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Happiness can be attained by setting goals and working toward to achieve them. We become motivated, empowered, and excited when we have a goal to achieve whether it is short term or long term. We feel life becomes meaningful and full with hope when we have a goal. Of course the goals have to be desirable and attainable so we won’t give up too fast. While pursuing the goal, we can gain happiness by enjoying process such as overcoming obstacles in the way, sharing small step of success with others and becoming confident with supports from others. In the movie, “Best in Show” the five entrants all have the same goal that is to win the prestigious dog show “Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show”. They take time and energy to train their dogs and they all enjoy the process. Before the competition, the dog owners are very nervous about the challenge that is to come; however, they are also happy that they have a chance to achieve their goal. For example, Gerry and Cookie Fleck and their dog Winky, although they encounter many problems before the competition, such as being force to sleep in the hotel’s storage room for they don’t have enough money, they are still very happy that they have each other’s supports during the competition. Another point I want to make is success is the key to happiness. Having able to achieve a goal in the end would bring us more happiness. In the movie just before the final, Cookie dislocates her knees and Gerry has to take over for her. Gerry is really nervous for he is afraid that he won’t do a great job, however, with Cookie’s support Gerry gains confidence in doing it and ultimately Winky wins. The couples are extremely happy for all their hard works have been rewarded. Since the goal is very meaningful to them the final victory adds more to happiness to them.

In chapter 2 of Freud’s text, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud tells us a story of a child’s game “disappearance and return” which becomes known as “fort da” to explain his idea of “pain/pleasant”. Freud observes an eighteen months old child who repeatedly throws a wooden reel, with a piece of string attach to it, away from him while saying the word “fort” (go away) and when he brings it back he would say “Da” (there). Freud believes the child’s action is a relief of anger for his mother who always leaves him alone. The child doesn’t want his mother to leave him and wants to be the master of the situation; so he replaces an object in place of people. He sends the object (her mother) away and brings it back whenever he wants to. Freud analyzes action saying “the answer will perhaps be forthcoming that the departure must be played as the necessary prelude to the joyful return.” The child gains happiness when he sees the toy return even though it would be unpleasant for him to throw it away in the first place. I think Freud is trying to explain that we are just like the child who appreciates things more after we experienced the pain of losing it while gaining happiness as the outcome of the painful process.

Similar to the story of “Allegory the Cave”, the prisoner has been brought up with the belief that the shadows are the only realities. However, after he is released from the cave and sees things in a more real and more correct way, he would appreciate the true reality more than any other people who have been brought up in this true reality. The cost of this different view was years of suffering in the cave, but he enjoys the outcome of the painful process for he gains happiness.

Freud is portraying a happiness that is attained after experiencing a painful process. We might think that this kind of happiness would be more realistic for we use to believe in “no pain, no gain”, however, are we really going to attain true happy with a painful and unpleasant process?

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long period between posts, the past few weeks have been absolutely horrendous. Tests, projects and readings…school doesn’t wait for anyone.What I wanted to talk about today/tonight was the amout of help that Baruch freshman orientation offers it’s students in school work, career questions, or scheduling questions. As we (students) prepare for the Spring 2011 semester, we first must register for classes. To do that we must first meet with our student advisor. Another way Baruch helps out it’s student is by funding a Writing Center right on campus. They help you to develop your writing skills. I myself have gone a couple of times and it has helped me out of many confusing things and I will always be there until I’m satisfied. These are extremely helpful, as these students at the writing center are students that truely understand the subject back and forth, and rarely have trouble writing. The last way that I wanted to talk about on how Baruch helps its students out is that Baruch has a Career Services that helps you get ready for the real world. It can help you choose a career that is best suited for you, go over your resume with you, and help you prepare for interviews. They also have companies come close to Baruch so students can look at prospective job opportunities. Baruch really is interested in preparing it’s students for real life, and I think that it does a pretty good job.

Well thats my post on how Freshman Orientation has helped me to know where I’m  and what Baruch is offering or the services it has for all of us.

Looking back at this semester, I cant help the feeling that it flew by so fast. At the same time I feel like I learned so much more, met so many new, interesting people. I had a very enjoyable semester since all my teachers were nice and not extremely challenging. I like the classes I took and the material that I studied. Overall, I had a pleasant experience during my first semester in Baruch.

I hope the next semester will be similar, even though I will be talking 4 classes as opposed to 5 + FRO that I’m taking right now. The transition from high school was surprisingly elementary; I’m used to the commute, I’m not stressed out or overloaded with work. I’m happy with my first semester of college experience.

some of you guys might still remember my name but if not, my name still remains Aziz Yussif. I am married and blessed with a little boy.       I’m a very hard-working person and i work for GrayLine NY Sightseeing Tours; basically we sell tickets to tourist from all over the world to go on the double decker buses, empire state building, top of the rock, statue of liberty,madame tussaud’s etc. Its really fun working for this company and the way i meet different people from all over the world.  And also even when maths is a very challenging subject, it has always been my favorite and thats why I want become an Acturist. Life in Baruch is pretty much okay but its been very difficult combining my full time work and my full time studies. I remember when i got admission to baruch, I then went to my manager and asked whether i could work part-time and he said, “you work and quit school or you go to school and quit work” I then said to myself that ‘its going to be very tough.’                                         Infact I’m really at ease to be called a Baruch student.

Time passed by so fast. I can’t believe that I only have 2 weeks left in this semester. Im already almost done with my first semester..! This semester was very difficult to me at first. In the first month of this semester, I had so many problems with my school life.

