Freshman Seminar 2011: CFA

So I decided to google myself, something which I have never done. Interestingly enough there are a lot of searches! I am on 3 pages. I can thank dance for this. There are 2 youtube clips that were uploaded by the board of a Competition I did a few years ago. ( I really wish that they would delete them because they are TERRIBLE!) Then there are few articles and reviews and interviews from when I danced at my old ballet studio Seiskaya Ballet. We put on a very professional production of “The Nutcracker” every year so there were many reviews written on that. I don’t have any searches as far as academic accomplishments. I kind of just slid my way through high school and did well but didn’t stand out! It’s cool to google yourself and see that your name does matter! I hope to double the number of pages I have as of now in the next few years when I am hopefully dancing professionally and people begin to know my name!

I never looked forward to going to Baruch, all my friends are gone, and it’s just a bigger high school. College is supposed to be the best four years of our lives…it’s been one of the toughest 5 months of my life. Being thrown into a business school makes me feel so outcasted. I literally have one friend in this school. I feel like I get judged a lot, and underestimated. I don’t live in the library, I’m loud and obnoxious, and school doesn’t phase me as the most important thing in my life. I’m sure I have more people who laugh at me, and hope I fail because of all these factors more than people who are supporting me, but i’m okay with that.

If you think about it, we go to school to get a good career to work until retirement for a higher amount of money. But what if we’re not happy during the process? We work for the rest of our lives, even though right now we just say we’re busting our ass to get a good job. What next? We’re working overtime for a raise, we can’t go on vacation with our family because we have paperwork to file, where does it end? The purpose of going to school, grad school, etc is for the credentials it rewards us, not because we enjoy the learning process.

College has made me realize that this may be the first step for the rest of our lives, and we’re working to achieve something, but that something is endless, and if we’re stressing over the process, then theres no point. We work so hard in school to make a mound of money in the future, but if we’re not happy doing so then whats the purpose?

So although I may not have been happy 6 out of the 7 days of the week since I started college, I realized something far greater than grades could have bought me. We try hard and suffer to be happy in the end, but i’d rather just die doing what I love and being happy than looking for a better future.

And the clubs at our school need to stop raping me with flyers every time I go up the escalators.

So I know this is my first year living in the city and all and I should be broadening my horizons by the means of fashion. However, Forever 21 never seems to let me down! I know they’re everywhere, but the one’s in the city in particular have such great things! And you really can’t beat the prices. Down here by the dorms in the lower east side, there are so many cute boutiques and little stores that have great styles. However, a few weeks ago while I was browsing, I picked up a beautiful button down shirt, very thin material. How much? It was $85! Who on earth would spend that when you can get such a similar style at Forever 21 for about $20! And the quality is nice too. It allows you to wear that trendy look that your wallet can actually afford. Anyway, as you could all tell, I’m writing this blog for extra credit and writing about fashion was one of the options, so please don’t laugh at my random proclamation of love towards forever 21!

Before I start this let me just say that I do not mean to offend anyone with my words. But the truth is, I really can’t lie. I hate Baruch! I really hate everything about it. I hate how dark and dingy it is. I hate how slow everyone walks. I hate the grossly over packed elevators. I hate that everyone dresses like they are already in the business world. Relax, this is college. Put on some sweats please. I hate how I get weird looks for being the one who wears sweats! I hate how I hardly have any friends here… making friends was NEVER a difficult thing for me! It is so cliquey here. More than anything, I HATE how no one in this world knows what Baruch is. The whole reason that I chose Baruch was because it was cheap, and conveniently located so I could stay training with my ballet coach in NYC. She is absolutely amazing, but some days when I walk into Baruch with the same pit in my stomach that I have everyday, I wonder if it was worth it to stay with her. Because even though she’s great, Baruch is painful. I would’ve chose Fordham if it weren’t for the money. I mean 50,000 a year is absurd. When i visited Baruch last year I knew I wouldn’t be happy here, yet I chose it anyway. And I think this is what bothers me the most. I hope this year at Baruch College gets better for me because so far it sucks! Sorry for the rant everyone! Haha

It’s not easy for me to talk about myself, because I honestly don’t think there is much to discuss. I don’t have high expectations, nor do I have goals for myself. I know that this period of my life is just a phase, one that will have another one to follow. I can’t imagine where I will be in 3 years, much less what i’ll be doing the rest of my life. I’ve learned to accept this, and I realized it’s not important to know what you like, what you like to do, who you are for that matter. It’s more about the process of getting there, and I think I’m happy.

Baruch may not be the right school for me, although I love the convenience. I am not smart enough to become a business major, nor am I civil enough. As for now, I have no hobbies, I work as a hostess in a New York cafe that takes up the majority of my weekend, and the remaining 5 days of the week I go to school. I used to be interested in swimming and volleyball, but then again i hate exercise.

I haven’t changed at all since the start of freshman year, I still have the same views, lifestyle, and opinions that I did at the start of the year.

My life is stagnant, and I’m okay with that. I don’t need a lot of change, i’m happy with what I have right now.

It’s already been 3 months; it seems like just yesterday was the first day of class. Well, not really, that’s just a figure of speech, but I do remember orientation day so clearly. To be honest, college hasn’t really lived up to any of my expectations. I wanted some crazy dorming experience, an intense love, and more time for myself, instead, everything seems to be the opposite. Lived alone in my own apartment, just got out of a relationship, and been so deprived of sleep I’ve been sleeping on the short 15 minute subway ride to school, sometimes even oversleeping and ending up being late to class.

