Category Archives: Mandatory Post 1

Let me start off with my name, my name is Marina Chukhriy. I’m 18 years old as of May 14^th 1993. Born inUkraine, raised inBrooklyn; I still consider myself to be a true Russian girl. I’m the daughter of Russian immigrants and I came here when I was just 4 years old. I’ve been told that I am unlike any other girl out there; I’m actually pretty unexpected. I love cars, designer clothes, guys, exotic names, partying, tanning, shopping, racing, basketball players, and just chilling. I think I’m decently smart and somewhat talented. I’m a determined, intelligent, goal oriented person and I truly believe that I can be successful in my future… but we’ll see.

            As a freshman, my concerns coming toBaruchCollegeare getting those straight A’s! I need to figure out how to apply myself in order to get that 4.0 GPA. On a smaller scale, I’m concerned with my work load and how to efficiently get my work done on time. Another concern would be papers. Never been a fan of writing papers, nor have I ever been too good at it. I would defiantly need to learn how to write a paper in less time with better approach.

            So far I think that the independence in Baruch is probably the only difference I see between high school and college. I’ve always been independent through my studies in high school so it isn’t too much of a transition for me. But I have to see how the next few months go before I can see clear cut differences.

            I don’t necessarily think that college will change me, but it may change my working style and how efficiently I do my work. College could help me become more organized and broaden my horizons when it comes to fields of study.

I am just an average, normal boy that went to Baruch Highschool, and now enrolled in Baruch College. I don’t see a Bill Gates in me, nor do I see a shoe shiner in me. If you were to ask me how I differentiate myself from other teenage boys around my age, I really won’t know what to say. My interest in school is neutral; I don’t hate it nor like it. I am not on the top of my class nor am I on the bottom. I am not a talkative person, nor am I a shy person. My personality could pretty much be expressed through the story of Goldilocks. Not too much, not too little; just the right amount. Aside from that, some hobbies I do enjoy are spending time with friends and family, sleeping, eating, and playing games. I am a hardcore gamer, and I love high end big name computer games that require reflexes and strategy, like World of Warcraft and Starcraft II. In other words, I consider myself a nerd that sits behind the computer screen and I wear that title proudly.

I really don’t have many concerns about college. I just hope everything will end up smoothly. I will try my best to study hard, but I won’t be expecting exceptional grades nor terrible grades. In my perspective of college, I think it’s somewhat pointless. Not to be offending, but my teachers are not very informative. My highschool teachers taught a lot better, and I actually took useful notes in class. In my highschool, we took notes on textbook readings at home and our teachers will go over our notes as a class as well as teach new topics. In college, we are expected to read hundreds of pages in the textbook and take your own notes as the teacher blabbers about random things in class and call it a “lecture.” In a sense, we are educating ourselves. Maybe it’s because I have to get used to college and learn on my own. But then what’s the point of going to class if I can just learn by myself?

Personally, I think the first year in college will change me into a lazier person. Instead of going to school five days a week, I go to school four days a week. Also, we go to school for fewer hours and have a lot more free time. And free time for a teenager usually does not mean studying. I just hope I don’t turn into a fanatic gamer and slacker.

My view of myself as a person is obviously very positive. I feel that I am a fun extroverted person that is eager to try new things, and meet new people. I am a person who voices their own opinion, and is very talkative, because I don’t like awkward silences. I think of myself as funny,but u can only be funny if other people think your funny. However I try to lighten the mood whenever it seems to be too serious. However I feel as a person that college will serve to help improve me as a person and change me in a positive way. I want to get the most out of life that  I can so that  I can grow into a better person because life is about self – improvement.
In college I am concerned about time managment because I know that is my weakness. I have no problem with the coursework except for when I am at home because I am a real good procrastinator, and I think i am looking forward to a lot of all- nighters. I feel in college I will have to study more to teach myself then review the material, because in all the classes except math they go at a less comprehensive pace.  However, I see the obstacles in front of me and I feel confident that I can conquer these problems. 
The main difference between high school and college is that college is less structured allowing for more freedom. Another difference is that classes don’t meet everyday which allows for more flexibility for studying, and homework which I think will benefit me. There are so many people that it is impossible to know everybody , but it is my goal to meet as many new people as possible truthfully the block system is getting in the way of that but I still want to embrace all the resources I have available at Baruch. However I am still anxious, because I do not know this new adventure will bring, but I will always look  forward with confidence and with a smile on my face