First, a trip to school was so boring, uncomfrotable, and tired. I was not used to take a bus and subway in every morning for 1 and half hour. Bus was ok but I felt so uncomfortable to take a subswy because I usually took LIRR rather than a subway when I went out to manhattan. Also, LIRR station was very near by my house  but I had to take a bus in order to get to the subway station. I planned to take LIRR to get to school before the semester began but I realized that if I take LIRR, I have to buy both monthly LIRR ticket and metrocard because Baruch is little far away from Penn Sataion. It takes about 20minutes by walking. It is ok with me. But than if I have to walk that much in every m0rning especially in a very hot or cold day, it would make me very tired. So if I take LIRR, I would have to pay about 3 hundreds dollar for transportation and I concluded that it is too expensive. So I just gave up LIRR in order to save money.  Subway was much more dirty, crowded and slow than LIRR. I was so depressed that I would have to take a subway in everymorning for 4 years.

Second, I felt so lonely because I didn’t know anyone in Baruch untill I got closed to people in my block and met friends in Koran Club. Third, most importantly, I had so much stress on my classes. A lot of reading assignments and papers drove me crazy. Especially I got so much pressure from reading assignments becuase Im a very slow reader. Fourth, I had family problem at that time so I couldnt even take rest in my home. Everything was stressful and challenging to me. I was so depressed, tired, and frustrated. I even thought about to quit the school and find a job.

Now, Im ok with my school life. Taking subway is not a problem for me at all. I got used to it and I sometimes read some books or sleep in a subway. Also, now I have many friends in Baruch. Everyone is nice and friendly so somtimes I could get help from them. I still have many reading and writing assignment. But Im getting used to it and honestly, Im getting sneaky so I sometimes just skip reading. And I realized that all of 4 professors that I have are much more nicer and easier than other professor.

The final week is comming. Nowdays I got very lazy so I think I will have to study a lot from this week.  Its giving me a pressure. I got good grades on the tests and essays so far. So, I hope I will continue good job on my finals and papers that I have left and get good grade in my first semester. I think I did good job in this semester. I had so much obstacles and problems but I overcame it by myself. I hope I will continue good job in next semester too.

Attending the Rubin Museum of Art was an “enlightening” experience to say the least. The metal statues of Buddha and other Hindu and Buddhist gods were beautiful and immaculately designed. My overall experience was fun and educational. Upon arrival I was very impressed by the spiral staircase and fancy decor. All of the different levels were well organized with fact posters that described each display case. The gods of fury and war were very intimidating. Seeing there long tongues and fiery eyes so carefully portrayed made me do a double take. The incorporation of sexual intercourse was very evident on the statuaries. It was interesting to see that relation between there culture and ours, sex being a huge media selling business technique and apeal in modern America. When I got to the sanctuary I felt engulfed by the Tibetan techniques of reaching enlightenment. It was like diving right into their world. This was by far the funnest assignment for any class I’ve ever taken. Fascinating and very enjoyable. A taste and see experience of a truly significant and influential ancient culture.

A) Over all, my first semester at Baruch College has exceeded my expectations. I am not only a more responsible person, but I feel more empowered as a singer and song writer. In my English 2100 class my professor aloud me to chose my own topic for a research paper. Of course, I chose a topic on music business. I learned a lot of new independent artist methods to increase a larger annual income. It was enlightening being able to study professionals in the field I want to excel in professionally, especially when it is for a required English course. My math professor has been very gracious to me as well. I was doing very poorly and he offered me a lot of help and resources to take me to a proficient level to do well on the exams. Its been a tough adjustment but a great first semester at Baruch!
B) Grade wise I think I’m getting decent grades in all my classes. Hopefully I will have a B or better in all my classes. Math has been much more difficult than English because most of the grade depends on test grades. If I do well on my third math exam, I think I will have no problem getting a solid grade in the class.
C) If I had to do it over again I would have studied a little every day opposed to cramming before tests. Its less effective and more stressful.
D) I hope I have changed for the better and have become a more organized business minded individual. I am ready to take on next semester with a positive attitude and a more focused mind so I can get my BA in no time!

This fall term is ending soon. I feel time went like a flashlight. Without any preparation for college at first, I was so confusing at every classes from the begining of term. As now, I pretty sure I can pass all my courses but with very low grades. For next term, I will avoid the mistakes I have in this term and try to study harder in order to get a better grade. Not only this, picking courses by myself is also is big problem. Because it requires us to pick the course we need and the course schedules that fits with the others. And also we have limited time to choose good course because there are many students that competing with us. Anyway, I had chosen my courses and get ready for my next term. There were still some good things about this past term. I learned how to be independent, how to manage stuffs myself, and how to make friends. I met many new friends here. What surprises me is that I even made some friends who don’t speak my native language which is a good thing for me. Plus, I think college is very stressful. I usually go play basketball every Sunday to release my stress. I hope everything will get better for me and my friends.

At the end of this semester, i think everything is out of my expectation. I think my expectation is a little bit higher than what i can live up and I didn’t do my best on the beginnning and make me feel terriable on the rest of the semester. Now I am working my final paper and preparing for my final exam. It is the most of the tough time in the whole semester.I don’t know it can be easy to get a good grade by study very hard only in these times. If i could do it again i would spend more time in the book than on the computer. The computers are easy to make me tired. It is nessary to print everything out to read, so i would not lose my focus on the work.

In the Baruch college, i have learned how to organize my study. It can be better on next smemster.My schedual of next semester is terrific for me to have enough time to study and sport, but the class in the evening is a small challenge for me. I hope in the first year of college life, i can become a real man.