Author Archives: jenna.rubertone

I remember the night before the first day of classes. I couldn’t sleep at all. I had all of these fears about getting to my classes, making friends, and handling the work. Now, three months later, those fears seem ridiculous. I easily managed to navigate my way through Baruch’s campus, I’ve managed, up to this point that is, to maintain decent grades, and not even two days into class I made amazing friends. I’m not going to lie I thought college was going to be a lot different. I thought I’d be partying and having fun and this semester just didn’t live up to my expectations but I guess that’s all just part of the adjustment. Overall, my first semester wasn’t terrible so I can’t really complain. The only thing that I absolutely hated was the commute, but I think a lot of other Baruch students would agree with that.

There isn’t really anything that I would do differently if I were to start over. I think I learned early on how to manage my time the best to my ability. While I may not be the most efficient person I still managed to get my work done in a timely manner. There were times when I felt overwhelmed, but that’s expected in college. At first I was completely against the idea of the blocks. I didn’t understand why it was necessary in college to be traveling from class to class with the same group of kids. I wanted to meet new people. I guess I never realized that the block would actually grant me the opportunity to form deep friendships. Now I know.

I really don’t think I’ve changed much since the start of the semester. Granted it has only been three months. I’m still the same girl that tries not to take life too seriously. I still laugh more than I should and I know that I’m an ‘adult’ now but I really have no intention of acting like one just yet. I want to stay young for a few more years. I still have time to grow up. I’m in no rush. As for my academics, that is one aspect of my life that I will always take seriously and after this semester I think I’m ready for what is to come. I still don’t know what I’m doing with my life or where exactly I’m headed but I do know that I’ll get there eventually. So for now I’ll just try my best to figure it all out and take it one day at a time.

My first semester of college has definitely been a learning experience. I’ve learned that no matter what I decide to do with my life it has to be something that makes me happy because that’s what is important for me. I want to find something I love and as of now I’m not too sure I’ve found it. But like I’ve said, I still have some time to figure it all out.

One of the free write questions was to describe a time when I felt empowered. My freshman year of high school my sister had told me to join an activity called SING. She told me that I would love it and that I would meet new people. I figured if she loved it I might as well give it a shot. For those of you who may not know what SING is, let me explain. SING is a competition between the freshmen and the sophomores, known as sophmen sing, the juniors, and the seniors. It is a student run show that lasts for 50 minutes and usually contains about nine songs that are rewritten to fit the theme of the show. The script director, the person who writes the show and the songs, picks the theme with the other directors and works from there. My freshman and sophomore years I was in the chorus, which pretty much means I jumped around on stage and sang as loud as I possibly could. My sophomore year was a complete disaster. Our show was the definition of terrible and it was twenty minutes of the chorus pretty much jumping in circles. We were the joke of SING. It was then that I decided that I wanted to give script writing a shot. After weeks of debating with myself I went and signed my name to the candidate list. I honestly never thought I would get it but a few days later positions went up and there was my name. I was the new junior sing script director. Writing the script was not easy but it was definitely worth it. After our final show the art and theater teachers were telling my grade how amazing our show was and that we deserved to win. My show. They thought the show that I had written deserved to win. It was incredible. Being the script director gave me so much responsibility. It was up to me to create the story, write the songs in the show, select a cast, and then do everything I could to make my script come to life. It was intimidating at times, knowing that everyone counted on me to keep things together, but I loved every minute of it. SING was definitely an experience I will never forget. Our show lost and while it was incredibly disheartening not being able to hold the trophy I took away so much more from the experience. I was able to create a show that people enjoyed. I was someone that my fellow directors looked to for guidance. The friendships that I made, the memories, and the show in its entirety were better than any trophy I could have gotten. To watch our grade go from the biggest joke to actual competition, and knowing that I had a large part in it, was an accomplishment on its own. SING will forever be the best part of my high school experience and I will never forget it.

Who do I think I am? That’s a tough question. I know for certain that I am a daughter, a sister, a niece, a grand-daughter, a cousin, a god-mother, a friend, and a student among other things. In many ways I am still trying to define myself. I am not entirely sure of what I want to do with my life or where I am headed, but I guess that will come in time.

Being in college is definitely something that I am adjusting to. The workload is entirely different, and coming from a school where I rarely had to open a book, it has been a struggle to develop good study patterns. My biggest concern is just maintaining a somewhat decent GPA. That, along with dealing with all the work that has to be done and making sure I plan out my time and stay focused and organized.

As of right now I am not enrolled in any clubs. My first semester I didn’t think that I would be able to manage getting acclimated with the school and being a part of different organizations. However, I do believe that getting involved is something that will make my college experience different from high school.

I believe that my first year of college will definitely give me a better perspective on my future. I’m hoping that by the end of my first year I will have a better idea of what I want to do and if not maybe I’ll know for sure something that I have no desire doing. By the end of this year I see myself more grown up, more focused,more engaged in my studies and  more involved in clubs and organizations. Hopefully by the end of this year I’ll be able to better define myself.