Author Archives: Lily (Shaoting) Xiao

The registration workshop was a day before my registration, which was on the 8th. This workshop was extremely helpful in updating my information on what courses were high priority. The lady speaking was very detailed and she had her information in an organized order. She also answered many of the questions that were asked among the audience, and even provided extra solutions to any problems. She was very enthusiastic about her speech and I’m glad she’d incorporated some humor into it.

I’m also very thankful for her presence because earlier that morning, I had stopped by the registrar office. It was packed and I never have any patience to wait in any lines, so I left with the hope of returning at night. When I discovered that she was there to answer any questions I had, I was extremely glad since I register the very next day.

I had skipped my opportunity to another event to attend this Major/Minor Fair. I made my way there hoping to gain as many as information as I could about CIS, and Accounting since I’m stuck in between the two. When I reached the room, the line was so long that it made a u-turn. I immediately aimed to find the group who’s gone ahead of me, which included Sarah and Zi. I quickly spotted them and then squeezed myself in to the line with them! The line took awhile, and I thought it was because they were serving food inside. When I entered the room, there was a lady standing there casually passing out a paper with all the majors and minors listed. I looked around and I was disappointed that there wasn’t any food offered but a bunch of scattered blue-clothed tables. The room was packed and it was extremely difficult to make my way around. There were signs on the tables indicating their subjects. Some tables were vacant, while other tables such as Finance were loaded with students waiting in line. I found my way to the CIS table and signed in there, I took 4 handouts and then moved my way to the Accounting table. When I reached there, the table was empty. There wasn’t any representative nor any fliers, there was only a piece of paper for attendance, and I squeezed in my name on it.

The fair was a big disappointment. I was hoping that there would be chairs around with representatives briefly talk about their key points. Instead, it was a messy and unorganized chaos in that room.

Although I intended to attend an outer state university, I ended up enjoying my first 2 months of college in Baruch. I had thought about transferring out of Baruch after my first semester before I even stepped into my very first class, thinking I was going to hate it here. However I soon adapted to love Baruch, the people here, and the malfunctioning escalators. I always had the assumption that because I was in a CUNY, my opportunities would be limited. But I realized that it isn’t the college that determines my future, but it is myself and my actions that will pave my way.

My expectation for this college experience is to place myself beyond my limitations. I may not end up as the Valedictorian but as long as I know that I’ve gone above and beyond, I could have whatever I’m willing to struggle for.

They say the only opinions that matter are the ones of your own. Well, I guess it could be true when it comes to explaining who we are. I’m someone who never stops talking if I get comfortable around my surroundings. I’m who makes everyone around me laugh because of the silly things I say. I’m also a student with long-term goals, a sister and a daughter with responsibility, and a girlfriend with tolerance. I’m a scary tutor who makes the kindergartners and first graders run the opposite way whenever they see me.  I’m also many other things except a genius, super model, comedian, and the rest of the list of my impossibilities. It’s not easy to define myself when I’m still on the path of searching self identity.

Being a freshman isn’t easy because of adjustment. I’m concerned about my GPA, future classes, and my future friends. My GPA obviously ranks first because I must keep it up to maintain my scholarship. There are classes, such as Anthropology, that I do not work well in. If my GPA is below a certain number, then it would become a big matter that would affect me on the long term. My future classes are also one of my concerns because they’re my building block to success. I’m not sure which class to take first and if they’re suitable for my major. Lastly, who would be influencing me in the future? Friends are important because they take part in shaping who you become, I hope I won’t make the wrong choice by joining a wrong crowd.

Many things about Baruch sets itself apart from high school. In high school, I was surrounded with the same faces and activities from September to June. In Baruch, there are fresh faces everyday for me to look at, and I love the amount of events that different clubs host. My first year of college would definitely help shape me into a more independent person. Also, college would also change me physically because of the innumerable places to eat around!