Who Are WE? We're PR3!

This is Chung Sing Chen. Who am I? I am just a normal person going to Baruch. Well with a little twist, maybe? My life at Baruch has been going down hill so far.Nothing is going right for me at this school. I really hope it will turn around soon. Me Myself and I? I think those are my three best friends? lol jk? It hard to tell others about yourself because it is not always true about how a person is and who they think they are. Personally, I like to think of my self as a good kid that is very lazy. I mean even posting this took a while for me. My laziness is both a good and bad aspect I like about my self. I am unable to do work well and time manage but I really enjoy the slow and peaceful time I get. I can do nothing and stare at the sky for a few hours.

My personal life ….. I have two older brothers. One 35 and the other 32. They are nice to me I guess. My parents are doing alright. I have a job teaching. I live in Queens New York. I’m 19 years of age.

My concerns right now is being a good college student. That is something that is very hard to do. I would need to better time manage and better myself. I gotta stop being late to class. I also need to change my work habit.

Hey, I’m Michael. I don’t exactly know who I am; your guess is as good as mine. I like to argue with people. Does that count as something? But seriously, I can’t tell you anything about myself that won’t be the same a week from now, or a month from now. What I’m trying to get at is, I’m not a normal person, or maybe I’m exactly normal, at least, I don’t think so, I’m always changing my mind and my opinion of things, see? I change; I think we all do, so when you ask me if I know who I am, all I can say is this. Do you want who I am right now? Or the person I was yesterday?
Alright, maybe I’m being a little antagonistic, so, Let me start off as if the question asked me who I was right now. Can I begin? Cool.
I procrastinate chronically. I love getting in fights with people. I love exercising. Think that’s it? I’m not done yet, here’s where it gets complicated. I also hate handing in work at times, (like this, I feel like crap right now), I also hate it when the fights get out of hand, and I absolutely abhor that feeling you get right after you’re done working out, as if the muscle isn’t there anymore. I know, I’m contradicting myself right now, but hey! That’s me, live with it!
Anyway, if you want to know, the only constant in my life may be that I’m a hopeless, hopeless romantic. Honestly, I just realized that that particular characteristic maybe the only constant in my life. My parents even thought I was gay once because I would always write poetry for hours every day to a crush of mine at the time. I’m not, just saying, but you get the point, right? I think that’s my biggest weakness, actually, deep down, I know that’s my biggest weakness. I always end up a complete wreck when things end, so if you notice me being less “chipper!” than usual, than you can probably assume I’ve been dumped.
Oh, and my personal life? I wish I could tell you something that no one else has told you, but I can’t. My life is perfect. My parents are happily married, I’m a middle child in a group of three, yet my mother still dotes on me like I was her only son, and My father’s only vice is that he loves to gamble. (Don’t all fathers gamble?), So, Please, when you tell me a sob story, I’ll throw on a sympathetic look, I’ll try to relate, but really, I can’t. You’ll have better luck at the end of the day with a sociopath. I’m not being cruel, just realistic.
When I saw number three, I laughed. Want to know why? Because Baruch is exactly like my high school, I went to Tech, which explains everything? This means that, at some point or another, I have met, or am going to meet the entire freshman student body. Isn’t that cute? No, not really. I expected a new beginning, my mistake? I figured.
Alright, I’ll get serious. Baruch is definitely going to be different, for one thing, the very act of doing something new means that you’re going to run into new and amazing people. That’s not the case at Tech; everyone you knew was always part of something. So, it’s exciting, if anything, striking a conversation with someone you don’t even know.
Personally, my biggest concerns are that I’ll finally get to like this college, than get swept away for Marine Boot camp or another one of the many distractions in my life. I don’t want to make connections, I get hurt to easily, please try to understand. I also worry that I’ll lose everything, in contrary to the first concern, I don’t want to be a complete outcast, I actually love being social, it’s just the timing and situation, is all. If anything though, rather pressing concern I’ve had contemplated it the idea of actually doing badly in my studies! Trust me, I don’t normally do bad in school, but you can’t help thinking it sometimes, you know? With the sudden change from High school to college must come a changing of systems, from the comfortable Tech system to the (unforgiving?) Baruch system.
Anyway, Did I mention that I’m not coming back next semester? Yeah, I joined the Marines, so I’m going to have to take a three semester break as I try to learn the way of the soldier, or whatever you want to call it. Truthfully though, I want to get the most out of this semester, I hope this semester of college will make me a better person. I mean, I have a major organization problem; I definitely need to work on that. Trust me, you read this, you would know.

