My name is James Selig. I think I am a quiet and shy person, and having conversations isn’t exactly my strong point. I also think that I am misunderstood. Often, people mistake me for being reclusive and somewhat antisocial. I don’t mean to be this way; I just have trouble expressing myself sometimes.
I have many concerns about my freshman year at Baruch College, but my top 3 are:
1) Adjusting to a newfound sense of independence.
2) Adjusting to the “college culture” (i.e., figuring out how to fit in)
3) Passing all my classes with reasonably good grades.
Based on the first few weeks, I think my experiences in Baruch will be entirely different from what I experienced in my high school. For starters, no one is there to watch over you. In high school, the teachers all wanted you to succeed and went out of their way to make sure that happened. My high school had many guidance counselors and other staff that were always more than willing to proffer advice and, well, guidance. Here at Baruch, the professors all seem to genuinely care, but the fact that there are many more people in each class seems to hinder their ability to help individual students. Also, the classes are much longer in college than they were in my high school. It definitely takes some adjusting to be able to sit through an hour-and-a-half class without losing focus. Lastly, the sheer size of Baruch College is very different from my high school. There are classes spread out amongst two different huge buildings in the middle of busy Manhattan. Crossing the street to get to your next class is truly an adventure and can be a matter of life and death, with cars whizzing by as we cross the street.
I think my first year at college will change me for the better. I hope to become much more outgoing and more open to new things. So far, college has forced me to become much more independent. In Baruch, I feel like I am a miniscule small fish in a big, enormous, and massive pond. I think that my first year in college will teach me how to fit in to that pond and adapt to my surroundings.
