Author Archives: brendan.lukas

Posts: 4 (archived below)
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Reflection

Posted on December 7, 2011 by brendan.lukas

1-Tell us how your experience at Baruch College has lived up to your expectations? Not lived up to your expectations? Exceeded your expectations?
Going to college in the city has definitely lived up to my expectations, from the frenetic pace of daily life to the many exciting things to do. However going to Baruch specifically, I’m kind of disappointed with the lack of enthusiasm in school clubs and events. I think it’s different for me because I dorm in the lower east side, while most students have to commute but nonetheless its disheartening to see people just wanting to get home as soon as they get out of class. On the positive side, I like my English 2150 class a lot. My Professor is hilarious and mean in a sarcastic way, but also teaches us valid ways to be a good writer. I also enjoy how the school schedule is much more laid back over the drudgery of the 80 minute periods at my high school.
2- How well do you think your first semester at Baruch College went?
I believe I could have done better and paid more attention to my course work. The city can be a very distracting place, and I found myself going out to explore instead of studying for a test more often than not.
3- What would you do differently during your first semester if you could do it all over again?
I would definitely study more and focus on course material, especially in Calculus.
4- How have you changed since you started at Baruch College?

I have developed a much more worldly attitude, and have a newfound responsibility. I’m away from home and in control of my own life. Since my parents won’t provide me with money for food or transportation, I’ve been working at Uniqlo to establish a kind of self-sufficiency.

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Community Service Self-Evaluation

Posted on November 9, 2011 by brendan.lukas
  1. How did your community service work help the community? Supporting the walkers in the Light the Night walk helped get the word out about the fight against Leukemia around South Street and in the surrounding community.
  2. What were your initial reactions upon hearing that you would be engaging in a community service project? I was gung-ho from the start because I’ve been engaging in community service for years. During my time in Student Government I’ve participated in countless fundraisers and service opportunities.
  3. How did it make you feel to give your time and energy to others? I felt good, because what I was doing was helping those in need.
  4. What did you learn about yourself, the people around you, and the service site? I learned that doing good things for other people, no matter how small, makes a big difference. I also learned that other  people are willing to come together to unite against a serious illness, and that the Seaport is a interesting area.
  5. What stands out as the best and/or most trying experiences that occurred while engaging in your community service project?  What did you learn from these experiences? The best experience that occurred was seeing the first group of walkers round the halfway point on the Brooklyn bridge still eager to complete the rest of the distance. I learned that people can put the cause ahead of physical limitations.
  6. How did engaging in this project relate to your education and the larger issues in society? Engaging in this project was a unified experience with my Freshman Orientation class, so it was directly related to my education.
  7. How did your community service experience relate to the “Leadership and Service” session? My community service experience exemplified that to be a leader you have to first serve the community around you.
  8. How has your community service experience changed your thinking, attitudes, and actions towards others, yourself, the community, and community service work as a whole? This experience hasn’t really changed my thinking but enhanced it, because I already had an inkling that helping those around you is necessary.
  9. How has your community service experience impacted you personally? What is the most important thing you learned about yourself throughout this experience? The most important thing that I learned throughout this experience is that I wish to engage in more as soon as possible.
  10. Were you satisfied with your experience overall? Why or why not? I was satisfied because it was great to be on the beautiful Brooklyn bridge seeing people walk for a cause.
  11. Do you see yourself staying involved in the community during your college and adult years? Why or why not? I see myself undertaking much more service, especially to help the many poor and disadvantaged people of New York City.
  12. Sum up your service-learning experience in a one-or two-sentence headline: We walk together as one. We walk for a cure.
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Monologue

Posted on October 26, 2011 by brendan.lukas

“Did you hear?” Hear what? “That kid. Skateboarding accident. Nice kid. Not doing too good.” Before I knew it, a dear friend had not just moved away but moved on to a better place. Word spreads quickly in my town, it’s a small town, but everyone also has their nose in other people’s business. When I first heard of the accident I didn’t pay it much attention. The story had changed hands so many times that all the details I heard in school was that some kid got into a skateboarding accident, first name “V” something. It couldn’t be him. He moved a while ago.

It’s funny how when you realize you’re losing someone, your best memories with them literally flash before your eyes. The time we were sledding down a huge hill and he crashed into a shed and broke his femur but made a joke out of it. That time on the Fourth of July when we repeatedly told him to point the mortar up more but he fired it straight at the crazy neighbor’s house. Vince first moved to Kings Park about four years ago, and lived one block over from me and my best friends. He was the kind of nice, jolly guy that went out of his way to make you feel at home. My friends and I embraced him, and so did the rest of Kings Park. Unfortunately Vince and his family had a habit of moving, and moved to the neighboring town of Northport when it felt like we were just becoming good friends. We still ran into each other, but lost touch when his family planned to move to Louisiana. It was months before that fateful day in June when I last saw Vince fully conscious. I was sitting in my car outside the Main Street Pizzeria, when I noticed Vince’s unmistakable tuned up Honda creeping up in my rear view mirror. I forgot Vince delivered pizza there, but he took the time to catch up. He told me he’d be leaving for Louisiana soon and I vowed to see him off. Not only did I not get to see him before he left, but I’m never going to get to see him again.

Losing a friend the same age as you hits you like a truck. There’s an enormous sinking feeling when you realize that death can come to anyone, even yourself.  It seemed like the whole world was at the hospital that day waiting. Waiting for a miracle. Hours went by and then days. He was on life support and I only got to see him once to give him my prayers and then his room was reserved for his family. Going on two days, they were going to do a risky surgery to reconnect his brain stem. I had hope up until I saw the look on Vince’s girlfriend’s face. They had been dating two years and the reason he was back from Louisiana was that he wanted to see her one last time. When I saw that look on her face, I knew Vince was gone. Vince had been long boarding down the old bike path through the Psych Center with my other two friends Shane and Kyle. Vince couldn’t have been going that fast because it was flat, but somehow caught an edge and slammed his head so hard on the pavement that his brain stem got disconnected. A helmet would have saved his life. In honor of his memory, we are trying to get Sector 9 to sponsor a long boarding helmet with only the word “In.Vince.Ible.”

RIP VIncent Castrillon

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Who do you think you are?

Posted on September 26, 2011 by brendan.lukas

Who am I? Well, my name is Brendan Lukas, but that only describes what people call me. The myriad of nicknames I’ve acquired like Bren-Bren and BeLukas can identify me, but they don’t show who I am. People tell me I’m a nice kid, a great DJ, that I’m easy-going, or even that I’m one of the funniest guys they know. Looking in the mirror, I believe I’m all of these things and none of them at the same time. I’m constantly thinking outside the box and have some pretty different views on things. Simply put, I’m a fun-loving, deep-thinking, apolitical DJ who is obsessed with Kanye West. One of my greatest concerns about my freshman year at Baruch was being able to budget my money because I can’t help buying food from almost every food cart I run into. Another concern was adapting to dorm life in a single room because I’d finally be independent and away from the luxuries of my own home. Finally, I was concerned I’d be mugged walking back to the dorm at 3 a.m. So far, the freedoms in attendance and larger class sizes make Baruch feel less restricted than my days at Kings Park High School. The ability to come and go and wander the city in between classes spurs my spirit of adventure and is far from the closed campus of my high school. I believe my first year at college, in New York City specifically, will make me a more worldy and responsible person. After only about one month at Baruch, I have already made friends from Italy, England, Cuba, Germany, Brazil, Ukraine, France, Korea, China, and all over the United States.

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