Author: michael.desena

Yesterday i attended a Workshop about small talk with Joe ,Melin, and Sheridan. Walking in i figured this would just be some gigantic waste of time that would benefit me in absolutely no way possible. Turns out it was only a small waste of time. The idea of small talk and learning how to small talk is something simple and learned almost at the earliest stages of life in middle school or at the park. Small talk is just making conversation to pretty much take up time or to pass the time during something like an airplane flight. although we did learn that small talk is something that when used properly in certain situations with certain people in different places, good things like job oppurtunities or relationships could start up. now that i think about it, the guy who led the workshop was completely right. I used small talk when i met the guy who became my future boss by starting to talk about sports, then leading to school, then to the fact that i needed a job that was easy and paid good money. This small talk led me to my job which paid $14.50 an hour for 3 hours a day to pretty much talk to other after school counselors and hit kids with dodgeballs. Small talk can sometimes lead to you and the other person finding out that you have some kind of connection for example i met a girl in my speech class and after some small talk we learned that our dads have been working together in construction for more than 5 years and then some more small talk led to us having a strong relationship now. The man whose name im still not sure of nor do i think anybody does did a very good job with the handout sheets and the tips that he gave on how to small talk and how to keep small talk when you think the conversation could be ending. Things like switching topics or using a keyword from the previous topic to move onto another topic can help in any case when the conversation seems to be dying. for example  you can be having a conversation about how you like the band guns n roses and then i would say yeah i like lsitening to them while i ski, and that person can then in turn start a new small talk conversation about how they like to ski. Certain situations can end in a good way if you know how to small talk correctly for example you can use things like hey it was nice meeting you but i have to go, can i call you sometime so that we can meet and continue this conversation. all in all despite the awkwardsness of the group meeting itself, the workshop was good and actually taught me a few more tips about something that i already felt i had a good hand on.

This is the picture of my main group of friends who i hung out in high school with minus one or two. These were the kids that i spent every minute of the day with. we did everything together and i put this picture up particularly because looking at reminds me of who i used to be and the things that i used to do.These were the people that helped make me into who i am today. They are what we called ” The Family” and no one was allowed into it.

Hello my name is Michael
DeSena. I am a freshman here in Baruch College. At first meeting I usually
identify myself as someone who is shy and timid. A person who sits behind his
books and computer all day staying away from something as simple as fun. I play
this role so that people can’t judge me at first and then when I am comfortable
enough with them, I let them see who I truly am. I am fun, outgoing, extravagant,
athletic, and somewhat intelligent. I like partying, hanging out with my
friends, but most importantly spending time with my family. I am simply someone
who is always trying to make everyone else smile and be happy.

There are plenty of things in this life that I like but one thing that I like best in
life  is who I used to be. It seems a bit sad and confusing at first but is not so much when you think about it. I miss
who I used to be because the person that I am now is someone who has had to mature, accept responsibility, and look to setting a good future for myself and that is something that I just haven’t adjusted to yet. The idea of putting behind my childhood and finally growing up is something that I am having a lot of trouble with and I’m sure most of you are too. Now most of you won’t believe this but in middle school and high school I was always the popular kid. I lived day by day enjoying every minute of life. I was living in the wise words of Wiz Khalifa “Young, Wild, and Free”. I miss being the kid that was friends with everybody, the kid who was invited to all of the parties because of my fun and charming personality which most of you still have not been able to come across with me yet. I like who I used to be because I was always the big fish in a
little pond. I used to be the kid who always got into trouble but smooth talked
his way out of it. I used to be the life of the hallways and parties in high
school, doing things I was never suppose to be doing but never getting caught.
I miss getting good grades without ever having to even open a textbook and never
having to do homework because I’d always just get someone to do it for me and
then id pay them back by buying them lunch or getting them into a party. I miss
being the real me. Because now, now I’m in college. I’m the little fish in a
big pond these days and quite frankly I don’t like it. Although I’ve made some
new friends and have even kept most of the ones I used to have. I still miss
the Mike I used to be. The hallways here are filled with kids that I don’t know
and that don’t care a thing about whom I am or who I used to be. The parties
aren’t even half as good as my high school parties which make me think “Are the
parties here just really bad?” or “Were my friends just really ahead in our
party skills?” One of the few good things college has given me is the freedoms
it offers. There is usually plenty of time to get assignments done and a lot of
free time to just hang around and relax. I guess college is something that I
will eventually adapt into but until then, I’m definitely not a fan. The
workload isn’t so bad so far except for calculus. Calculus is like hell on
earth for me and is usually like the nail in the coffin for my feelings on
college. Most of the time I just end up being disappointed by the grades I
receive and mundane assignments I get from classes.

The bad part about that is that
disappointment is my biggest fear in life.
Most people are afraid of things like snakes or spiders. Well I’m afraid
of something less physical but more mental in disappointment.  I’m scared of disappointing myself and the
people who support me. Disappointing my family especially my parents is such a
scary thing for me. Midway through my senior year, I had decided to myself that
I was not going to attend college  because I just felt that schoolwork and
getting a job sitting in a desk behind a mountain of paperwork was not
something that was going to make me truly happy and I planned on moving away to
a remote place. When I brought the idea up to my parents, disappointment was
their first reaction. When I was finally convinced to attend college, my dad’s
words to me on my first day were simply “Do your best, I know you won’t
disappointment us”. That was the point in my life when I decided that I could
never disappoint him again and am almost scared to because I don’t want to let
him down.

The
only thing in life that has gotten me over this fear was something my
grandmother told me a long time ago. She told me “Quest e la vita” which is
Italian for   “This is life”. These words
have always gotten me through the tough times when I’ve been disappointed by
something or been broken by someone. To me it means, “Hey, this is life and
there’s nothing you can do about it. Sometimes things go right and sometimes
they go wrong, but whatever the case may be, just stand up and be strong”.

Who am I? Well to be quite honest ive been debating that question to myself for the past week or so. In high school I was the cool kid, I was popular and everyone was my friend. I was in a sense the big fish in a little pond, but in college I quickly realized that i had become the little fish in the biggest of possible ponds you could imagine. I cant quite tell you who i am because to be honest, i dont know myself. i have to many dreams and aspirations for myself that if i told you one straight thing then Id be lying. i want to be a teacher but i also want to work on wall street. i want to be a fisherman but at the same time i want to be a college soccer coach. What i can tell you is that my name is Michael DeSena. I have a large and loving family who i spend all of my time with and even though my friends are far away in different schools, we still keep together through any possible way.

My top three concerns at Baruch are managing my time, the actual workload, and maintaing a social life if possible between all the school work. Managing time is the hardest because in high school you have enough time to do your work 3 minutes before the class started or even during the class but in college, everything is so maticulous and carefully constructed that it is almost impossible to leave work for even a few days before! The workload so far (knock on wood) has not been so tedious as opposed to it just takes a long time to complete. Having a social also has not been so bad because ive managed to find a few friends that i have previously known before Baruch and some that i have gathered up while in class. most people are very outgoing so saying hello is as easy as cake. The change from high school to college for me was indeed the hardest thing ive ever had to do. i love my high school and everyone in it. high school was easy and fun . your teachers were your best friends if you wanted them to be. Baruch does a good job at keeping the classes at a minimum to have a good student to teacher ratio so it still gives off the high school classroom feeling in a sense. I think the change of environment and people will offer a new start for myself to try and expand to others who i am and what im all about. I think my first year in college will make me a more studious and managing person. Hopefully it will help me mature from the still lingering high school Mike!