Author Archives: MARGARET SEMON

When I heard that I was only going to be taken two classes my first semester at Baruch I was really devastated.  I worked so hard in high school and I felt like all of my hard work was for nothing.  I had a really bad experience at orientation and there was never good communication between when I had to be present and when events were actually taking place.  However, after almost finishing my first semester I have to say I am looking foward to my continuing carreer at Baruch.  I have learned a lot about myself especially from those around me.  I enjoy seeing new faces every day even though I feel as if I get lost in the crowd.  I learned that especially in English, my work isn’t so much graded on content, rather, my professor’s opinion.  It has not been too much of a struggle or anything because I have had time to work almost 5 days a week and I am interviewing for a new job tomorrow.  I have been asked to model at two different clothing companies all because of being in the city and around Baruch’s campus.  I enjoy spending time with the people I attend class with because they are a lot of fun and I feel we all relate to each other in different ways.  I am planning on taking a full load next semester because I want to challenge myself especially after having such a lax school schedule this semester.  I think Baruch is going to prepare me extremely well for whatever I want to do in the future.  I have already been asked by a fellow Baruch upper class men if I would be interested in doing an internship for UBS.  I am pleased with the community of Baruch, and even though it feels large and that there are a lot of faces, everyone seems to accept you.  I am enjoying Baruch a lot, and I plan on continuing my journey here for the next few years.

Life is a Gift.  There have never been truer words
spoken.  Although we all struggle day to
day with things that make us question our purpose, life is something we should all be thankful for.  Some people don’t get a chance to even experience life.  This is true for my best friend Amanda.  Amanda passed away when she was seven years old.  We got
really close because of our situations.  She had leukemia and it got the best of her. She was denied treatment at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in New York because her family did not have the money.
At the same time, I was in Sloan for treatment of bone marrow
cancer.  Amanda was the one that kept me going.  She gave me hope and strength and something to look forward too every day.
We spent time playing like six year old kids should, she was my only
friend.  It was the worst most devastating feeling to hear that my only hope had passed away.  At seven years old I learned how tragic and unfair this thing called life could be.  I didn’t find out about her untimely death until I was almost discharged from the hospital.  Amanda’s mother continued to visit me at the hospital and whenever she was there I could truly feel Amanda right next to my hospital bed.  I was there for two years.  I was admitted right before
my sixth birthday and was discharged in the summer of 2000.  That journey was the longest most miserable experience anyone should have to endure.  I suffered through chemotherapy and radiation which made me even sicker.  I cried and screamed every day
that I had to go for treatment.  I lost my hair, my appetite, my desire to get up from my hospital bed, I lost my smile, I lost everything at only six.  I hadn’t seen my two brothers since before I was admitted because my mom didn’t think it was somewhere they should see their sister.
My mother only came once a week because it was too much for her to handle.  My mom really let me down.  Especially after Amanda’s death, my mom really limited the time she spent with me because it was just too difficult.  To this day I still feel like my mother let me down, but I have learned to forgive and forget even though it
stays with me.  However, in January 2000, my mother was told that if I didn’t receive a bone marrow transplant I wouldn’t make it.  After blood transfusions and constant testing, I was eligible for a transplant.  In April 2000, my guardian angels were with me while I underwent a long surgery, when I woke up I was happily surprised
that my mom was right beside me holding my hand, but Amanda wasn’t.  After my surgery I spent the next three months in the hospital before I was finally discharged.  The weeks following, I was instructed to continue visits with my doctor.  It had
only been a few weeks since Amanda passed away and I was still distraught and wished I could have said goodbye.  When I
went to see my doctor my mother got the donor report from my bone marrow.  The results were shocking, almost too much to
even believe.  My marrow was donated from my best friend, my angel, Amanda.  The surgery made her sicker and ultimately caused her death.   She died in order to save my life.  She is a true hero and my guardian angel.  I live every day knowing I am living not just my life, but also my best friends because she sacrificed her
life to save mine.

Life is a gift; treasure it, because not everyone has an equal chance.

Community Service is finding a way to take time out of your daily life to help someone else.  It doesn’t have to be anything sufficient, but just helping an old lady carry her groceries is an act of community service.  I enjoy doing community service because it is a way for me to give back to my community for all it has done for me.  When I was in 7th grade, my best friend and I organized a used toy and book drive and all the proceeds were sent through the Red Cross to victims of Hurricane Katrina.  This hurricane had a large affect on me and my friend because we knew it was something that destroyed the lives of many.  We got people to donate their old toys and books, and by selling them for only a dollar or more we were able to raise over $700.  A local bank in Staten Island heard about what we were doing and offered to match the amount that we made.  Two 7th graders were able to contribute over $1400 to the Huricane Katrina fund at the American Red Cross.  I am very proud of our accomplishments because community service should be an important part of everyone’s life.

Who am I?  I am a very outgoing person.  I can be loud and sarcastic but i can be a serious person when it is necessary.  i have many experiences in my life that has shaped who i am.  i like to play soccer and go for long walks on the beach.  i love to eat and eat and eat and then eat some more.  i am not italian but my daily meal is pasta.  i am an irish german american and my favorite holiday is obviously st. patricks day!!  i love my friends but i have learned not to share every detail of my life with people because it only hurts me in the end.  i am original and i love fashion.  i love music and going to rock concerts. i am very independent and work 4 days a week.  dancing is my life and i enjoy every minute of it.  i have two brothers who mean the world to me, and i come from a really good family.  people think that staten island is the forgotten borough but in reality it is a great place to live.  although it is small and everyone knows everyones business i wouldnt have wanted to grow up anywhere else.  my top three concerns at baruch are that i dont think i am going to graduate on time because my first semster is only getting me 5 credits and i am going to have to work extremely hard to become a sophmore by september.  another concern is that i dont fit in because i think i am the only irish white girl in the halls.  i also dont think that i am as smart as the other students because theyre all really smart lol.  baruch is different from high school because i have to wake up early to commute to school and that really sucks.  the work load isnt an issue because i had really difficult classes and a lot of homework and papers in high school.  my baruch experience will change me as a person because it has opened my mind to become friends with people from other ethnicities and listen to other people’s life stories and not just the typical staten island lifstyle.  baruch is a great place to achieve an education because there are a lot of resources to help me go far in life.  i like who i am as a person but i am sure baruch will only change me for the better! <3333