Author Archives: Joanne Zhou

Coming into Baruch on orientation day, I figured I would enjoy college about as much as I did high school—which is to say a vague appreciation of the institution as a whole, with less-than-enjoyable day-to-day operations. After a semester at Baruch, I would say that it has surpassed my expectations, but not by much. I love the freedom; that my free time does not revolve around school, but rather, classes. As lame as it is, I love the library and its many resources. My Philosophy teacher remarked today that she would feel less responsible if we had not turned in our papers or done our reading than she would have had she been teaching high school, and I love that I am in control of how well I do, and that in the end, it doesn’t affect anyone but myself.

I don’t love spending hours at a time waiting for my next class, but I don’t hate it either. I don’t love having so much time to myself. I hate spending money in the city. I like that my classes are straightforward, but I don’t like that I lose steam and begin to slack off halfway through. But overall, I did better than I expected to. At last, I broke the curse of losing motivation during the fall semester that seemed to haunt all four years of my high school experience. If I could go back, though, I would build up more resolve to do more than just get by in my classes. I would have involved myself in more activities, but there isn’t much I feel like I can’t capitalize on during the spring semester.

I think I changed a lot for the better since I started Baruch, but I compromised who I was a lot more than I wish I did. I focused a lot more on doing well and improving my behavior, but I kept quiet when I should have spoken up for the things I believed in; I wish I’d made a bigger impact on the people I’m surrounded by. I look forward to taking on more responsibility in the coming years, and excelling in whatever I invest myself into.

My name is a mashup of my parents’ names: Joe and Ann, and for the longest time, I spent my time trying to run away from this association. They dedicated part of our house to a memorial of my paternal grandparents, as per Chinese tradition, and I rejected all forms of the typical second-generation Asian immigrant culture. They bowed thrice in front of two faded photographs of my grandparents and planted three incense sticks into the ashes in front of them, and I left my house to get to church on time. It was the morning of Chinese New Year. Their offers to drive me to wherever I needed to go became a great way to check up on everywhere I went, and I stayed out later and later. We never had cheese in the house.

I have my dad’s jaw, my mom’s eyes and her “huck-huck-huck” of a laugh, his incredible willingness and curiosity and her devotion and laziness. I have come to take pride in the small bursts of conversations in Chinese that I’m forced to partake in at work, and for all the fights I’ve gotten into with them over staying out too late with my church friends, I’ve grown to become a pretty straight-laced type of person. I am a steadfast friend and a klutz in time management. I am shy and adventurous at once. My temperament changes according to who I’m with; some would say that I am a people-pleaser. I don’t mind.

As I commuted to Manhattan for a rigorous high school as well, I was not very nervous coming into college. I had a huge workload in high school, but it was a different kind. While teachers expected students to produce a certain amount of work each night to make sure we did our homework, it is now up to each individual to stay on top of their reading. This allows more flexibility, but also requires more responsibility. Going to Baruch makes me feel a lot more in charge of my own career, and as a result, I am more invested in making sure I succeed. I’m concerned about how well I’ll network. Many of my close friends are still in the city, so loneliness is not a terrible issue, but I want to make good friends at Baruch, as well as get to know the people around me. It’s difficult when you are not constantly surrounded by them, and it requires a more active effort to maintain friendships, but I think it’s worth it. I’m afraid I’ll fall behind on my work and that I will not be focused enough on finding out what I love to do, but these are all things that are within my control.

All in all, I’m not sure how much my first year at college will change me. So far, it hasn’t been too different from my high school experience, but I hope to take advantage of more opportunities where I can.