Author: michael.shin

I visited the Sidney Mishkin Gallery with a couple of my friends. I forced them to come with me because they thought that the gallery was going to be boring. I also thought it was going to be boring. I was never really into museums and galleries. In high school, trips to museums and galleries were always the most boring trips to everyone. No one ever wanted to go and nothing really ever seems to catch anyone’s interest. As I walked into the gallery, I was expecting another boring trip to a room with old pictures hanging around the walls just like the time I had to go to the same gallery with my English class. I walked in with my friends and immediately they started to catch interest in some of the pictures. I didn’t thoroughly look at any of the pictures. My friends, who are all musically talented, pointed me out to some pictures. They began to ask if I knew the people in the pictures. I didn’t know anyone except Louis Armstrong. Then when I realized that the gallery was  actually filled with musicians from the past. I started to look around and also realized that the pictures were mostly candid.

I never liked galleries and museums because the pictures are usually posed or made from a certain person’s perspective made into a picture or painting. The Sidney Mishkin Gallery had pictures taken by Milt Hilton who candidly took pictures of jazz performances. I looked around and stuck around in the gallery to see that the jazz performances by dozens of jazz musicians such as Cab Calloway, Billy Taylor, Willie “The Lion” Smith, Benny Goodman, Thelonious Monk, Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Barbara Streisand. My friends knew most of the artists. The candid pictures show that not all art is just one person’s idea but could be seen from a different perspective or point of view from anyone that sees the pictures.

I can’t say that it was best place I’ve ever been to; but the gallery made me see that there are a lot of things. Especially that New York City is not the only place where performances, hobbies, or any kind of action for that matter are happening. Milt Hinton took pictures throughout the whole world. In the photos of the famous jazz artists that were named before, the artists in the pictures are performing on stage. Milt Hinton takes his time as a hobby, besides being a jazz artist himself, to explore of his musician friends, colleagues, and other known artists from New York City to Tokyo. In the end, I think my friends ended up liking the gallery more than I did. I came out of the gallery with a new sense that not all museums and galleries are all the same. My friends were talking about if each of them knew a song from this artist and that artist that they saw a picture of in the gallery. I did like the gallery.

 

Michael Shin

 

Hi, I’m Michael Shin. I was born in Manhattan and raised in Queens. I grew up in Flushing, New York. I went to Elementary School in P.S. 32. For Junior High School, I moved to Little Neck and I attended M.S. 67. Then for High School, I actually took the specialized high school test and was supposed to go Bronx Science. Besides Bronx Science, I would’ve went to Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside if I didn’t want to go to school too far away. Before I could’ve made my decision to go to either of these schools, I moved to Great Neck which is in Long Island. In the end, I attended Great Neck South High School. All my close friends went to Bronx Science, so I was mad at first about not being able to stay in school with my close friends but I got used to Great Neck. Anyway, I’ll start of by saying that I did not do very well in high school. I was the “rebel” of Great Neck. Ironically, Great Neck’s team name was “The Rebels”. Anyway, taking tests and doing assignments weren’t problems for me in high school. The fact that I hated the school because I wasn’t in the same school as my close friends drove me to cut class and stay away from Great Neck as much as possible. Unfortunately, I realized too late that I should have just made the best out of what I had in Great Neck. Sooner or later, I started to involve myself to the other people in Great Neck. I didn’t just stick around with people that I knew before I moved to Great Neck. I just never really wanted to go to class but I had to because my grade point average was slowly decreasing. Other than that, I actually miss Great Neck a lot and I still keep in contact with all of my close friends to this day.

 

Honestly, Baruch was not my first choice. It was one of my last choices; Baruch was just a safety for me. I wanted to go to a state university like Stony Brook or Binghamton. I didn’t decide on a major while I was applying and I still don’t know which major I want to pursue. So I still feel like whatever school I went to, I could do what I want in the future. I wanted to go to Stony Brook because my cousin goes there. Also, my close friends mostly went to Stony Brook or Binghamton. My actions in Great Neck backfired on me and got me rejected to most of the schools I would have went to if I was accepted. I still want to transfer. This is not only because my close friends aren’t in Baruch but because I feel as if nothing happens in Baruch. Although, I should not be worrying about being with my friends and having fun all the time, I would want to have fun and be with my friends while being in school.

 

My role in life as of right now is a student. That is why I must try to make the best out of what I get in Baruch College and manage to get the grades I want to transfer to the school I really want to go to. I want to keep the mentality that I have to do well in school no matter what happens. My parents are working to make money so that I could stay in college and maintain a good grade. I want to live up to their expectations. My parents are my life. They raised me and took care of me and I want them to be happy and give them what they want in return for what they did for me. I want to make enough money in the future so that they could stop working when they grow older but still have me to support them. My mentality about my family, parents especially, has always stayed the same and will never change. I also want to keep a good image for my younger sister. She’s currently a junior in high school. She does better than me academically and I’m proud of her but at the same time, I feel like my actions can influence her in the future.

