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Hello my name is Kris, and I’m an alcoholic …just kidding. (kinda)

I wasn’t supposed to be attending Baruch College. I received a rejection letter in the mail around early March along with two others from different colleges, all saying the same thing,  “Thank you for applying, unfortunately we will not be able to enroll you in our college, Good luck in the future”. That was fine with me, because I didn’t really want to attend anyway. However, that Friday, it just so happened that my band was the finishing act in the Baruch talent show. When I arrived there that night I was amazed at how awesome the venue that held the show was. It was the biggest stage I’ve ever performed on, and at that point I was upset that I wouldn’t be able to continue to perform on it in the future. A couple of weeks after the show, I received a voicemail from the admissions office, saying to disregard my rejection and that Baruch would gladly offer me admission into their institute. I guess my band rocked harder than we thought.
Side note: Right before performing I attempted to have the crowd chant: “Baruch, Baruch, Baruch is on fire!!” It became awkwardly after I said that, and so we just started our set afterwards, but I really think it can become a Baruch chant, because it’s catchy, and pretty clever in my opinion.

I was walking with my friend recently, and we passed an African-American gentleman. We stopped near him, and he proceeded to call me a “White racist cracker”. I was startled and very offended because I had made no type of comment or eye contact in order to trigger his attack. I replied and let him know that I had a very diverse family that included races of African-American, Latino and Asian, and that I was far from racist. I also added that his statement was completely contradictory, considering his own ethnicity. He asked me their names and as a reply I asked him his name… He said “none of your business”, and so I told him likewise and to keep moving. This story is significant to how I identify myself, partly through my family, which is very diverse and accepting to any type of person. This is also highlight the strange type of people you sometimes come across living in the city.

As a songwriter, I keep myself very busy, and I’m not so sure what I would be doing with my free time if I didn’t play music, so I’m happy that I do. It’s hard for me to take school seriously because it doesn’t really contribute to what I want to do in the future, which is to be a well-known songwriter in the music industry. Maybe a rockstar. That’d be pretty awesome.

I went to a fairly small high school, with about 60 kids in my graduating class. It really helped in establishing close-knit relationships, and made those four years a lot more bearable. I wasn’t a fan of Baruch at first because I didn’t think this was possible in a commuter school, but recently I’ve found that it’s not true at all. I guess it helps that when I meet people for the first time, I like to initially assume that each one is awesome. If everybody thought similarly, the world would be a lot happier. I am very spontaneous, and tend to push people to be the same way, change their lives for the better. One of my biggest fears is being just another person in the world, going to work, living to make money. I am determined to do so much more. I want to travel the world, and influence people. I don’t want to get caught up in routine society.

My name is Sheridan Taylor and I am a freshman here at Baruch. I am from Westchester County, New York. I attended my four years of high school at Peekskill High School. I played Softball, Volleyball and Basketball and helped to lead my girls’ basketball team to their first state championship. I am a very active person between school and sports. Besides sports I like to hang with friends and family, shopping and doing anything that catches my eye. I can say that I enjoyed my high school career, but looking forward for college to change my perspective.
The college life is the best thing ever. Who would ever want to pass up the opportunity to go away from home? I took this chance the first time that it was open to me. College is a lot of hard work, but it’s going to be worth the time in the long run. Partying is one the other great factors of going to school. These parties aren’t your average parties from high school, there are so much more to them. The college experience is so much better than my high school experience. I enjoyed high school, but I enjoy the fact that I’m going to a school in New York. Coming from a town with 23,000 people (believe me its smaller than expected) to a school with more than a million people is something that I never expected.
My fist year has already changed me and it barely started. I had to change my studying habits and my timeliness. In high school, I didn’t study as much as I should have and it sometimes showed in the work and the tests that I had to turn in. I had to make sure that I gave myself enough time to complete the homework assignments that are given to me. I learned to manage my time or I wouldn’t be able to make it through the week. I didn’t have much problem when it came to time management in high school because I played three varsity sports and was active in several clubs.
Basketball has put me in a stand still. I never met something, so demanding before like this before. I’ve always enjoyed the sport and will continue to play it through the four years of college. College basketball differs from high school that there’s weight training. I expected it, but didn’t think it would be as intense as it is. I don’t mind working out its just the amount of time that I have committed into working out and making sure that I was on top of my game has taken a slight toll on me.
I miss do have some things that I miss from home. The home cooked meals, the driving, my sisters and a small amount of friends that I had. The cooking food every night or ordering some fast food isn’t a healthy lifestyle that I should have. Like who wants to be part of the ‘freshman 15’ because I know that I don’t especially being an athlete. My sisters were my rocks. We had our arguments, but we had more laughs than that. They are some of the few people that keep me sane. Ugh, taking public transportation every day is the worst part of the commute to school. I wished that I had my car and drove to the campus, parked, went to class and practice and then drive home. But of course, I have to rely on the subway for my commute to school and back. The $104 that I pay for a monthly Metro card can be spent else were for better money. I’ve bought three metro cards since moving into the city and I can rent an apartment for all of the money that get to New York City transportation.

