Category Archives: Blog Post 3

     As I look back, I think my experience at Baruch has almost lived up with my expectations. Before I stepped into college, I heard some friends said that college was not easy. Thus, I don’t have a very high expectation for myself, in terms of grade. For the first semester, I just expect myself to get used to the college environment. Throughout the semester, I think I have met my expectations. I make some new friends and have pretty good time with them at Baruch. I also feel familiar with our campuses. At least I know the main structure of the campuses. If I have some questions or problems, I also know some departments that I can go for help, such as the STARR Career Development Center can help me create my resume and help me to develop my future career. If I need help for registering classes, I can walk in the Center for Academic Advisement. Overall, I feel comfortable with the Baruch environment now. It’s not a strange place for me anymore. I get used to my college environment. That’s enough for my first semester.

     At the beginning of this semester, I felt time went extremely slow. First of all, classes at Baruch are longer than classes at high school in general. That makes me feel that class is never end. Second, everything was new so that I couldn’t find any enjoyment, thus, I felt very hard at the beginning of the semester. It seemed a long journey for me. However, college life is in a high pace. I got lots of reading and assignments to deal with. As I stick with them, I felt this semester went very fast. Now, I almost walk to the end of the semester. I may need to catch up with the pace and enjoy the rest of the time of my first semester at Baruch.

     If I can start my first semester again, I definitely will try to enjoy it more. I think I was over nervous at the first couple months of the semester. May be the environment is strange for me, or the classes are too hard. I felt too nervous about anything at Baruch. As a result, I gave up some time to enjoy the college. If I can start over again, I will go to join a club or use the gym at some times during the club hours instead of sitting in the library to torture myself. Alright, I will try to involve more next semester.

     Have I changed since I started at Baruch? Definitely! As I start at Baruch, I need to stick with MTA every day. I need to log in to the MTA home page routinely to check the trains’ status. Before, I only took train if I wanted to go out during the weekends. Academically, I also have changed. Specifically, I have improved my reading and writing skills as well as my time management skill. They all change me positively.

The first semester is almost over, and it was exhausting. Too many quizzes from history and too many essays for English. Not to mention that ethics made me sleepy. Music is just plain stupid and a waste of my time and anthropology has way to many complicated words. Have I learned anything? Well I guess I learned a bunch of complicated words from anthropology and that ethics is only fun when you debate over issues and not when you discuss what “important” philosophers have to say about a certain issue. Apart from not enjoying classes I haven’t accomplished much this first semester. I haven’t joined any clubs and I haven’t been using my breaks effectively. Just as I have stated before in the last blog all I have been doing is playing foosball, table tennis, and occasionally some handball. Due to my laziness in the first semester I have promised myself to join a club next semester and to use my break time for more effective things like studying. The only thing I gained from this first semester is that I have improved my foosball skills greatly. So I invite anyone to come to the game room and play me during your free time, and make sure your prepared to lose =). Although the first semester may be over, there is still a long road ahead, so it is best to head on to the future prepared.

Before coming to Baruch, I only imagined how my college life was going to be. Now that I am here and spent almost a semester, I know that my imagination was nothing compared to what I have experienced. For some reason, I always thought that being in college means having long summer vacation. I thought that professors are going to be the same as the teachers I had in high school, with just different title. However, as the semester went on, I began to understand the differences between them. Professors do not encourage you to do homework like high school teachers do. Professors do not hand out worksheets like high school teachers do. In college, you are on your own. You can choose not to do any homework or readings and professors do not yell at you. However, you have to accept the consequences of getting bad grades.

My first semester at Baruch was good, although not excellent. Since I went to high school that had around 300 seniors, I knew everyone. I knew their faces and names. So when I decided to attend Baruch College, the most ethnically diverse campus, I was excited to meet lots of people. I was able to meet with people whom I have never met from all around the world. As I was getting to know them, I got to know their cultures as well. And I did meet and got to know nice people and friends. Something that I think I can improve on is time-management. From the beginning of the semester, I felt that time management was the most important thing to survive college, just like the title of this blog. I think that I could have used time more wisely. There were nights I could not sleep in order to finish reading assignments. Now that I think about it I could have managed time better by reading in small parts. I was always used to finish things at once. However, since reading assignments that are given are very difficult and a lot to read at once. I have learned a strategy of reading in small parts and underline something that I do not understand.

