Who Are WE? We're PR3!

When I first got to Baruch, I was reluctant to try anything. My sister tried talking me into joining her sorority. My response was, “NO FREAKIN’ WAY.” Nothing interested me, whatsoever. My best friend Bianca dragged me to an info session for this club called AIESEC. The room was packed and the club itself sounded pretty cool. I decided I should just apply for the hell of it. The interview process wasn’t bad at all. After a few billion questions about my strengths and weaknesses, followed by a phone call, and another billion questions, and another phone call, I was in. I’ve only been in AIESEC for nearly 2 months, but I can definitely say that I really like it. I’ve gotten to know some really cool people – including you, Alina- haha. Getting involved has definitely made my college experience more fun. I spend less time to myself, and more time socializing. So far AIESEC has taught me about networking, making connections, and developing as a leader with my own strengths. I love it. We have some pretty innovative people in AIESEC, that make a trojan suit of armor out of stickers. That’s real creativity. I love getting to know people that are driven, ambitious, and so nice to their newbies.
Its great to know that AIESEC is a global organization. I can’t wait until I get to travel abroad, myself, to wherever the heck I want. As far as furthering my involvement goes, I definitely want to take on more leadership positions. I’m not too sure what I want to do yet. There are so many options – organizing or facilitating a conference, being a mentor – I can’t decide. Either way, I’m going to be sticking in AIESEC for a while, and I cant wait to see what I’ll accomplish in it.

Aughhh. 6:45 a.m. WHY IS IT SO FREAKIN’ EARLY?
Okay Crystal, you better make it to class on time today. You can’t be late again. If you walk into class again and there’s a lecture going on, everyone’s going to stare at you like,
“This idiot’s late again”
My eyes are like little red poofs, and they’re smaller than usual. And you’re breaking out. It must be from all that sleep that you’re not getting. Seriously, you need to work on this whole, not sleeping enough thing. You told yourself that you were going to go to bed by 1 a.m. What did you do? You went on Facebook until two in the morning chatting away, with that annoying popping sound. Pop, pop, pop. Then you started your homework…WHICH YOU DIDN’T FINISH! Crystal, you need to get it together. You’ve got some serious time management issues. And you need more sleep. When you come home, you’re going to take the best nap ever.
I HATE SCHOOL. I hate that Fing commute and the random guy on the subway that likes to lean on the pole when my hand is there. I hate the long walk from the station. I hate situating myself in that little teeny desk with squeaky chairs. I hate thinking in the morning!
At least you don’t have math today. Calculus at 8:40 in the morning? Seriously? I can’t form sentences in the morning, let alone look at x^2+2x, squiggly line, asymptotes, parabolas, and curvy looking f, stuff. It doesn’t help that the professor chews up the end of every sentence. But, you really need to stop texting and drawing ugly unicorns in class. You were never great in math in the first place.
That test yesterday was awful. The last one I took before that one was like two years ago. Every time I started a new problem, I kept going “WHAAAAT IS THISSSSSS!!!” The people next to you must have thought you were some moron. Crystal, you really can’t fail this class though. If Mama Lee doesn’t murder you first, then you’ll be forced to stay at that stagnant position at Hollister saying “Hey, what’s up!” making $9 an hour. Not to mention the fact that you’re going to live with mom and dad forever. No wealthy man wants marry a failure. You won’t be allowed to have pets because mom hates them, so you’ll just be alone forever eating spicy ramen noodles because that’s all you can afford. Whatever, just don’t fail. It’s that simple.

But really, what the fack goes on with that calculator. They asked what the biggest obstacle would be this semester. It’s definitely that TI-89. Plus those so called escalators that don’t move which you trip up almost everyday. Who falls UP the stairs!? Gosh, I’m so lame. It’s no wonder that I’m such a loner, in my one man wolf pack. I’m clumsy, uncoordinated, I have dorky glasses, and I laugh at my own really bad jokes.. I guess I have really nice, fine, straight, luxurious hair. But these bangs are always out of place. You’re not so bad looking, and you have freckles. You don’t have a really great personality, but you’re kind of intelligent. Still you always say stupid things, and you make mess out of everything. and why do you always make conversations awkward. You are so freakin’ awkward, and shy for no reason. Plus, you’re short. Actually, you’re just funsized. You’re not yellow. You’re golden. You should tell some kid you’re Filipino today, but you’re a terrible liar.

It’s always nice to having my ego fluffed. I’m sure I’m not the only one that enjoys it. I’m so full of it sometimes. But I guess if Christina Aguilera can tell herself she’s beautiful, so can I. HAHA. I’m so funny. No one else thinks so, unfortunately.
But really, love yourself, even for your imperfections. You can handle whatever life gives you because you take everything one stupid escalator- step at a time.
Who are you? You’re Crystal Lee. Every morning, you turn your swag on. You enjoy the little things in life like the top of crème brule, when you don’t have to wait for the train, and you’re your favorite song comes on the radio. You’re alone first in your wolf pack, and others will join later because you’re sincere, clever, modest, quirky, soft spoken, ridiculously sarcastic, and most of all you’re you.
Just remember what Marilyn Monroe said,

“It is better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”

Who am I? I know my name is Crystal Lee. That’s as far as it goes. Who do I think I am? I like to consider myself as a driven individual. I’m far from perfect, but I try. I know that I’m kind of weird, eccentric, and quirky. I’m quiet, shy, awkward and standoffish to people that don’t know me too well, but to others I’m just plain blunt. I know that I’m sometimes contradictory and always self conscious, but I always try to be nice and see the best in people. It’s hard for me dislike people and even harder for me to hold grudges. I may not be the smartest person anyone’s ever met, but I still believe that intelligence is important, and sometimes overlooked. I believe that creativity and expression are the best outlets in the world. Most importantly, I prefer to take everything one day at a time and enjoy the little things.

I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous about Baruch. It’s just so different to me. My top three concerns are failure, failure, and my future. Well, there are other things that i’m worried about, like having to pull all nighters again, drifting apart from people, and just not enjoying the experience. And what if, in the end, I didn’t find any guidance as to what I was looking for in my future. That really freaks me out.

I was comfortable in Brooklyn Technical High School. I got to know some amazing people, and all of the secrets of the building. Like the northeast entrance of the cafeteria is never guarded, the elevators on the west side don’t work, and there’s secret rooms scattered everywhere. Teachers knew me by name, or at least face. Now in college, no one tells you when to eat, security guards don’t stop you if you’re not in class, math teachers don’t check homework, and everything is done at your own free will. College has more choices and more freedom that I’m not used to. I like that I have, at most, 4 classes a day this semester, as opposed to 7 or 8. There are so many new faces, but a lot of familiar ones. The elevators don’t stop at every floor, and I have a lot more time to myself. It’s a lot more independent. It’s just something that I’ll have to adjust to. I’ve adjusted to 5,000 students in high school, I’ll get used to the 17,000 somehow. I think i’ll be fine here, though. I kno that i’ll grow more independently, and I’ll mature. I know that i have a lot to learn, and not to sound like a loser, but i’m eager to learn. I know that Ill meet some awesome people. I thought I was missing out on the whole, going away college experience, but I realized the city can be pretty amazing. I know it like the back of my hand now. And I just have to take things one day at a time. You know, enjoy the little things.

“If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”