The way one perceives themselves isn’t the way others do. I see myself as a person who is different. I like to be able to fit in, but not be part of the crowd. I don’t agree with everything that those around me do, but I do respect their decisions. I’m a person that believes in “Live and let live”; I’ll do what’s good for me, you’ll do what’s good for you, and we’ll both be happy and accepting of the other. I think that life can sometimes be a math problem. Cheesy as it sounds, it applies. Just like in a math problem, life presents you with many ways of getting to the same result or answer. Everyone has a different method of doing things, and others should respect that. And I think that many times people are too hard on themselves and those around them. People make mistakes; being upset about them for too long won’t do you any justice. Accepting what has happened, and trying to solve the problem is the way to move on with your life. I see life as a constant flow of obstacles and change, and one always needs to adapt to their new surroundings.

My top three concerns have got to be making new friends, getting a good schedule and not picking bad professors, and my procrastination. Normally making friends is a piece of cake for me. I’ve moved many times in my life and always spend my summers in different places, so I’m used to adapting. For some reason, I’m finding it harder to do in Baruch. I think it’s due to the fact that the students commute and there isn’t an actual campus to hang out on and we can’t exactly dorm (unless you count student housing-which, in some cases, can be 70 blocks away from Baruch). In each class, there are different people. It’s hard to become real friends with someone when you hardly see them, there’s an age difference, and even when you do see them, they might be on the other side of the room. I’m hoping that it’ll get easier as time progresses. I’m really nervous for registering for the spring semester. I’m worried that I’ll register after a whole lot of people and get stuck with a really bad schedule. And finally, my procrastination is my biggest concern of all. I’ve gone two years without properly studying for an exam or doing my homework until the due date or the period before that class. I’m so worried that it’ll get out of hand, and I’m trying to take care of this really bad habit.

Baruch is very different from my high school. I went to a Jewish religious school for seven years, so I forgot what it’s like to wear pants every day. It’s so weird being able to come to school in shorts and a tank top, and I love it! I like the fact that things are being taught from a secular point of view (I mean with the classes I’m taking they have to be). It’s different not having a religious connection in my classes, but I find it interesting. In college, everything is so out in the open and we can be so straight forward with our teachers, and I find that swell! I love having people of different races, religions, and ethnicities in all of my classes-it’s so refreshing.

I can’t say that I know how this year will change me but I’m hoping that it’ll make me more responsible and let me think more independently.

I hate to be difficult but, I have no answers for who I think I am or why I exist or whatever other existential questions could be posed to provoke meaningful thought. If my thoughts didn’t move faster than I could control and my opinions didn’t change with every experience, then maybe, just maybe, I could give a sufficient answer. In this moment, I could think I’m clever but, in a few moments I could think I’m pretentious or maybe last week I thought I was funny but, this week I think I have no sense of humor—see the conflict? So I guess the extent of my thoughts of myself can be summed up so prettily into a neat little category of ‘undecided’. Or maybe I’m just avoiding unpleasant truths and choosing to exist comfortably in a bed of lies? Either way, the whole point of life is the  journey, no? A journey of self-discovery, naturally.

And as it should be of no surprise, I don’t really have much opinion on college either. I go because I have to and I have no real concerns about it or more specifically freshman year because school is school is school; it’s the same thing I’ve been facing most of my life—same pressures, same concepts, same purposes, different buildings, different people, different moments in my life. Life, in general, is a series of modified repetitions of that which came before. So, I can’t say I’m really worried about anything because college and the problems it poses aren’t that difficult or important in the grand scheme of life because it’s only a few years out of life.

As a freshman entering Baruch for the first time I think I am many things. I am someone that will do what ever I can in order to be the best in what I assert myself in. I am someone who is independent and can get things done without being spoon fed. I think I will succeed in Baruch even though I know there will be many obstacles. I have many concerns about the journey that I am about to embark on but I plan to tackle the obstacles with confidence and success.