                  My name is Knee, just kidding, it’s Ni. I am a very fun-loving guy, I don’t care if you joke with my name; I’ll laugh with you. I try my best to stay relaxed, I don’t stress out over minute stuff. My life is hectic; my family life is, complicated. I spend as much time as possible relaxing and hanging out with my friends. I Love to find out everything about the world. I try to do everything at once. I am a novice at 5 instruments, I read books, play games, philosophize and participate in many other activities. I always wish I can clone myself so I can have 100 clones each working specifically towards one goal and specializing in it.

My top 3 concerns at Baruch are tests, essays, and deciding my major. Tests are very important, they assess whether you have learned to material or not. Professors will judge whether you have learned enough material to pass or not. Essays area big concern for me because I was a big procrastinator in High school and there are a lot of essays to write in college. Unlike the 10 question homework of high school, college essays are very long and tedious. I won’t be able to procrastinate anymore. I am also concerned about deciding my major. All my life I was very indecisive. When I was a child, I would spend 20 minutes deciding which ice cream I want, after finally choosing it, it was bubble gum flavor and I couldn’t eat it. I have to learn more about myself in order to choose a major, the major I choose will have big consequences on my life. Businessman, lawyer, engineer, every choice leads to a different path and a different life.

College and High school are similar in some respects, but very different in others. In high school, I have homework, I go to class, and I have tests, just like college. The differences though, are very obvious. College instructors are called professors and not teachers because they don’t ‘teach’. A teacher incorporates all the information and asks questions and answers questions from students. A professor gives out countless bits of detailed information, but doesn’t make sure a student learns it. College work requires me to be diligent in my own mind. I must learn to be independent in studying and researching data; this will help me when I become a working adult in just a few years time.

I think college will make me more mature, and more connected with the world at large. College is a place where you learn about how to live and work in the modern world. For every career, there are rules and regulations. The pace the college sets will help me over come my procrastination due to necessity. As the amount of essays and homeworks increases, I have to try harder and become more diligent and ultimately overcome my habit of procrastination.

To claim I know who I am would not be entirely honest. I’m not sure any of us really know yet. Yes, the majority of us believe that at the age of 18 we are adults. We are all so convinced that we know ourselves and have the right to claim who we are as individuals. I, however, don’t think so. But because I have to, I will try my best in explaining who I am. I’m Isabelle and no I’m not German or Polish. I’m Brazilian. I’m also very loud if I want to be, but mainly I keep my mouth shut. Most of the time I don’t think twice about anything I do or say and am very impatient. I can procrastinate, but will always get the job done.

My first month at Baruch has really opened my eyes to a few concerns I didn’t think I would have. The first, would be time management. I didn’t realize how important this would be until just now actually. I forgot about the FRO Blog and cramped two papers into the night before they are due. Will never happen again, hopefully. My second concern is being able to experience college with all its glory. Its very easy to not get involved with anything because this is a commuter school. Which gives way to my third concern, what to join?! So many clubs and organizations and this and that, its a little overwhelming.

My experience in Baruch so far has been different from high school in some ways but the same in others. It has been different because college is a lot more individual than high school. Which brings me back to that damn time management. I hope I get a grip of that soon, or else I’m in deep, uhh trouble. I guess I can say it’s very different to manage time in high school because well what did any of us even have to manage? College is well, college. We all begin knowing what to expect, yet when faced with something like managing our time, we have trouble doing it.

However, I think as I progress in my first year at Baruch I think I will change and will be able to do something as simple as managing my time. I’m probably exaggerating with all this talk of time management, but really its a challenge for me. I was told that in college a person discovers who they really are, so I’m expecting just that. Maybe not in my first year at Baruch but I think it will begin to happen during this first year. I have no idea how, and can’t even think of how I might. But I’m excited to see what happens in this coming year, so bring it on Baruch.

