Author Archives: christopher.kaimis

Helping others is crucial for the world to be a better place. People get so caught up in their own life that they forget that so many more people have it worse. It’s not much of a consultation prize but to put it in realistic terms, people get mad over a c+ on a test but some people aren’t even fortunate enough to have a roof over their head. SO I’m just saying, that if you were in that position, wouldn’t you want people to understand, forgive and give you help? That doesn’t mean donate money to every homeless person you see, but a small deed can go a long way. Try and be optimistic but without being naive. Stuff happens, but it’s how we deal with that stuff that defines us as a person. This ties into community service because it is a good way to be that person that actually cared and wanted to make a difference. It’s kind of weird to think about but if everyone had a caring mentality and weren’t so quick to blame or judge, human morality would be in a better place. SO when you get frustrated, take a step back and put things into perspective. Take the time to help someone in need because karma may be a valuable asset to have, and if not I’m pretty sure it’ll make you feel better about yourself and anything that happens from then on, you can take in stride. So bottom line, community service is a vital aspect to trying to make the world a better places and if there is time to even do a small deed, take advantage of it and you’ll see how it feels.

Well to be completely honest.. Baruch is pretty much what i expected. Not really any campus life, mostly bad teachers for freshman since baruch probably only cares about its business school. Also it is impossible to get helped anywhere at this school. You go to bursar and they tell you to go somewhere else. I’m coming here because it’s the cheapest option but its hard to make the most of it when you have terrible teachers and administration who don’t want to be bothered with your problems. Anyway, on the positive side of it all, we do go to school in the greatest city in the world. So glad I dorm here, it makes everything worth while. Exploring the city with friends is an awesome experience.

I think I have done well this semester. As I said before its hard to care about school when your teachers don’t even care about you and care about everything else they have to do more. But its whatever, I’m pleased with the grades I get. It’s just annoying sometimes to study for about 15 hours for a test and end up with a 53. That made me stop trying all together. Maybe next semester I’ll change but I’m not about getting stressed over work. I’ll work hard, and when I get into the job world I’ll be the best I can be but I can’t let that life and those thoughts consume me. I just want to enjoy life and I have a great city in front of me and great friends by my side so I don’t want to get too caught up to the point where I let that opportunity float right on by. I mean there is no campus which is annoying and you can’t go to football games on a Saturday with everyone and build school spirit but hey I try to think on the positives and there are way too many for me to complain about everything else. And that is how I have changed over this semester, I have become a more mature person and I’m happy with who I am so yea, Baruch isn’t too shabby but for Baruch to be on the top 10 list with most unhappy students with its university says something about the school. Anyway I’m done. I think I’ll go wait for an elevator for a good 5 minutes.

Coming home from school was always a joyous occasion. I would run to my mom’s arms at the bus stop while I would wait for her to ask me what I did in school that day just so I could answer with the words everyone gives when asked that question; nothing mom. Except on this one day it wasn’t my mother who came to pick me up from the bus stop. It was my grandmother who was visiting from Cyprus. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to see her too, but I had to know something strange was up. I went to go say hi to her and realized her eyes were red with tears running down. At that point I really didn’t want to know what was wrong. We continued to walk back into the house, I saw my mom in the kitchen doing the dishes but then when I looked over at the couch I saw something I’ve never seen before in my life, and to this day something I have never seen again. My father was sitting down and crying. I soon connected the dots in my head and realized my grandmother had passed away. It’s a strange feeling for an 11 year old to have. I knew I wanted to cry but for some reason I couldn’t. I just sat there in my dad’s arms trying to figure out how such a thing could happen.

Days went on and it was time for her funeral. We were sitting in church and the family was crying but not me; still no clue why. I while into the service, my aunt was passing out sucking candies. For some reason, my 2 year old brother ended up with one. 2 minutes later I hear someone choking. I didn’t want to turn around. All I saw was my dad grab my brother and run outside. My relatives thought that maybe my brother had to throw up or something but no one knew what was really going on. Here I am, at my grandmother’s funeral, and seeing my brother maybe take his last few breathes of air.  It should be noted that on my grandmother’s deathbed all she had in her hand was a picture of my baby brother. One day I know they’ll be reunited, but not today, not now. At that moment I had all these thoughts running through my head and it all came out. I don’t think I ever cried aa much in my whole life. I truly knew what it meant to be completely and utterly hopeless and in control of absolutely nothing. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think, all I could do was wait and see what happened. It was the longest 2 minutes of my life, but when the advisor of the church came up to our rows, all I could hear was his voice. “Everyone don’t worry, they got the piece of candy out and he’s doing ok.” Relief. That’s the only way I could describe it.

A couple days later, still trying to make sense of everything, I awoke on a Sunday morning and realized the hallway was brighter than usual. I looked up in the sparkling sun and saw my grandmother float down and tell me she loved me and that everything will be ok. I expected to soon wake up from this dream but guess what, I didn’t. I kept looking around and realized that it was for real. Pretty bizarre, and I understand why people would be skeptical about me saying what I saw, but I really really don’t care. That put so much joy into my heart and it gave me something that I couldn’t achieve on my own. Closure.

If I had to guess, I think I would describe myself as a genuine guy who does his best to help others and at the same time does whatever he can to enjoy life. Some characteristics would inculde funny, athletic, and an overall nice guy. I enjoy anything adrenaline related. Pretty much anything that gets the blood flowing. I am also on the volleyball team at Baruch and sports have and always will be a part of my life.

Im looking foward to a great year at Baruch. Of course everyone has their concerns but I feel as though they will all take care of themselves. For example, one concern I had coming in was time management. It seemed in high school that I found myself doing a project at 3:00 am the day it was due. I want to avoid that at all costs this year and I feel like it might be challenging since I have much more freedom in college but so far I’ve done a decent job with it. Im beginning to find my routine and I’m beginning to figure out what I can and can’t do. Another concern I had was enjoying my classes. To be honest the only really enjoyable class I have is philosophy. It is an engaging topic. All the other classes are pretty plain cut, simple, dry, and I guess overall, boring. One last concern I had coming into Baruch was living up to my potential and meeting people. To be honest, it has been a lot easier of a transition than I thought it would be. I’m having fun in the city and the new people I’ve met are pretty cool.

College is definitely such a different atmosphere than high school. I mean in general, the most obvious thing that can be pointed out is that there are 13000 undergraduates here. There are so many kids. I like it though. You can have your close group of friends but at the same time be able to branch out to complete strangers. Also living on my own has been pretty fun. I feel as though I’m mature enough to make smart decisions and take advantage of the opportunity I have.

It will be interesting to see if this year will change me. To be completely honest, I don’t think it will. I think I’ll be pretty much leaving Baruch as the same person I came in. The only difference being that I will be more suited for the real world and build on that to build a better future that will hopefully come as a result from going to school at Baruch.