Author Archives: phil.wang

My first semester at Baruch College is almost over. It went pretty well even though I had to drop a few classes. I’ve learned a lot during these past 3 months. I definitely had lots of ups and downs, but overall its been pleasant and certainly an interesting experience.

I had greatly overestimated the amount of available time I had in the beginning of the semester. I thought I would be able to work, take classes and study, play sports, pledge, and manage everything else I had going on in my life. Unfortunately, as the first few months went by, I began to realize how out of focus I was, and I was going in a million different directions and wasn’t really getting anywhere; my grades were dropping significantly and I was lagging behind in most of my classes. On top of that, I was also involved in a relationship, which further restricted my time. I realized I had too much going on and I had to start narrowing down my goals and being more realistic with myself.. I pretty much did not live up to my own expectations, but regardless, I gained valuable experience.

I can say with confidence, Baruch College has lived up to and in some ways exceeded my expectations. It provides a great variety of opportunities, the education is really competitive and there are professors to help you when you’re in need. I also appreciate the great deal of extracurricular activities offered here. The school’s recreational facility is also very exceptional, considering that it isn’t a very big college. It has a pool, basketball courts, handball courts, weight room, and game rooms. It also provides a very outstanding library, and millions of computers at the student’s disposal. The study rooms provided are also a great resource. They allow students to gather together and study and hangout within the school.

Student involvement at Baruch is also a huge plus, I’m pretty astonished at how active and effective some of the students are. Asian awareness at Baruch is also very effective, considering the vast amount of Clubs and Organizations that are available.

I felt like Baruch provided a lot of necessary guidance, job opportunities and resources I would have never imagined available. There are probably many more services I have yet to discover. Services such as Starr search and the workshops really gave me hope.
If I could redo my first semester, I would definitely devote more time to studying, prioritize better, use my time more efficiently, and most importantly, show up to classes on time. I would also cut down on the hanging out and partying. Honestly though, the mistakes I made really helped me mature and grow as a person. It is the mistakes I made that really made me realize who I am and how I can make things work for me. If I didn’t mess up, I would probably make the same mistakes later on. We learn from experience, whether good or bad. For example, if I didn’t party, missed class, and was always doing well my first semester, I would really be an anxious person. I would always wonder, “what if…” and it would just bother me and I wouldn’t be able to focus. I know this for a fact, since this was what I was like in the past.
When I first started going to Baruch, I had many goals. I was very naive and inexperienced, ultimately unprepared for college, since I started off with a summer state of mind.
I wasn’t very serious about school.

How have I changed since I first started Baruch College? Well, three months later, I have simplified my goals to a few, rather than many long term goals. Rather than trying to maintain every sport I ever enjoyed, I now focus solely on working out and playing handball. As for school work, I dropped down to 3 classes and plan on focusing all my effort on doing well in those 3 classes. I guess I’ve matured and settled down, I don’t go out to chill as much as I did the first month of college. I also realized many of my weaknesses through making mistakes and messing up those first few months. I have a better sense of what I need to do to become more successful. My first semester of college has been off to a good start.