I was very shy and quiet when it came to socializing with people. But coming to Baruch, I think I had to be outgoing and active to communicate. So starting college, I started saying hello first to people I met. I think that smiling and saying hello are the very first step where you can get to know somebody.

     Times always go through as fast as water. I already spent almost a semester time to know about Baruch College. At beginning of semester, I was full of nervous and expectations to attend to the college. And I remembered that I hope that I could improve my English skill, make more friends, get a high GPA and get accustomed to the new environment in college at that time. After first semester in Baruch College, I found those expectations were really close me. I am pleasure to encounter more friends who always encourage and help me when I had some troubles.

     So far, I could hand out all classes that I have. Through whole semester at Baruch college, I realized how different experience and more pressures to students who studied in college. The first and most important thing that I learned is self-awareness, which means you have to remind yourself in any time. For example, you have to make a schedule and take time to study outside of class by yourself.

     There is no doubt that I have some obstacles during Baruch College. If I could make choice again, I would drop philosophy class immediately when I felt it was difficult to me. Even though I dropped it on the last day to drop class, but I felt like pity about it, because I already spent a lot time to overcome it. However, I cannot regrets to make this decision because of a rational choice for my GPA. As we know, it was impossible to exit a medicine call “regrets” in this world. Therefore, we should think about it carefully when we make choices or decisions.

      During those months, I believe that I have got some changes since I started at Baruch College. First of all, I began to make a plan which try to push myself to follow my schedule to do everything. I found that it was helpful, efficient and convenient to work and study. On the other hand, I made effort to communicate with my classmates in English in the class. The college provides a suitable environment to participant communication skills; I do not want to miss this opportunity.

     In conclusion, even though there were some problems in college life, I still enjoy first semester at Baruch College.

My first semester at Baruch College was quite difficult to start at the beginning. I expected to know a lot of people and get accustomed to the college life, but there were more challenges than what I expected. I feel like I can do it better if I could step out my comfort zone a little further. I expected to get good grades and join many clubs but getting to the end of the first semester, I am not successful for doing that. Also, I think I was not comfortable to read through all the assigned reading because they were hard to understand. But, the good thing of it is my reading ability is getting better and I can read faster than before.

I think my first semester at Baruch College went pretty good. I was doing things correctly and had chances to make friends with other fellow students. I think I improve my time management at college and I am a more independent person now. School works are hard but I am trying my best to get the best result. I learned a lot of new knowledge and new people, all those experience inspire me to become a better and well-around person. I feel like I am getting closer to join in the Baruch community. Besides taking subway every single day, I think Baruch is the best for me now.

If I had a chance to do it again, I think I would spend more time on study and mange my time better to stop being late in the calculus class. I would have more participation in classes.

I didn’t recognize my change since I stared at Baruch College, but my parents said I was putting more time in study than I was in high school. If I have to say one thing I changed, I would say it is my attitude of study. I learn that if I was not getting more serious on study, I was not going to get a poor grade at the end of semester. This thought pushed me to focus on my study so far.

To sum up, I think I learn a lot from my freshman experience at Baruch College. It starts a new chapter in my life.

Its that time of the year again where young children get all excited over the presents to come, and blizzards dump 2 feet of snow in the streets and make commuting a living hell. Also, its just about time when my first semester at baruch is about to end. Overall, it was a good experience, and one that was satisfying, if a bit hectic. Im pretty sure i did decent in all of my classes, although since the grading system is very different from high school, i guess i wont know for sure until i see them posted. The college experience is good, and i think i finally got used to it. The workload was a bit challenging at first, and sometimes it would seem as if i spent as much time remembering what i had to do as actually DOING it. But, thats over now, and looking back, there isnt anything that i would really change. The only thing that bothers me is the registration process for next semester. I was lucky in the fact that i got to register earlier than most freshman, and was able to pick a schedule that suited me well. I know some people had difficulties in finding open classes, and were nearly forced into becoming part time students. I feel that the college should pay more attention to freshman’s needs, and make sure this doesnt happen in the future. One thing that made the transition difficult at first was the fact that nobody seemed to care if you somehow messud up your schedule or grades. I guess the school advisors cant really watch over the thousands of students, but a bit mroe guidance for freshman would come in handy. Anyway, now that everyone has gotten their schedules in, we are starting to realize that all of us have different classes. Just as you make new freinds and get used to a routine, it gets shuffled around all over again and you find yourself struggling to get your bearings. Oh well, thats college for you, and we are all adults now, so i guess ill just have to deal with it. Thats basically all i have to say. Happy holidays, and good luck to everyone.

