Baruch has lived up to its expectations in terms of freedom. First of all, I was given the option to do whatever I wish during my spare time. Meaning, that when a class ended, I could choose where to go and what to do up until my next class. I could go and eat, do homework or assignments, go to the gymnasium or courts, or just socialize with the people around me. In terms of the workload, my expectations have been exceeded. I certainly didn’t expect to have this much work so early on in my college career. I’m not doing as well as I would’ve liked to and it taught me to study regularly during my commute and during my free time.
I believe I am doing fairly well in terms of my grades. I’ve been doing overwhelmingly well in my Introduction to Psychology class scoring over 90 percent on my three exams. I would predict that I’m heading towards an A in this class. My speech professor recently told me I’m between an A- and a B+ and that I need to keep up what I’ve done to get the A. In math I have been intellectually challenged in terms of understanding both the professor and the material quickly. In history I didn’t perform as well as I would have liked on the midterm, which is 20 percent of the grade. Otherwise, I’m anticipating a B+. In English I have shown steady improvement but I am getting anxious about the next few assignments, which will be weighed the heaviest. So far though, I am probably in the B range.
I wouldn’t change anything about my first semester if I could. I made mistakes early on with my time management, but without them I would not know what changes to implement to improve my studying habits. Besides, if anything were to be changed, I wouldn’t be at the position I am today and perhaps things would be worse.
I think I changed a bit during my first semester. After some early miscues, I was able to improve my time management, my studying habits, and as a consequence, my grades. Also, something that has changed is the fact that my commute seems to pass by faster and is not as bad as I originally anticipated. Lastly, and most importantly in my opinion, I grew socially. Unlike high school, I’m not afraid to speak up more often and I found more people that I get along with. Essentially, I’m becoming more comfortable around other people.