I am concerned about the amount of independence I have. In highschool you have a lot of things done for you; You get notified if something is off about your record. In college I have to make sure everything stands correctly or else I suffer the consequences. I am concerned about all the new people I am going to meet. I don’t know yet if I am bound to fit in this school or not. I have to push myself to get involved or else I will not meet new people and make friends. I sit in class with so many people who I have never seen before in my life and I don’t know if I have any connection to them. I feel that I am always rushing out of class and I never take a minute to stop and start conversation. I may be overreacting but I have a fear that I will not make one new friend in the time I spend here. My main concern is doing well in my studies. I have never studied in a college environment before. I have never taken an exam given by a college professor and it is very overwhelming. You don’t have many people in the class that can help you because I haven’t met everyone yet. The one thing that is motivating is the amount of free time I have. I find that I have a lot of time to do my work and get everything done.

The main thing that I think differentiates college from highschool  is the amount of classes I take. I have five classes now compared to my twelve in the previous years. I used to have a dual curriculum of Hebrew and English so there was a lot of work to do. I find now that is is much easier to spread out your time and get a lot of personal jobs done. This first year at college is really going to change my life drastically. It is going to be my first step into the real world and I am very excited for it. I am going to learn how to take care of things on my own. I am going to learn how to work as a part time employee plus get my school work done. I believe that my first year at college will be the most educating for me.

It was lonely being the only “techie” in my high school.  Even amongst my friends I elicit blank looks whenever I begin to talk about getting together over the weekends to build catapults and staying after school just play chess and discuss ideas with AP calculus teacher.

“Dude, what’s the point of building catapult? Why don’t you study for the Physics test?” My friends are certainly correct: there is no point in building a catapult. But I find satisfaction in just being able to say “I made that, and it works. I bet I can hit that shrub over there with this rock in just one try,” and that I had actually planned and designed it. Over the years, I have found that not everyone is interested in working on ambitious projects.

I tried to convince my friends that science and engineering are art, that no one can sit down and magically put things together in an hour, that it is amazing how natural phenomena can be explained through mathematical expression, and that there is so much fun and camaraderie in hunkering down and working together as a group on any project. But so far I haven’t been able to convert them. Everyday I wish I had tried harder.

For this reason, I still have some concerns that make me feel somewhat afraid of my freshman year at college.  First, I wonder if I can fulfill my academic curiosity.  Newtonundoubtedly experienced a sense of triumph when he made his great discoveries.  Fortunately, I recently discovered both its practical power and its surprising beauty of calculus and enjoyed some of that excitement.  I truly pursue the virtue of profound and unremitting learning. And also, I expect to meet numerous friends who have similar interests as me.  Since I already had experienced how lonely it is to be ‘the only techie’ during my high school years, I would like to study with peers who also are math-and-science oriented scholars.  Lastly, I don’t want to miss extracurricular opportunities offered by Baruch because having a periodic and meaningful social life must be as crucial as studying hard, especially for a college student who attends a school located inManhattan, I guess.

So in looking forward to the next four years of my life, I hope my first year at college be more exciting. At Baruch, I want to turn to a friend and ask “What do you think about building a rail gun,” and then I want to be able to hear that friend reply with “Let’s go,” instead of “What’s the point?” And so I will reinforce Baruch’s long-standing tradition of physics, mathematics, and other sciences and add to my class’ enthusiasm through my appetite for ambitious projects.

-Edward Ahn

My name is Bakhtiar Ali. I am a very kind and helpful person. I will always try my best to help someone who needs it. I am also a very shy person. Whenever I am with a group of people that I dont know I am usually quiet and try to remain unseen. But once I get to know someone I feel very comfortable around them, I am a very funny and talkative person. Another thing about me is I love sports. I feel most comfortable around people when it has something to do with sports. My hobby is anything that has to do with sports. I love watching and playing sports. My I am very kind.  I am also very shy until you get to know me and I love sports.

My first concern for college invloves calculus class. So far I dont understand anything in calc. My favorite class has always been math but calculus  completely different from anything i learned. Another concern I have is have I can keep a job and do well in school. In a couple of days I will be working and I hope work doesnt affect school too much. A third concern I have is if i can build strong friendships with my peers. In high school I left the school with many great friends who I still have great friendships with. But in college every semester we change classes and the classes are so big that I dont know if I will leave getting to really know someone

So far my college experience has been different from high school. There are many differences. College and the teachers are really fast. Also they dont give the best notes and it is up to the students to take notes of whats important. In high school I never really studied or read the books assigned but based the work I dont think I can do that anymore. Also there is no one to baby you and give you reminders on what to do. You better remember when your assignmbets are do.

I think my first year college will make me feel really tired and make me happier that summer vacation has started. Also I think it will make me more hard working and organized.