Author Archives: danielle.troyano

So I decided to google myself, something which I have never done. Interestingly enough there are a lot of searches! I am on 3 pages. I can thank dance for this. There are 2 youtube clips that were uploaded by the board of a Competition I did a few years ago. ( I really wish that they would delete them because they are TERRIBLE!) Then there are few articles and reviews and interviews from when I danced at my old ballet studio Seiskaya Ballet. We put on a very professional production of “The Nutcracker” every year so there were many reviews written on that. I don’t have any searches as far as academic accomplishments. I kind of just slid my way through high school and did well but didn’t stand out! It’s cool to google yourself and see that your name does matter! I hope to double the number of pages I have as of now in the next few years when I am hopefully dancing professionally and people begin to know my name!

So I know this is my first year living in the city and all and I should be broadening my horizons by the means of fashion. However, Forever 21 never seems to let me down! I know they’re everywhere, but the one’s in the city in particular have such great things! And you really can’t beat the prices. Down here by the dorms in the lower east side, there are so many cute boutiques and little stores that have great styles. However, a few weeks ago while I was browsing, I picked up a beautiful button down shirt, very thin material. How much? It was $85! Who on earth would spend that when you can get such a similar style at Forever 21 for about $20! And the quality is nice too. It allows you to wear that trendy look that your wallet can actually afford. Anyway, as you could all tell, I’m writing this blog for extra credit and writing about fashion was one of the options, so please don’t laugh at my random proclamation of love towards forever 21!

Before I start this let me just say that I do not mean to offend anyone with my words. But the truth is, I really can’t lie. I hate Baruch! I really hate everything about it. I hate how dark and dingy it is. I hate how slow everyone walks. I hate the grossly over packed elevators. I hate that everyone dresses like they are already in the business world. Relax, this is college. Put on some sweats please. I hate how I get weird looks for being the one who wears sweats! I hate how I hardly have any friends here… making friends was NEVER a difficult thing for me! It is so cliquey here. More than anything, I HATE how no one in this world knows what Baruch is. The whole reason that I chose Baruch was because it was cheap, and conveniently located so I could stay training with my ballet coach in NYC. She is absolutely amazing, but some days when I walk into Baruch with the same pit in my stomach that I have everyday, I wonder if it was worth it to stay with her. Because even though she’s great, Baruch is painful. I would’ve chose Fordham if it weren’t for the money. I mean 50,000 a year is absurd. When i visited Baruch last year I knew I wouldn’t be happy here, yet I chose it anyway. And I think this is what bothers me the most. I hope this year at Baruch College gets better for me because so far it sucks! Sorry for the rant everyone! Haha

For many people, it takes a lifetime to figure out who they are in this world. However, I Danielle Troyano, at 18 years old, have a pretty good idea of who I am and who I am slowly becoming. I am a dancer. This is who I am, this is who I always hope to be. Dancing has shaped me into the strong, independent and driven person that I am today. I can confidently say that if it weren’t for my serious committment to ballet, I am not too sure that I would know my meaning in this world.  My whole life everybody has known me as “the dancer.” It always makes me think, if I never took that first ballet class when I was 4, who would I be? Would I even have a meaning in this world? This is a question that will forever linger in my mind. However all of this aside, i’d also hope to say that I am a good person with a good heart. Seeing someone else smile brings a lot more joy than my own happiness.

I guess the point of this blog is to be honest with my self and my peers. Therefore, i’m not too sure how I feel about Baruch yet. In all honestly, I chose Baruch because I wanted to attend college in NYC to stay with my ballet coach, and Baruch is cheap and a wonderful education. I know it has only been a month, but I have not been able to find my niche yet. I live in the dorms which is nice, but I mean when I come to baruch at 8am every morning, I feel very alone. This is definitey something that I hope gets better as the year goes on. I promise everyone I don’t bite! I’m not too sure why many people don’t talk to me. Perhaps my classes are just way too early and everyone is just too tired! I don’t want people to label negatively just because I rush out of Baruch everyday at 12 to get to ballet. I am just as committed to my academics as i am to ballet and it will always be that way. So far, the work load hasn’t been too crazy for me, I really hope it stays this way. That would definitely be my worst fear, not being able to balance both ends of the spectrum.

So far, Baruch appears to be very similar to high school. It has so many cliques, and I feel as if everybody knows eachother prior to coming to Baruch. I feel that once I find my own clique, everything will become a lot easier. I was able to slide my way through high school having fun and not doing much work, but I know that this can not be the case in college. I want to do well and make my parents and myself proud.I know that Baruch is the stepping stone to a bright future. It is definitely going to be a long and hard road balancing both a potential dance career and a journalism career, but I am sure that I can handle it. I hope that this first year at Baruch College teaches me the importance of time managment and how to reach that level of professionalism that I’ll need to be very successful in every aspect of life.