Author: mark.belio

My name is Mark Belio. Coming to Baruch is a completely new experience for me, as for junior and high school I was in the same school for a total of 6 years. The school was a small one, with about 60 people in my entire grade. I knew every face I saw in the hallways, every face in my class, as it never changed. I even knew every face basically on the bus and train going and coming from school, as it never changed. I knew what every day would be consisted of, this daily routine that never changes, only following the same cycle. I had somewhat of a relationship with everyone in my grade, no matter how small that relationship was. I just got an invite on Facebook for a party next Saturday that is going to have basically my whole grade there. My high school has become so ingrained in my being that leaving it and completely changing my daily routine seems like it would take a little adjusting.

Going to college is like being thrown off an airplane with just a parachute and a knife into the wild to fend for yourself. That’s a bit dramatic, but it’s an extremely hard thing to adjust to. You’re so used to seeing the same faces and not having to strain yourself to create a new relationship because you already have these year-long relationships. No one will care for you if you stumble somewhere; in my high school I couldn’t leave the building until 2:10 everyday yet here I can leave in the middle of class if I so wish. Freedom is something that everyone says that they want, but if you’re so constrained for so many years in this this tight schedule and then suddenly have the ability to do basically anything, it sucks. I don’t know what to right now, but I guess at first no one does, and I’m just going to have to figure out on my own and fill all the empty space that’s in my life.

Hello everyone, my name is Mark Belio. I guess the best way I can describe myself is that I’m just a common American kid. the reason I say that is because I’ve lived here in New York all throughout my life, barely leaving the state except to go to six flags or an occasional concert, and never leaving the country. I am Spanish, but I can’t speak Spanish and barely look like it, so I can’t really say that my heritage influences me as I haven’t had any connection with it throughout my childhood. I’m not really a fast food person, such as Mcdonalds but I eat a lot of frozen food like pizza and such. I like heavy metal and make it a habit of going to at last one concert about every two months.

I would have to say three of my concerns at Baruch would be making new friends since the high school that I previously went to only had 60 kids in the grade that I have seen for the past 6 years, so I got used to seeing only these faces. I’m not used to seeing so many new and different people every day I come to school, and on top of it I’m a shy person so it doesn’t really make it all that easier to meet new people. Another concern I have are the size of the classes, ranging from 30 to about 500. I’m used to small classes of 25 that have specific attention to the students, so professors rushing through lectures is going to be a bit more different and a little bit difficult to get used to. My last concern would probably have to be that most of my days have large breaks in between, so I have to figure out how I will manage my time and keep myself occupied.

My first year at college is going to change me in that I’m going to learn to be more social and make new friends. Along with this, I’m going to have to become a part of the school, like joining a club, which will be a change for me. For now this is all I can really think of, so I hope you had a good time learning about me. =]