Harry Dana

I’m the type of person who is on the relaxed side but I like to succeed. My name is Harry Dana and I’m that person who won’t stop until I succeed. Whether it’s in buisness or school I wont let anything stand in my way. I am a little bit of procrastinator but when the time comes that I need to buckle down I usually pull through.

As a freshman in college there is a transition period that in other colleges might be tough, but I Baruch I know that the faculty is helping out the students for the next couple months in order to help our transition period be a little easier. But I’m learning a lot and I’m gaining those tools to succeed in the years to come. Although I do have a couple of concerns about Brauch college.

My top three concerns in Baruch collage is, firstly it being more or less a commuters collage. I’m worried that i’m going to get bored of the atmosphere. I am also worried about the classes that I am going to have to take in order for me to get my business degree, like math for example. But I know if concentrate hard on it I will succeed. And my last concern is the fact that there is very little school spirit. When there is school spirit it brings joy and excitement to school.

Going to High School is quite different then being in a College. My surroundings are far more diverse then a small town high school likes Magen David Yeshiva Celia Esses high school. With a soaring total of only for hundred students. Everyone is practically the same. Baruch College teaches me many new things about other people and other cultures, it is far more diversified. Teaches me the tools I need to succeed in any occupation. Especially in this day and age where there are many different cultures.  It also different in the ways the professors treats their students. The professor student relation is way more professional. Especially that I came from a private school where I had multiple classes which each professor.

Before I went to college I came from a small bubble in a Brooklyn community. After one full year of attending Baruch College I am going to be a totally different person in so many ways. Baruch College really taught me how to manage my time differently. It gave me the opportunity to make my own classes and schedule while at the same time give me the opportunity to make certain times in my week for my job, personal time, and study time. I am able to manage my day much better and much more efficiently because of Baruch College.  Procrastinating in a word in my book which I forgot about because College taught me how not to. College also taught me how to understand different surrounding other then my own. I am able to get a long with so many different people with so many different backgrounds. Rather then just one background in my small private high school.

Josh. Simple, yet complicated. Coming up for an answer to this question is not an easy task. Ten minutes pass, fifteen minutes, already, half an hour in front of this laptop and I am still drawing a blank. My life is not a sad story, nor what you might consider an exciting one. I am eighteen years old and I’ve spent the first eight years of my life in Italy. My father is Sicilian and my mother is Venezuelan. And yes, I do speak sicilian and I do know some spanish too. But all this doesn’t really help in figuring me out. My mind is always all over the place. I don’t even know who I am. I know the things that make me happy but not many people do. That is because I don’t like to reveal my true self to everyone around me. I’ve always had trust issues. That is why I am very family oriented, they are the only ones I can truly trust. I feel that I am misunderstood. When people meet me for the first time they assume that I am outgoing and happy all of the time. And that is what I want people to think. Why should I bring down others when I’m having personal issues? My mentality is that one should always think positive, be optimistic all of the time. And that is how I try to seem on the outside. That’s how far I’m going to get into that, I feel uncomfortable talking about this, remember, I have trust issues… Anyhow, I don’t know what I’m writing about. So much time is passing and I needed to write something down. Basically I am curious to find out who I am also.

Moving on.. My concerns..my biggest one has to be becoming just another face in the crowd. I have too much ambition and too many dreams to get lost in the crowd. But in a school this large, the odds of me becoming invisible are creeping up to the odds of me possibly becoming someone important. Time management is another concern of mine. Its not that I procrastinate a lot, its that I find myself to be always busy. Now that’s no excuse but some people have to actually work to maintain what they have. That brings me to my third concern; I am really concerned that people will think that I have money because of the way I act and dress. As I said before, don’t judge a book by its cover. Money has always been a big issue of mine. It took my family ten years to get to where we are now, from being poor immigrants to middle class citizens. I work very hard for everything I have and I am very grateful for it all. I don’t want people to assume that I am made of money just because I have a some-what good sense of fashion. Everything I buy , I buy myself. Who paid for me car? Me. Who pays for insurance and my phone bill? I do. Hard work pays off. For someone who doesn’t have everything handed to them on a silver spoon, I am very content with my life and everything I have.

The transition from High School to College has not been too difficult. I had imagined something completely different. So far the only major difference I noticed was the amount of freedom we are given. Everything is up to us. How much we put into the college experience is how much we will get out of it.