Everything just seems so hectic; I know I didn’t expect anything to be easy for me, but definitely not this hard. Between work and school, I barely have time for anything else. I’m not going to say this semester went well, but it was horrible. I could think of a million more ways things could’ve been worse. If I could restart the semester, given I know what to expect now, I’m pretty sure my time management would’ve been a lot better. It’s always until the lat minute I remember something is due or if there’s an exam the next day. I am not an intentional procrastinator, but I’ve just been ao out of it. All I can hope is next semester will be better, that is if I can register for the classes I want!

Who am I?

I am a Freshman at Baruch College

I was born on December 17, 1993

And I’ve learned plenty in the last two months

Who am I?

I’ve learned more about myself during the past two months

Time management and doing homework are big now

But more importantly I’ve learned that I’ve taken a new step

Toward reaching my goals

I’ve also overcome many obstacles

Stage fright, nervousness are still a problem

But I have more experience now

Getting good grades are an obstacle

Something I have to overcome

College has also taught me many life lessons

For instance, I learned that professors can be weird too

And they can also be jerks when it comes to tests

And I’ve also learned that writing a monologue can be so stressful

But its all good

The next four years will be hard on me

But I guess I’m more prepared now

Can’t wait till next semester

Cause I don’t have to take Freshman Seminar

Elaine Choo

Who am I? Well I’m:

* A college student

*A daughter

*A sister

*An aunt

*A best friend, a friend

*A girlfriend

*A young adult but a child at the same time

I am me.

All these words cannot really sum up who I am.

I’m only 18, I know hard to believe, and I can’t help it if I look the way I do!

I’m in the second phase of my life- college.

Attending class 5 days a week is nothing out of the ordinary, feels like high school

High school for me was

* Small classes

*Having close friends but knowing everyone in my grade, it was always HEY!

*Reasonable teachers

*The small amount of responsibilities we used to have

*And easy homework.

College is the same, or so I thought. I have

*Massive lecture halls that make me an even tinier fish than I already am in a sea of 400 other big fishes

*A few new friends and over 400 other strangers that hover over me.

*And instead of loud and comfortable greetings, it’s become those small awkward hand waves and smiles.

*Crazy, uptight and outright absurd teachers that honestly couldn’t care less about whether or not I paid attention or attend class.

*A bottomless pit of responsibilities that is slowly taking over my life.

*A never ending load of homework.

My biggest fears in this phase of my life are not passing the class or tests.

My biggest fears are time management and procrastination, the culprits of

My poor test grades and class work in my high school days.

My biggest rival in college? Not you, or you or you, or any of the several thousand students in this school.

It’s me.

I have to surpass myself,

No more procrastination

Or excuses.

I need to take charge, and I will succeed

Elevators and Escalators

          I feel like that the elevators and escalators in Baruch College are self defeating because of the enormous amount of energy that they consume. Six days a week Baruch College is generating so much electricity that can be avoided by merely removing the escalators. This will force more people to use the stairs, improve our environment, and allow people to exercise more. Exercise is super important because exercise prevents diseases, improves stamina, enhances flexibility, controls weight, and improves your quality of life. By taking the stairs every day and removing our escalators, we can exercise more often and ultimately improve our life. Electricity can harm the environment because when fossil fuels are burned, it creates carbon-dioxide which caused pollution. Most electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gases. Whenever fossil fuels are burnt they release carbon dioxide that has been stored in the fuel for millions of years. This carbon dioxide adds to the greenhouse gases in the environment that are contributing to global warming. Most electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.

The removal of our elevators will also be beneficial because of the same reasons that I listed above. Since Baruch College has eight floors, it is unlikely that the Baruch College will remove the elevators completely, so we should compromise and remove some elevators. If that is not possible than Baruch should reprogram the elevators to go to certain floors instead of each elevator only going to the second, fifth, and eighth floors. This will allow fewer elevators to be used because many times two elevators are called at once. I haven’t made any efforts to address this issue because I don’t feel like this issue is so important. I am just making a suggestion that will improve our lives and keep our environment around longer.

Starbucks Restaurant Review

          What is that amazing smell! A light aroma that fills the air and keeps customers interested in their product. There are many interesting facts about coffee that people have no clue that they even exist. The Coffee bean grows on trees and is the second most traded commodity on earth. Yes that’s right I said second! Once shipped, the beans are roasted at around five hundred degrees Fahrenheit, the same heat temperatures found in a pizza oven. After a few minutes, the bean will pop and double in size. The bean will then pop again in a few minutes and at that pop the bean is done. Why do I tell you this? It’s not because I want to keep you interested (ok maybe it is) but it is because Starbucks is a mega famous coffee store that has an occupation in Baruch College on our second floor. I have been in the store many times before and I can testify that the coffee is delicious. I even have a picture of a delicious cup of coffee!

The atmosphere is very inviting, calm, and relaxing as many people are discussing homework, their weird professors, and how enjoyable Freshman Seminar is (This is not written to suck up)! Starbucks is the go to place for consumers to have a warm and inviting experience. My advice is to someone patronizing this restaurant that he should be bold and wait on the long line to buy his cup of coffee.