Author Archives: lev.tsitron

a. I think that I am exactly who I appear to be, and that’s the life I have tried to lead so far. A tall Russian Jew from Brooklyn who clings to his Russian friends and plots to overtake the US government. Well ok, the last part isn’t entirely true. Im a traveler, an adventurer. I love to learn new things, but I also like to live in the past. I believe in chivalry, old-school music, respect for the elderly, etc. I am a huge sports fan: basketball, baseball, HOCKEY!

b. My main concern about my freshman year at Baruch is about starting off my college career with a very strong average. I remember entering high school after a very successful career at middle school and having great difficulty fitting in. My average started off very rough for my standards and only after very strenuous efforts in my Junior and Senior years did I pull off a 94 high school average. I dont want the same thing to happen at Baruch, I want to start off strong and finish even stronger. Secondly, I am concerned about making friends. Even though a bunch of my Russian friends from my social circle came to Baruch with me, it’d be nice to meet some new people. I dont necessarily open up to people with ease, but hopefully that’ll  become easier in the upcoming semester. Lastly, I hope to have professors that enjoy teaching their subjects. We’ve all had teachers who dont want to be there any more than you want to be there. In those scenarios no one wins. I actually want to learn and to form bonds with my professors. Hopefully I will get lucky.

c. I think the whole idea of independence will make my experience at Baruch different from my experience at High School. We basically can show up any time we want now, go out for lunch without the security officers having panic attacks about our safety, and roam around the city without having our parents behind our backs 24/7. It feels great to finally feel like an adult and not have to report your every move to the teacher. After all, who the heck asks to go to the bathroom at the age of 18?

d. I think my first year at Baruch will show me how tough life really is. Let’s be honest, we’ve all had it pretty easy these first 18 years. We didnt have to worry about the little details, everything was taken care of for us. That has all changed and we will definitely feel it soon. Sometime tough love is good though, and I hope to become a better person through the experiences I will undoubtedly face.

I think that Freshman Seminar is a nice class to have, but Im also kind of glad that we only have it once a week. Sure it’s a fantastic way to meet people that you have the same classes with more closely, but it also reminds me of elementary school in a way. We’ve been lucky to have Matt who organizes the class very well, and is a great presenter and speaker , but other Freshman Seminar classes may not be so lucky and they may view it as a waste of time. It’s a nice way to get weekly updates of what is going on in and around the school, and also to learn ways of how to get involved in our immediate community. The writing activities that we have been doing at every session will definitely help us become more comfortable with expressing our unique ideas. It’s great that our class seems so diverse, with many international students, it really makes me actually go to FRO and learn more about different people. But again, other classes may not be as lucky, or so I’ve heard.