Author Archives: Bianca Ning

“Gay people? I have no problem with them. As long as they don’t touch me, I’m good.” A bit contradictive, isn’t it?

There was a wide panel of discussions being held at the Newman Conference Center (yes, I forgot the date) but the one that particularly caught my eye was the LGBT one, probably because the others seemed a tad boring and nothing worth writing about. What seemed to be the least boring panel discussion turned out to be something worth much more.

When Dajelyn and I first stepped foot in the room, it was a bit awkward because well, we were pretty much the only freshmen there. There was one senior and one junior. The rest of the group was professional adults with outstanding credentials that ranged from vice president of the arts department to the president of an LGBT-related club. So, when it was my turn to introduce myself, I said the only thing I could think of, “My name’s Bianca and I’m only a freshman so I don’t have any particular amazing credentials like you guys.” Everyone laughed so the atmosphere around the room was undoubtedly friendly.

The spokesman, Ryan, handed each of us a nametag and on it, he asked us to write the following; “Hello, my name is ________________ and I’m gay.” Once he said that, Dajelyn and I looked at each other, grinned, and said, “Cool!” I have to say, we were pretty naïve at that point. The fact of the matter is, both her and I love gay people. But until the end of the meeting, we never really knew how things are like for a gay person. At the discussion, we learned that there are many things in life everyone does that may seem offensive to them, little things such as the most widely used phrase, “That’s so gay.”

“How was the test?”

“Ugh, it was so gay.”

“Man, I gotta do this gay-ass homework.”

Honestly, those phrases don’t even make sense. How can you associate your homework with homosexuality? And even if you do, then you’re only using the term “gay” in a negative sense. If we could use “that’s so gay”, why can’t we use “that’s so straight”? Now it definitely sounds like it doesn’t make any sense. Well, neither is “that’s so gay”. So please, try to refrain from using this phrase.

Ryan then went on to discuss something new that Baruch would be doing about all this; a Safe Zone. Eventually, we will all see posters of a rainbow-colored Bearcat paw and in it describes the purpose of Safe Zone. It is the one place where LGBT members are not judged at all and can be themselves. The goal of Safe Zone is to make the entire Baruch campus one because unfortunately, according to statistics, only approximately 24% of the student body says they’re comfortable with LGBT related issues.

I’m really glad I came to this panel because it made me realize that there aren’t enough people that understand what being LGBT really is and how they can suffer from things like being bullied, receiving death threats, or being social outcasts. Take a look at Tyler Clementi. All this simply because someone happens to be sexually attracted to someone else of the same sex? That’s ridiculous. Everyone wants love and that special person they want to spend the rest of their lives with. LGBT members are no different. Love knows no boundaries and it definitely doesn’t determine gender. Take a look at Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi. They are the perfect example of a beautiful gay couple absolutely head over heels in love with each other. It is couples like them that have people realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay.

This panel has definitely opened up my eyes to LGBT related issues and I hope that soon, Safe Zones will be available in every single corner of the Baruch campus.

When I first walked in through the doors of Baruch, I knew that it wasn’t gonna be easy. It’s college; what do you expect? Though it’s definitely not your typical college life away from home, it’s still a college; an institution of higher learning and with it comes work. Baruch College definitely lived up to my expectations in terms of workload.
Honestly, my first semester didn’t go as well as I’d planned. Time management is definitely one of my weak points and this semester only further proved it. School, work, swimming, and family. It doesn’t sound much, but it definitely took a lot out of me. I had two jobs; one in which my shifts were 10-12 hours a day (is that even legal?) I guess that was my main problem. I was working too much. School kind of became second, to the point where the workload just kept piling up and I was procrastinating on every single assignment and struggling to even keep up with it all. On average, I would get about 4 hours of sleep a night. I was always exhausted. I didn’t even have time for swimming, which is something I absolutely love but then lost interest in. And if that wasn’t enough, I had some family issues that had to be dealt with that also took up a majority of my time. At that point, my life was work, family, school, swimming. Something was wrong with that order.
If I could redo it all, I would quit my job sooner and maintain the one job that had more flexible hours. That way, I wouldn’t be as tired and I would’ve had time to go to practice and instead of getting back in shape around this time, I would probably be aiming to break records. After quitting my job, life is definitely back to normal; school, swimming, work, friends & family. That’s how an student-athlete’s college life should be and thanks to the athletes’ pre-registration privilege, I am happy to say that I can’t wait to start classes in the Spring because I got to pick the classes that I want to take with a pretty decent schedule to match =)
I gotta say, I think I’ve grown more mature since I started college. It may have only been one semester but I guess with all the stress I went through, high school felt like ages ago. When I take the train back home, I pass my high school stop. As I watch the students get on the train, all grouped together in noisy cliques, I literally feel like they’re still just kids, seniors who are complaining about college applications. Despite the fact that I went through it and I understand the stress and difficulty of it all, I feel it’s nothing compared to what I had to do in my first semester of college. I always think, “Wait til you get to college, guys. Enjoy high school life.”

