Author Archives: Michelle Babinsky

Starbucks is an important logo for me for several reasons. I love, love, love coffee and Starbucks happens to be my favorite place to get it. It’s also one of the only coffee places that carries soy milk, which is necessary for me because I am a vegan, meaning I don’t consume dairy products. Furthermore, I appreciate the fact that Starbucks has transformed it’s corporate chain from mere coffee shops to those that advertise and embrace a particular lifestyle which consists of peaceful and intellectual individual that appreciate all forms of art including the pleasing and calming music that is always playing in the background. I can literally spend hours there.

Along with Starbucks, the Strand Bookstore logo is extremely important to me because it is my favorite vintage bookstore in New York City. Located near Union Square, it is not only placed in one of my favorite areas in the city, it satisfies my love of reading by carrying all of my favorite books. Along with selling new books, I also love the fact that Strand sells used and vintage books that are not usually for sale anywhere else.

I’m Michelle Babinsky and I am currently a freshman at Baruch College and so this first blog is meant to be a sort of reflection on how I am progressing thus far. I like to think of myself as a very unique individual. I’ve always been rebellious and creative which is being brought out even more here at Baruch. Not to say that the majority of people are similar to one another and all share the same goals and career paths, but I feel that aside from wanting to pursue a business degree, I am much different from most of the people I have encountered here. My dream has always been to become a painter but I’ve realized that an even greater decision would be to earn a business degree so I will have the resources to eventually open my own art gallery here in Manhattan.

I am a very laid-back person; I don’t usually worry about insignificant things, but that is not to say that I haven’t had my concerns about Baruch. For one I’ve been told that the coursework for several of my classes is pretty rigorous. My concern is not about the amount of work, but the subject that the work is based on. I have always been the type of person who has trouble learning about topics that do not interest me. My second concern would probably be abiding by the rules and regulations of each professor because I sometimes have a hard time fitting in with my classmates since I like to do work according to my own time and my own schedule. And that then leads to my final concern, which is meeting friends who I will get along with considerably well. I have found that a lot of the people I have met here are very stressed due to following strict guidelines and restricting themselves the fun and liberty they deserve to do what they want when they want. I respect the fact that individuals wants to succeed in their educational pursuits, but I feel that I often want friends who will be spontaneous with me and just go out on a whim to do something exciting.

On the plus side, Baruch is certainly different from my high school because it does allow me to have more of the freedom that I have always wanted. I love living on the Lower East Side, where artists, musicians, writers, and overall creative individuals surround me daily. I do, though, think that living on my own will in time allow me to become more responsible and aware of the need to be practical which Baruch College will definitely help me to do. I can’t say that that would be a negative change for me. As a matter of fact I can appreciate the help Baruch will provide me with and am looking forward to becoming more mature and respected!