College will only change me for the better. I think that I will become more mature because in College they don’t baby you, they treat you like adults. And when your treated like an adult you tend to become one.

You know, before I wrote this, I tried reading other peoples blogs and everyone sounded to interesting. I don’t want to just write things everyone wants to know because it will make me seem more interesting, I only speak the truth. I think about the things I could have wrote but decided not too. I wish there was a better way for me to put this, but there are too many things to explain about me that are difficult to write about. I don’t really know what else there is to say, other than I feel like my current state of mind got in my way of expressing myself more…

Josh Campanella –

Where should I start, there’s so much to tell…. I’m young but only in age not in experience, which is where most underestimate me. I’m a daughter, a sister, a best friend, and anything else I wish myself to be. I can be very impersonal at times, brooding, a classic narcissist, even a bit judgmental but I am what  I am, and I’m not changing. You’ll never get a grasp of who I am in a nutshell, its an impossibility. I’m inconsistent and always changing. Hmm, about college I think my top three concerns would be 1) the amount of kids there – might be easy to become invisible. 2) the amount of things to join – hard to decide what to do now. 3) Time management – I find myself losing track of time while I take my mid-day naps. But all in all, things should be different now that I’m in college, compared to my experience in High School. They have yet to present themselves but I’m sure I’ll come across them eventually.  Hopefully, whatever comes, college will change me for the better. I came in hopes of a new identity, a new beginning, a little niche all for myself…it should be completed by the school year’s end.

I’m Joby, and I’m pretty chill.

I turned 18 in January, I was a Catholic until several months ago, I’m very liberal, and my parents immigrated to NYC from India in the 80s-90s. I was born and raised in Queens all my life, and attended public schools from kindergarten to twelfth grade. I like to play the keys, (I teach kids piano on Saturdays) and I’m not athletic. I’m kinda proud of who I am and what my ideals are. I love movies and music, and I like to read up on social issues. Books are aiight, too. Politricks are wack.

I’m concerned about time management at Baruch. I was never good at that in high school (then again, I never really bothered to try), and I’m aware that my parents are spending money for me to go here. I’m also worried that I’ll disappoint everybody who have high, high, high, hopes for me. I feel like I need to exceed my family’s expectations. I’m finally concerned about the new social changes that come about during college years. I hope I don’t subconsciously succumb to peer pressure and eventually turn out like those self-proclaimed “mature” kids telling recent high school graduates that they need to grow up and leave behind childish things when entering college.

This experience is already different than my high school experience, in the sense that I’m entrusted with much more responsibility. No more teachers calling my house complaining that I never do homework…. I’ll have to keep track of that myself, now. I think that if i do change at Baruch, it will be for the better, and wanting to perfect yourself shouldn’t ever be considered a bad thing. I feel that I’ll procrastinate less and take initiative more.

werd, yo. this is due in 2 minutes.

Deuces! Peace&Love, everybody

How you telling me the sky is the limit when there’s footprints on the moon?

Hai, I’m Elvin.  To begin to define who I am, I wouldn’t even know where to start.  To scratch the surface, I suppose I’m a 17 year-old, Chinese-American, attending Baruch College.  The glass is always half-full for me, and I try to always maintain my joyous attitude.  I strive for success but I lack motivation.  I’m sleep-deprived almost all the time, it’s like I have permanent jet-lag, but I get by.  I like getting my name out and network as much as possible, it’s not so much attention I want, but recognition, reputation, and respect.  I’m proud of who I became through the struggle of identity I had throughout my life.  With the guidance of God, I’m so much closer to the person I imagine myself to be.  I trust others easily and I open up to others a lot.  I don’t like being labeled, it’s stupid and juvenile.  I’m a bit self-conscious about how I present myself to others but who isn’t, right?  Oh, and I have terrible commitment issues.

