Author Archives: natalie.alfarhan

The other day we visited the Rubin Museum of Art. It honestly would not be my first choice of museums to visit but I actually really enjoy going to museums and looking at exhibits and art. All the art pieces reminded me of my visit to Thailand and Hong Kong a few years ago. The mediums and color schemes that were used in the paintings shrines, and other pieces really brought back memories of all the art work from those two countries. The combination of gold and red specifically reminded me of the various shrines around Hong Kong where people would light up incents and pray in front of them.

What was interesting about the art work was that every piece used the same elements. There was texture in all of them and you could tell that the detail on the artwork was extremely precise. There was one piece that caught my attention, it reminded me of the prints that I had done in my art course in a way. There were multiple replicas of the same figure around the border of the painting and for the most part all of the figures were the same, but they did have slightly different expressions. Towards the bottom the figures were changed a bit. There were a few that resembled some sort of bad spirits or devils maybe. The middle of the painting depicted gods in different actions or forms. Its nice to look at art from different cultures because you can make connections of how every culture is related in a way. There are many similarities.

Over all I would say that I am pretty happy with how things have gone. It has been a tough transition in a way because I miss my High School, my graduated class, and the close knit community that we had. Baruch is completely different but I am glad that I met some pretty great people. This school is so diverse and everyone that I have made friends with has had a different story to tell. Ultimately I am glad that I am here. The classes are interesting and you have so many choices of what you can learn about.

When I started getting back letters from colleges and financial aid packages I was extremely disappointed. I had my heart set on going to a private school outside of New York. I wanted a change of scenery after spending most of my life here. Today I visited my High School and I had a really great conversation with my college adviser, who is also like a friend. He had helped me through many tough times and frustrations. More than anyone he knew how upset I was about going to a CUNY, so I had to tell him how I felt now. I am glad that I stayed in the city. New York is the capital of the world and given everything that I want to accomplish and experience it is a perfect fit. Looking back if I was anywhere else like PA or Connecticut I would have probably gotten extremely bored of the campus very quickly. Its funny how the things you don’t expect end up being the perfect fit.

A few years ago my art teacher Roy Steele, was showing the class a slide show of different art pieces done by students from our school, which had been hung up all around the building. As he ended the boring lecture about how we need to be creative and express ourselves through this personal artwork he came to the last slide. He asked everyone to look up and read the quote that someone had written on the art piece that hung in the boys bathroom. It said “I need people to doubt me so that I have people to prove wrong”.  As the class tried to figure out who could have written it, I started thinking about how much I related to it. This quote has stuck to me ever since. I have always felt that when people doubt that I can do something it helps me become even more determined. I see myself as a very driven person who, as everyone, tries to succeed in life. But I don’t let that get in the way with who I am, even though to a certain extent it shapes the person that I am.  Maybe for this reason I enjoy helping people out. I spent a lot of time through out high school participating in all the community service activities that we were offered or told about. It was a good way to learn about yourself while helping others.

I think my high school was a very special place. I met so many people who helped me become the person I am and I am grateful for having so many amazing people in my life after the six years I spent in that small building. From my softball coach being like a best friend and always encouraging me to do better and being like a best friend, to all the teachers who were able to talk to you on a personal level as well as an academic one, and to my college advisor who got the school involved in Community and Service activities and always there when you needed someone to talk to. These people helped me achieve many great things in life and I am thankful for that. I value friendship and family greatly and they are all my friends as well as family. I am grateful that I had such an amazing graduating class of 63 students that was able to have fun together no matter where we were and what we did. Our Senior Trip was one event of many that allowed us all to become closer. Having people you can trust, rely on and have fun with is important in life and that’s one of the reasons I value friends so much.

I would say that my family and friends are the most important to me. I am very close with my family, every chance that I get I spend in Poland with them. Its always one of the worst feeling when summer is coming to an end and I have to say goodbye to all of them, my grandmother, aunts, uncles, my cousins who are like my best friends, and other friends I grew up with. I would say that my only fear in life is that I am scared of losing the people I love most in life. I used to fear that I wouldn’t be successful but I learned that you have to keep trying and success isn’t the most important thing in life. It always takes drive and determination to become successful. But without your friends and family I believe that its even harder to achieve anything. Friends and family make you who you are. Which reminds me of another quote that I read once, “the friends from college know who you are, but the friends from high school know why”