Author Archives: brandon.rubinshtein

I didn’t think the end would come so soon. Before it started I found myself wanting it to start already. Now I can’t wait for it to end so I can get my well deserved rest. I am, of course, talking about my first semester.

I definitely didn’t expect how it would turn out. I came into school with my only friends being in different blocks. Now my friends range from mine to all others. I just can’t believe how friendly I became.

College was definitely an adjustment for me from high school. The independence I have been given has definitely helped me grow and learn from my experiences.

I hope that my future semesters will be like this one.

When asked who I am, I rarely have an answer. I have been trying to come up with the answer myself for quite some time now. Sure I can give the generic answer, “I’m the son of two loving parents, blah blah blah.” But that doesn’t set me apart from other people. There’s no depth in that answer.

Who knows who I’ll be? Will I find a cure to a currently incurable disease? Will I invent a device so revolutionary, it’ll make Steve Jobs look like a four year old? I was always told I can be anything, be anyone. Only now, in college, am I realizing what I can do with that statement. I  decide who I will be. I decide where I will go. It’s all up to me.

My name is Brandon Rubinshtein. I am a student. That is how I identify myself. I find myself walking into a classroom and being scared not knowing anyone. what’s the first thing I feel? Anxiety. I don’t know what to expect. Is it going to be more work? Less work? Will I make new friends? The only people I can talk to right one are the few who came with me from high school in Brooklyn.

My number one concern would be that I won’t be able to keep up with the work. I’m used to slacking off in high school, and not taking it too seriously. Now I find myself overwhelmed by the work and the reality that if I don’t start taking my work seriously, I’m going to screw myself over.

Second, I am worried that I will remain undecided. I know we don’t have to decide our majors for a long time, bu I still have this fear that when it comes time to decide my career path, I wont know what to do.

Lastly, I am scared I won’t live up to expectations. Whether they be belonging to my parents, professors, or friends.

The one thing I find to be different from high school is the commute. That takes some getting used to. I used to be able to walk out of bed and into school. Not this year. Now it’s two trains and a bus. This commute is brutal.

I hope that at the culmination of may first year at Baruch, I will be able to see what my path in life will be. I will hopefully be more decisive about who I want to be and what I want to do with my life. I hope that college will help me mature.