My name is Bianca Ning. Things I like include swimming, hanging out with my friends and spending time with my boyfriend. I don’t like how much work I’ve had to do so far in college. It’s pretty stressful.  I identify myself as a hardworking, enthusiastic and kind individual. I am the best friend, daughter, girlfriend and student. My family and friends are the most important people in my life. They help me through all my problems and work with me and never give up on me. When I am having fun with my friends, I feel I am the happiest person ever. My education is something that is really important to me. Even though the work in school is tough I know it’s something I have to do in order to reach the type of success I want.  School is ok. I wish there would be less work but I guess it’s just something I have to work with.  My theme song is definitely Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb”. It kind of motivates me to do my work.  How’s it going? Well, it’s going ok I guess. I’m learning how to manage my time better between school and work. I’m learning about all the responsibilities that come with college. My biggest challenge with school right now is getting the work done and studying for midterms. I’m enjoying the freedom college offers and the opportunity to meet new people.

Hi everyone! So I’m Bianca Ning and I’m a student-athlete. My main sport is swimming but I also enjoy doing all kinds of other sports such as basketball, football, handball, etc. I love staying active so if you ask me to go to the gym with you or even jog at 5:00 in the morning, I’m definitely there!

I’m also someone who follows the meaning to “live life to it’s fullest”. I love to have fun and what’s better than to live life by laughing it up and acting crazy with those around you? As most of you probably would know, Dajelyn Diaz, Marek Kledpadlo, and I are like the three Musketeers. Maybe it’s because we’re stuck with each other every single day for the rest of the semester but hey, I’m certainly not complaining! We haven’t known each other for very long but we’re already having so much fun and making the most of our freshman year here at Baruch College.

One of my main concerns about my freshman year would undoubtedly be keeping up with my studies. As a senior in high school, I kicked back and relaxed. I went to school for 3 hours and worked most of the day. Now, professors are giving out so many assignments and it’s a weird transition from relaxing to suddenly having to work hard. I’ll admit, for the first two weeks, I was still in “senior year” mode and I didn’t really keep up with my schoolwork. But now, I’m definitely getting back to my study mode.

Now, I just have to get used to professors posting every single assignment online. It’s so hard to keep track of the deadline for them because you have to check your mail practically 24/7. I’ve decided to get a huge calendar and simply marking down every assignment that is due.

At the same time, it’s hard to keep track of everything that’s going on around me. My top concern for freshman year would probably be time management. Besides school, I have joined the Baruch swim team, am currently rushing for a sorority, and working night shifts at my friend’s dad’s restaurant as a bartender. When friends ask me to go hang out with them, I literally have to answer them back with a, “Let me check my schedule.” Usually, I can’t because I barely even have time to sleep. It does get frustrating at times …

I think my Baruch College experience is different from my high school experience in a way that I’m more independent and responsible now. Since I’m paying for my own tuition, I no longer want to skip class and I have to keep track of everything on my own. I believe this is what my first year at Baruch will change about me; I’ll become stronger in a sense where I’d become more independent, responsible, and yet, at the same time, have a lot more fun than I did in high school!