 

I identify myself as someone who just wants to have fun. When I have school work or any other kind of work, whether it’s physical work or paper work, I try to finish as soon as possible so that I have time to do what I want to do. Unluckily, my best skill is procrastination. I wait to finish everything at the last minute even if I know it is important. Because of this, I often forget to do some of my work. It’s a bad habit that I have to get rid of but everyone is amazing at procrastination. Other than that, I like going out with my close friends and just having fun. Honestly, the only reason I dislike Baruch so much is because it’s not what I expected. I came here thinking, “my close friends are still gonna be around me and I have a lot of friends from high school that are going to Baruch. We can go out, party together and chill everyday.” That’s not happening at all. I currently dorm in the city and nothing happens there either. My routine during the weekdays aren’t changing. It’s the same thing over and over again. I go to school, go to my dorm, study when I want to, and sleep. During the weekend, I’m so bored that I usually go back to Great Neck to meet my friends that are commuting. It’s really not what I expected. I expected my dorm life to be the typical dorm life like Stony Brook, Binghamton, Albany, etc. On top of that, I have a room mate that can’t speak English. This frustrates me a lot and it makes me want to stay away from my dorm. When he is in the room, I pretend he isn’t there and I do my own thing. When I first moved to the dorm, I was expecting parties left and right but there are none. My life in the dorm is my laptop and me. I see my friends who attend Binghamton and Stony Brook through Facebook. They’re having the time of their lives. I always ranted about how I hated Great Neck and I’d rather go back to Great Neck than be at my dorm.

 

My biggest fear in life is being alone. I hate being alone and because my family and close friends mean everything to me, if I lost them, I don’t know what I’d do. One time I felt ashamed and that’s when I didn’t get into the school I wanted to get into. It upset my parents and ever though we all do stupid things to upset them sometimes, I hate when I see that I upset them. I’m not saying Baruch is a bad school, I’m just saying it’s just not a place where I saw myself but I had no other choice. I definitely did not want to go to a community college. One time I felt really proud was when I got my SAT score back. I got a 2070. I don’t care if anyone got a higher SAT score than me in the block but I was really proud of my score. I studied my butt off for it and I actually felt like I earned the score. My SAT score proves to me that I can do well in school and what I put my effort into.

 

My motto in life is “whatever doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger”. That quote just says a lot to me because it’s true. It isn’t meant in a physical way, it could be for any situation. For me right now, the quote is just a motivational quote to get by. For example, Baruch is not where I want to be but not being in Stony Brook or Binghamton isn’t destroying my life. I just have to make the best out of what I can here. I’m just going to stay here for a little bit, try to maintain or receive good grades so that I can transfer out. At the same time, Baruch is slowly getting better for me. I don’t know if I’m getting used to it but I’m starting to feel comfortable with people in the school. I found out that a couple of people in my classes live in the dorm. I have friends that I’m beginning to get close with in Baruch. The work is slowly getting harder but I can manage to get by. I’m starting to actually study in the dorm or do my work. I still go out a lot but everyone has to sacrifice a couple things.

 

This is my blog post. I’m posting a little late because I was very sick the whole weekend that the assignment was due.

My name is Michael Shin and I am currently a freshman here at Baruch College. I’m 100% Korean but I was born and raised in America. I lived in Flushing, Little Neck, and Great Neck. I attended P.S. 32, M.S. 67, then moved to Great Neck South High School. My top three concern about my freshman year at Baruch are very typical. I am worried about my grades. I wasn’t the best student in Middle School and High School. I plan to change that and try to put school as my top priority even though I’m not quite used to the environment yet. My second concern are the tests. I have been told and realized that tests are mostly what make the grade of the class. Some classes’ tests are worth up to 90% of the entire course grade. My study habits aren’t quite perfect but I’m working on them. My last concern is my dorm. Living in a dorm gives me a whole new perspective on things. I never did laundry for myself before, I never cooked my own meals, I always had parents nagging me when to come home. Now, I don’t have a curfew, I have to do all my own laundry, I have to cook or buy my own food. These three concerns are my top three concerns for my freshman year in Baruch. So far, Baruch College isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The classes are pretty easy but, like I said, I’m worried about the exams. Waiting for the classes to begin during the two hour breaks kill me. I have nothing to do during that time. All I do is walk around or usually go to eat. I’m trying to find more productive things during that time. Sometimes I go to the library to study or go to the school gym and work out. I think college isn’t really gonna change me all that much. If it does, it will keep me more responsible now that I have to do most things alone. It’s hard to maintain a good grade and have all the fun you want. Sacrifices will have to be made, whether they are difficult or easy. In conclusion, I will try my best during my remaining years in college. I hope for the best in Baruch.