Baruch College is a new chapter in my life.  My major concerns for this chapter is responsibility, failure, and change.  College to me represents more responsibility, as a student, as an adult, and as an individual.  As a student, there’s no more calls or letters to my parents from my teachers stating that I’m borderline-failing their class.  I am responsible for my own grades, for handing papers in on time, for double-checking when I have an exam.  I need to step it up and prove myself that I can be responsible for my academics, employment, and taking care of myself.  Another concern I have is failure.  Failure to me is unacceptable but the lack of motivation contradicts this.  As much as I hate failure, and strive to be successful, I just don’t have motivation to push myself.  The support from my friends and family only goes so far and I need to pull my weight and shoot for the stars.  I refuse to fail and I won’t allow it to happen while I’m here at Baruch.  The last concern I have is change.  I want to change for the better.  I’m not a perfect person, actually I’m far from it.  But I work to make myself better day by day.

Obviously college is an entirely different experience than high school.  The 4000 student body of Bronx High School of Science is incomparable to the 17000 student body of Baruch College.  Because it was a smaller environment, people knew of and spoke to each other more often than how it is in Baruch College.  The classes in Baruch College is also different in that the class will move on whether you fully comprehend the lesson or not.  In high school, the class would go over lessons that caused confusion among the students.  I feel that in high school, we were pushed to go to class every day, do our work, and pay attention.  Contrarily, in college we choose to attend class, take effective notes, and study.

I think the first year at Baruch College will shape me into a more responsible, respectful young adult.  Hopefully I will learn to mange my time better, and complete my academic work in a timely fashion.  I think Baruch College will be a stepping stone to a successful future for me.  I hope the changes will be positive toward becoming a better individual.

I’m walking on air, living on a prayer.
I look up at the sky, and I feel like a millionaire.

If a stranger were to come up to me and ask, “Who are you?”, one option would be to simply reply with my name and that, unfortunately, is not enough for somebody to find out who I am, and therefore does not answer the original question though it gives the illusion that it does.  For somebody to get to know me, or anybody at all, it takes more than just a name; which brings me to my first concern at Baruch: the inability to make friends.  I had no idea college could be this different, perhaps it’s all psychological.  I cannot remember how I began life in high school or even made all the friends that I had, but it was easy then.  Now in college, it’s probably the new setting and unfamiliar atmosphere that has got the best of me; letting free the shyness and insecurities that did not show just three months ago.

From what I’m hearing, college is the place where you make friends for life, though this sounds both appealing and frightening.  I want to meet new people; unless you are an academic god or an isolated soul, friends are your only lifeline in college especially when your professors aren’t going to be holding your hand.  However, as much as I want to meet new people, opportunities are often restricted.  Socializing in class is known to be frowned upon and people already have their established cliques, making it awkward and discouraging to “invade” the group.  I know I’m making this seem more difficult than it is, but that’s who I am.  I’m not one of those outgoing, talkative types who always raise their hands in class, as much as I want to be.  I’m the quiet kid in the back, and trying to make myself known would be a feat as I’m just the average boy.

I sense that the stereotype “all Asians look alike” is beginning to hold some significance because I feel like I’m the same as every other Asian guy.  Everything about us became conformity, because it has become a trend to “do what’s popular.”  From fashion to sports and even hobbies, the similarities are surprising.  “The clothes we wear have become a uniform,” (quote courtesy of Tim Delaghetto), and I challenge you to try to name an Asian who doesn’t play handball or has taken up volleyball and dancing in the past year.  I no longer feel unique and I no longer try to stand out, because as hard as I try, the greater societal forces just knocks me back into this giant pool of Asians who all looks completely identical.  That’s who I think I am: just the average Asian boy.  The roles we all play as a son, student, friend, or boyfriend are shared, and even something that personal does not differentiate us from one another.

My other concerns, in short, is not being able to keep up with the work and not being able to adapt to my new environment.  As all of us freshmen are, we are used to our teachers chasing after us to complete our assignments, but now all the responsibilities are on me to meet deadlines.  Baruch is quite similar to my high school, with the large diversity and student population I feel right at home.  However, the large amount of free time coupled with the dreaded deadlines that becomes your duty to find out on you own will take some time for me to adjust to.  Even though it’s been about a month into college, I still feel awkward and lost when I’m out of school.  Baruch is already completely different from what I’ve known about school before, but I plan on joining some clubs to better my social network and live the college life because there’s no meaning in just going to school and not becoming active.

My first year will change me into a more disciplined individual, a harder working student.  I hope to cure my procrastination and carefree attitude towards education, and emerge with a mindset that would allow me to succeed in a society where my race and economic background has already put me at a disadvantage.