      My experience as a freshman in Baruch College was totally different compared to high school. Even though I try my best to adjust myself to get used to the new environment, I still find some challenges, especially in some classes that I have been registered in.

       Ever since my first day at Baruch College, the new life experience here has not
lived up to my expectation. When I stepped into Baruch College, I have always thought that I would get a good grade like high school as long as I finished all the assignments and did well in the tests, Unfortunately, college is not like high school, I have to focus on a lot of things. Also, sometimes I need to stay up to review the materials that were given by my professors, however, I could not arrange my time well in order to get through all the materials for different classes. Now, I begin to question myself that whether I could achieve my goal which I have established in the beginning of the first semester.

         Basically, everything goes well except for the cours I have been admitted in. I make a lot of friends from different areas and we get along well with each other. For example, we will eat our food together during the lunch time and then go to library to study, so we can help each other to deal with different problems. On the other hand, even though I receive a harsh schedule, I feel so comfortable in some classes because the professors understand how to motivate their students and make jokes in order to attract students’ attention to the class, I really enjoy those classes.

       Actually, if I can restart my life experience in college, I think I will drop philosophy class immediately instead of the day before deadline because it is too difficult for me to understand the different topics and make connections. I tried my best to review the books and take notes, but I was still confused about the ideas so that I did not do well in the tests. Also, the students around me have always told me that it was so difficult for people to take PHI class in the first year of college. By contrast, if I drop the course, I can get enough time to focus on the materials from another class. The most important thing is that I can reduce my pressure and feel relax.

           Ultimately, since I have started college, I became extrovert and felt optimistic about everything happened to me. I knew that it was important to be independent and I didn’t have enough time to complain because I could achieve many goals during that period. Also, I understood that it was easier said rather than done for everything in college, so I have always told myself to take an action to be successful and never give up.

            In all, I will enjoy my new life at Baruch College and regard it as a life stage
for the future.

I believe that these questions are great for me to answer:

My experience as a freshman in Baruch was definitely different compared to high school. The classes that I have been admitted in were challenging. People have always told me, college is different from high school. I never saw their logic. I’ve always thought, as long as you complete your assignments and pass your tests, you’ll do fine, just like high school. High school is school, college is school, is it not? Although this is true, each “function” differently. The minute I step foot into Baruch, I’ve established a goal of receiving a 3.5 GPA.  After the first couple of months, I questioned my ability to fulfill such goal. Unfortunately when I finally understood their logic, I was experiencing my first “all nighter”. Information that were given to me by my professors were too much to absorb. It would be reasonable to review the notes at home or whenever there is free time; this was easier said than done. In some classes, the professors would be able to motivate their students to study by organizing lesson plans that are not only informative but intriguing. These are the classes that motivate me to not only review the notes but also go an extra step and research. Unfortunately, there are classes that do not function the same way. Independence is key. The idea of studying off of textbooks or class readings sound easy, but just looking at them makes me loose interest. Thankfully, my mindset had changed just in time before the finals. I planned out my assignments reasonably to avoid staying up until 5 a.m. I am currently trying to be independent, “A for effort” no? If I could change anything about my freshman year, I would change my study habits. Studying last minute may work well in high school, but not in college. Rather than just passing the exams, being knowledgeable is essential as well. The knowledge that is obtained may be useful for other classes as well.

My first semester at Baruch College definitely lived up to my expectations.  Considering that I expected a heavy workload, tiresome commute and an independent lifestyle…yeah…I definitely got that.  Through my first semester, I’ve already matured and changed as a person.  I’ve definitely changed for the better since I have started to develop good habits.  I’ve learned that I am on my own and that it is up to me to do well as far as my studies are concerned.  I’ve learned to effectively manage the time that I have to get everything done.  Because of my newly independent lifestyle, I haven’t really been concerned with making new friends from other than the group of 8 or so close friends I made in freshman seminar.  All in all, my first semester at Baruch went well.  I managed to do well in all my classes.  Because I was proficient at note-taking, I did fairly well.  I’m so content with my first semester performance that I wouldn’t change anything.  After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.