FRO 1000 – BFA

Wow that was a quick semester. I still remember the orientation like it was yesterday. I dont have many objections to the school itself although it couldve prepared us for picking classes. The teachers were awesome especially philosophy. It made me consider majoring in philosophy but i probably wont. Sociology started out slow but then got really interesting. Every other class was normal i guess. One thing that i really enjoyed in the school was the game room. I love to play pool so when i saw the table i knew  i would be spending some time there. Overall the semester went by quick. I look forward to more semesters like this one in Baruch.

What i think community service is. Well it is something you can do to feel good about yourself or clear guilt, or it can be a sentence from a judge, or just something a school makes you do for a class. Whatever the reason for doing it, you get the same results, a feeling of happiness. You work for no personal gain but to aid people in need. It is an essential part of a community because it lets you see what struggles some people have to overcome and makes you more thankful for what you have.

 

(I cant understand why walks and marathons are considered community service, i mean you are giving donations but why the need for a walk, cant people just donate without having to walk a mile or so. Considering that, why not have naps instead of walks, more people would participate and no one has to get tired)

My experience at Baruch has been a bit shaky but has lived up to what I expected college to be like. This first semester has been somewhat of a wake-up call to me; I understand that nothing is going to be spoon-fed to you anymore and you’re responsible for everything that’s required of you in college. To be completely honest I think that this first semester could have gone much better for me if I didn’t prioritize other things over the work that was given to me by my professors but I think I did rather well. If I could have done anything differently during this semester it would have been putting the work that was given to be ahead of everything else and making a better effort to learn as much as I can from every class. Punctuality is definitely something that I should have been working on as well during the first semester (this blog being an example of that). Finally, if I were to reflect upon the ways that I have changed at Baruch I believe that I would have to ask myself in what ways have I not changed. After a semester at Baruch my religious affiliation has changed, I’ve become much more interested in knowing about the world around us, I am more serious towards most issues, and the list goes on. But the one thing that I would have to say is the most important of all these changes is the desire I now have to go out and make a difference in the world.

Born in Northport, Long Island, New York, I’ve lived on Long Island for my entire life. I have one sister that I love dearly and am so proud to have her follow in my footsteps. She looks up to me and that means a lot. I try to share a lot with her. When I grew up on Long Island, I was always interested in transportation. At three years old, I had my own train set, and by the time I was 10, I was knee-deep in exploring the wonderful world of aviation. Playing the piano is also one of my passions, but music–not so much. I’ve been playing since I was three and I thank my dad for giving me lessons (even though I though I had no use for it when I was ten years old).

When I came to Baruch, my main concern was getting good, solid grades so by the time I was ready to enter a field in the airlines, I would be viewed as a good candidate for the position. I was happy with my schedule and appreciated having Mondays off, but my fears had escaped me and the work wasn’t that bad and I feel that I performed pretty well.

In high school, I did pretty well too, but I think college is different in the sense that there is so much more freedom. The way you want to work is left entirely up to you, as are your classes, and your fate at the school. Another major difference are the different levels of opinions that range in the school, and their rationale behind them. 180 countries being represented in one school will never be represented in a single high school.

Connor

I was born in New York City and lived in Long branch, NJ for my entire childhood and most of my life. I have two brothers that i am really close with, they are like my best friends and i trust them with everything. I also have a younger sister. Growing up i always loved to play sports. Mainly i played baseball and football but also played basketball and tennis. When i was about 15 i had nothing to do in the summer so i decided to learn to surf. From the second i took my first wave i was hooked. Surfing has grown to be a huge part of my life. It defines what i do in my free time, where i travel to, what type of clothing i wear,and how i speak. Without surfing i wouldn’t be who i am today. I also love to ski and take a few trips out west every winter.

Coming into Baruch i really only had one concern. I was very concerned about the work load and thought i would have no free time in my schedule. It turned out that this semester was actually pretty easy and i had tons of free time to do whatever i wanted.

I think college is different from high school in a lot of diiferent ways. First off, all the work and motivation to do well is on you. The professors in college don’t care if you do well and they will fail you fast if you don’t show up to class. Another difference in college is the diversity of people in your classes. In baruch there seems to be people from all ends of the earth packed into that room. Lastly, coming in to college i had to adjust to living on my own in the city rather than being at home with my parents during high school. Overall college has made me more mature and independent.

My first semester at Baruch college really opened my eyes. College is different from what i had expected it to be. Completely different from my expectations. Or maybe it was because this is a commuter college, I don’t know. I probably learned more from these 13 weeks of college the my entire 4 years of high school. I also found out that trying to get all the classes you need for the second semester is impossible if you’re a freshman. I met a lot of interesting people and made some great memories already. Will probably join a club or join something for next semester since i got huge gaps. College isn’t easy but I learn that it could be if you just study…which i will start doing next year.

My first semester at Baruch was a defintite smack in the face. The workload took sometime to get use to. I had to create study habits and I found myself scheduling every hour of everyday. Sure it took some time to get use to it and I definetly had a hard time adjusting but it made me feel ready to take college on full force. Overall the first semester was a great experience. I met some amazing people, made some great friends, and found some great food. Anyway, I feel like I definetly didn’t do as good as I should’ve been the first semester. Which is exactly what I need to change. Since the beginning of the year I’ve become more school oriented and I can now run off of five hours of sleep. For next semester I’m definetly going to start working harder earlier and tackle assignments with more focus and positive attitude. As I said overall it was a great eye opening experience. I’m now ready to continue into a richer much more productive college experience.

Community service is a huge part of what I do with my free time. Whenever I have the chance I try to participate in the upcoming walk or helping to clean up a park or even the smallest form of community service, giving a homeless person a dollar or two. Community service isn’t really a service to me. It’s something that I choose to do because at the end of the day I can look back and say to myself that I made a difference. That is an outstanding feeling. That is why I spent about a year volunteering at the ASPCA. Beside my love of animals, the other factor that came into play when making the ddecision to join the ASPCA was the fact that I wouldn’t only be helping an animal find a better home but I would also be helping individuals find an animal they would love and care for. That genereated within me an amazing sense of self-accomplishment. I will definetly end up going back to the ASPCA and I will definetly continue attending as many benefit walks as I possibly can. Reason being because as I said it’s not a service it’s a choice.

My first semester at Baruch has so far been interesting. I met a lot of cool people in all my classes and learned a lot about the fast-paced new york lifestyle. I wasn’t sure of what to expect when I first came to Baruch, so in terms of expectations, I’m sure that it definitely met most of them.

Fortunately, I feel that my first semester has gone really well. I have been dedicating a lot of my time to schoolwork and the results have been good. At some points during the semester, there was an incredible amount of work given to do in just a week, but that is expected since this is college and we are here for our own good. However, choosing classes for next semester was a very big hassle and I feel that the scheduling system could definitely have some improvements.

I’m not sure what I would do differently if I could do first semester all over again because I feel that my first year has gone pretty well and there’s not much that I would really want to change. I’m not sure if I myself have changed since coming to Baruch College, but I definitely feel more mature and ready for the future. Baruch has been a great experience so far and I look forward to starting the next semester.