PR 1A

Now nearing the end of my first semester at Baruch College and i can honestly say it was a huge change in my life. The transition from high school to college was not what i had expected but i still readjusted to college life pretty easily. My expectations of Baruch were at first that it would be difficult to make friends and difficult to adjust to the grading. Baruch College has proved me wrong in both areas.  I did make friends pretty fast. And not just freshman. i have made enough friends raging from freshman to graduates. And also all my current classes aren’t as hard as i thought a college class would be.

I think that this first semester has been pretty unexpected and eventful. All for the better. I enjoyed it more than i thought i would have. I made plenty of friends throughout all grade levels, even through graduates.  I joined plenty of organizations within Baruch such as ALPFA, Wall Street club, Hellenic Society, and VITA, and met many people within them. I also learned how to navigate around the city now. Its a nice skill to have i would suppose. Its also nice to have some family and friends envious of me going to the city everyday for school and also hang out there a lot. And also i get to see these landmarks and architecturally interesting buildings nearly everyday.

Something i would do differently in my freshman year at Baruch College if I could do it again would probably be to study a little bit harder in all my classes so i could get that little extra boost in my GPA. And also to be more open to other people from the very beginning of the semester. I am very open and have many friends throughout Baruch College but in the beginning i was very very shy to most people. I also wish i had the ability to choose my classes but since i came tot he last orientation there was no way but still I cant complain since I’ve met some pretty cool people and my classes aren’t THAT bad. Also i wish i could have bought more clothes during the summer cause I’m running out of them and i hate wearing the same clothes over and over again.

How have I changed since i came to Baruch College? I can honestly i changed a lot and these changes will stay with me for a while. Since i started at Baruch College i have studied more than i ever have and I’m sure this habit will stay with me for a while. After a while at Baruch College i have picked up communication skills thanks to COM 1010 and also networking skills with professionals thanks to the groups i am a part of. I have gained a passion for business more specifically Finance and i now meet professionals in the industry on a weekly basis and i have conversations with them very often. 4 months ago i would have never thought I’d be in a position like this.

Wow so this was a different semester then i thought it would be. Baruch is not a bad college…the social events are taking place in various times but there is always something to do if you get involved. The more people you meet in Baruch the more you find out there is a lot of stuff to do. It could be sports, game room, joining a club/fraternity/sorority, etc. I think if people aren’t open minded enough to different things then of course they will get bored at baruch. Most people do go to classes then go home but if you find the right people then you guys can hang out any time of the day. We are in the CITY! Baruch isn’t the best place to hangout with friends so its best to gather up friends and go explore the city and try new things. College is all about finding yourself and the people you best work with. Thats why the beginning of my semester was a slow start because i only when to classes then went home. But eventually i met more and more people and now im in the city 10x more then i would be at home. Cant wait for next semester to start because i know its gonna be a lot better then this one. And if i could go back in time, i guess i should have taken some of my classes more serious.

~Ryan Johnson~

My experience at Baruch has been…unique. I envisioned a more social atmosphere, with lots of things going on at the school, at any time. It seems that most people go to school, take care of whatever they need to take care of, and go home. I guess I was already aware that Baruch was considered a commuter campus, but I was still surprised at the reality of the situation. However, it has given me some time to focus on taking care of the more important things that I need to do. I feel like I have grown and changed, already, in many ways since the start of first semester. The life and goals that I am interested in pursuing are much clearer now than they were in September. If I could start this semester over I would have tried harder to understand Math.

I am doing fine. I am finding school hard due to the perfect mix of difficult and complete non-sense classes. My biggest challenge is finding a reason to keep myself attending this school .Im not doing really good in any of my classes,except for psychology.Algebra seems like useless gibberish, Philosophy should NOT be a mandatory class by ANY means (bunch of vague “theories” created by drunks), and English is a highly irritating class to attend . I am not enjoying this college experience. However, I feel it is still too early to decide whether Im going to leave or not. After I save up enough money, build up a decent average, and get my ambitions prioritized, I will then make that decision. I feel that school will seem more important once I get through all this baby garbage (Im 18 yrs old, I shouldnt be asked to “express my feelings”, or sing and dance/put on skits, as part of an assignment), and then lead to an overall better perspective towards it. I also feel there needs to be more “student-oriented parties” on the weekends (where I dont have to drop $30 at the door and fork over my life savings for a few drinks).