I’m Mana Kanatsu, a full Japanese college student who is satisfied with where she stands (at least for now). I was born in NY (Rye) and lived there till I was five. After NY I moved to Shanghai for a year during one of my kindergarden years. The country after Shanghai was Japan. In Japan, I changed cities three times and schools four times. Spending half of my life in Japan, next came Vietnam, which was from 2009 till I moved to NYC. So when someone asks me “so where are you from? who do you think you are?”; it’s clearly hard to describe it in one sentence and most of the time they get confused what I am. I think I am passionate in whatever I am fond of, for instance, traveling, running, drumming, reading series books, cleaning, washing dishes, picnics, chilling at beaches and many more. From what I have experienced in several countries including developed as well as developing countries, I like to tell my unique stories to people and make them laugh. Throughout my life I’ve done so many things so make people laugh. I’m also a good listener, and like to comfort people when they are in a bad mood. Some people say I look scary at first sight, but that’s just because I always stare at one place and locked up in my own world. So no need to worry.
My top three concerns during freshman year are…
1. Failing classes and not getting enough credit for passing my first year (that will really suck)
2. socializing with people and making friends. As Baruch is a commuter school, I always had this as one of the concerns; rather than hanging out at the campus, people just go back home. Also since I didn’t go to a high school in NYC, I really don’t know anybody from this school.
3. making my own lunch everyday; I used to have cheap lunch at the cafeteria in high school; now it’s pretty expensive at our cafeteria with not many choices. Or should I just nibble on the $1 pizzas?!
I think joining club organizations will change my college experience different from my high school experience. Even though I joined club organizations in high school, the clubs in Baruch will expand your connections and even will give you the opportunity for internship for top notch companies. I also feel like I will be one step towards being an ‘adult’ as I have all the freedom as well as responsibilities to all the actions I take.
The first year of college will make me grow (even if it were one step) as a human being. I will need to decide everything by myself including time management, organization, self-decipline, etc. There will be tons of stepping stones throughout my freshman year for me to develop. The more I make mistakes, the more I will grow. 
