm in NYC and be well known by many eminent organizations. In order for me to do that, I need to work intently, participate in many extracurricular activities, and graduate college with exceptional grades. But so far, the 1^st semester of my 1^st year here, it does not look too good!

Through the years, I have become a very joyful person. I am very outgoing and love company. In the summer, not so much now with college and loads of work, I used to go out to party every week, if not twice or three times a week! That’s how wild I am and the amount of energy stored in me is totally limitless. I am also usually satisfied with mostly anything that comes my way. If it’s something that disappoints me, I try to make it work, or in any case cope with it, and understand the fact that EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON! There have been many incidents in my life that taught me to be optimistic. They helped me realize that there is no point in wasting the precious, limited time on arguments and regrets. My motto came to be “Joy of Loving, and Love of Living.” I love because I enjoy loving; not because I am forced to love. I love learning new things, falling into different situations, figuring out the solutions, and living my life to my fullest potential. I try not to waste any second of my life, because I want to become someone influential in other people’s lives!

I really enjoyed Lucas’s speech! He was very enthusiastic when he talked about himself. The jokes inserted throughout, made the monologue very interesting and kept the audience involved. From that we can see that Lucas has a great sense of humor =]

I also like Victor’s presentation. He was very chill speaking in front of the class. I admire that, because I know it is very difficult to speak in front of a group of people. Personally, I hate public speaking, and I respect the fact that Victor could do it with such ease. Just like Lucas, he is very funny, and knows how to entertain people.

Hello everyone! My name is Kristine A. I am a former Ballroom dancer, and I miss it greatly =/ I have a very optimistic outlook on the wrold. I try to see everything in the positive way, no matter how tough the situations may be. As they say, I look at “the glass half FULL, not half EMPTY.” I am also very helpful. If somebody doesn’t understand something I try to explain the topic in very specific details so they have a better comprehension. If a friend, relative, or a coworker is experienced struggles in their lives, I am always there to support them and help them get up when they fall. I love when people smile. And I love it when I am the one who puts a smile on their faces, because it shows me that I have accomplished something wonderful and great in my life. I am a very enrgetic girl and I love having people around me. People who I can socialize with and share my ideas. Also, food is the love of my life! haha… Most of the time I cannot concentrate when my stomach is grumbling.. and that’s really disturbing, because at this point, concentration and focus are extremely important!

My top three concerns: 1. Manhattan is a very expensive city and I am afraid I will not be able to pay for everything. I have to juggle between Books, Tuition, Food, Metrocards, and Credit Card Payments. I have to be independent and cannot rely on my parents because in the next 2 years they can’t provide me with any help. 2. The second concern is food. My schedule this semester is not perfect and I have really long breaks in between some of my classes. I usually get really hungry by about 1:30, because I eat breakfast with my family at around 7 am, and I don’t leave Baruch until 5:30. And as I said before, when I’m hungry, I MUST eat!  What bothers me about this, is that there really is no good, healthy food around the college.. Yes, there is Subway, there is Chipotle, there is Chineese Food around the corner, but none of that provides the nutrients that our body needs. 3. Time management. There is a lot of homework from each class.. I have to accomplish so many things and I do not know how I am going to find the time to squeeze it all in a certain period of time. There’s only this much time in a day and not everything can be finished in time. I hope i find a way to solve this problem, because right now it is not working for me. I have to rush through all my homework and most of it is not thoroughly completed…

College is WAY much more different than high school. Yes, there is more freedom, but there are also more responsibilities that must be taken into consideration. In HS, for example, teachers would remind you about the assignments that are due, here you’re on your own. In HS, books were provided, here you have to buy them. In HS, each student received a lot of attention from the teacher with only about 30 kids in the class. Here, you have to make yourself known because there are close 100 students in almost every class. It’s very difficult.

College will definitely change me in this first year. I think I already see the differences in me. I became a little bit more independent, organized, and mature. I start to realize that this is not a joke, like High School was. This is real! This will lead me to my dreams! This will help me become and Accountant! I have to appreciate what I am taught and take in and retain as much information as possible, because it will always be needed in my future. College will also change my work habbits. I will learn how to manage my time correctly and not be late on any due dates. I will finish the assignments days before they are actually due so I wouldn’t have to put myself under pressure to comeplete the tasks. In general, I believe college will be awsome, and I am looking forward to the next 4 years of it! =)