I identify myself as someone who is unique. I may be shy and awkward at first, but one will soon learn that I am a pretty confident, sociable, & friendly person. I am trustworthy, honest, and non-judgmental as well.  I am hardworking, determined and motivated, which are the qualities that drive me to work harder and succeed.

Who am I to others? Well, to others, I am a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, a college student, at tutor, a role model, a mentor, a friend, a confident and reliable person. I am someone who can gives out advice and be a listener.

I have no single important person in my life. Every one of my family and friends are the most important people in my life. I am unable to choose just one important person in my life. They have supported all my goals and have been there for me through my rough times. They motivate me and inspire me to be my best as well as encourage me to try new things and not fear the unknown.

What I like the best is being around people I like and enjoying my time with them. I believe that time is precious so therefore we must spend time with the people we love. It is nice to have people to share your life with. I realize that these people may not be in my life forever, therefore I must spend as much as quality time with them as I can.

What I like the least is not being able to live my life to the fullest. I don’t like sticking to a schedule and I prefer not knowing what’s going to happen. I hate having to wake up every day at a certain time just to get to school and from there taking the classes I have for that day. I wish I can just take a year of and just do me. I want to be able to travel the world and see the things I want to see. I want a whole different life experience that most people aren’t luck enough to have. Life is always more exciting when you don’t know what is in store for you.

Constantine Petropouleas   10/17/2011

FRO 1000

Freshmen Seminar

Monologue

 

At first glance when you see me, what do you think? Tall, good looking, smart, goofy. To be honest, I don’t really care what you think. What matters is what I think of myself. Who am I?

I’m a young man that is just beginning his life. I have dreams higher than the clouds. And using Baruch as my resource, I will achieve them. Many say I’m mature for my age, I don’t agree. I think I’m determined to stand out. But that just scratches the surface of who I really am.

When you really get to know me you’ll realize I love cars. From how they work to how they drive and of course how they look entices me. I grew up working in my cousin’s garage so I know my way around a car. I hope that soon enough I will be able to buy the cars of my dreams. To me cars are like art, and I wish to build a vast collection of them throughout my life.

Obviously, since I like cars so much I love driving. But people don’t understand why. For me driving is almost like flying. I feel free. Being able to drop gears and hear the engine roar as I accelerate through the lane, I feel…euphoric.

Going a little further into my mind, you see that I am not only about cars. My close friends and family are truly the most important thing in my life. I strongly believe in the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”. And with that in mind I think that we don’t stop growing, and it is the people we allow to be around us that raise us through our life. There is nothing I enjoy more than being with my loved ones and having a good time. I think to myself everything I’ve done with all these people, the good, the bad, whatever it is, and I can’t do anything but smile. I am truly happy with my life.

With all this, I believe this is why I am enjoying my time at Baruch so much. I’ve met so many new people, people like me in many ways and also different at the same time. There is a sense of diversity that just blends everything in so well here that you feel comfortable. I am a business accounting major with hopes of becoming a lawyer. I know that Baruch was the best school for me and I know that it’ll open many, many doors for my life. I just have to make the most of it.

My name is Leenore Mesica. I am currently 18 years old and a freshman at Baruch College. So far I can’t complain about school. My classes have all been going pretty well and my teachers all seem nice. The only issue I had encountered was with my anthropology teacher. However since speaking to her boss we have been able to come up with a better plan and she has definitely changed for the better.

Going to school in the city was definitely the best decision I have made. I come from Marlboro, New Jersey and if you don’t know already it’s a relatively small town. Living here you basically know every body, need to drive everywhere, and your social life consist of hanging out in someone’s basement. New York City allows me to expand. I basically have everything I need here. Another reason why I choose to go to school in the city would definitely be my family.

My family is the most important thing in my life. No matter what I know that my brother, sisters, and parents will always be there for me. Since both of my parents work I am really close to my siblings. I am the oldest out of four kids so my responsibilities have always been to take care of them. I try my best to always let them know that I am there for them whether they need help or advice about something. Since the city is only an hour away from Marlboro it gives me the opportunity to come home frequently, which I love.

In my life I play the role of a full time student, part time employee at Pita Grill, caring sister, and a good daughter. I like to identify myself as someone who is friendly, responsible, and someone who cares. I love to go out and have fun with my friends. When I’m alone I enjoy listening to music and just relaxing. I absolutely hate and am afraid of cats. I learned since starting college that my time management is really good I just hope to keep up with it as the years continue.

My motto life definitely came from a time in my life that I felt ashamed. One year when I was a junior in high school my parents left me home alone for the weekend. They made me promise not to have anyone over. They trusted me but unfortunately I let them down. When they left I ended up throwing a huge party. Soon enough the cops arrived to my house and ended up calling my parents. When they came home the next day their face looked so disappointed. I felt bad that I let my parents down the way that I did. No longer did they trust me; and that felt terrible. From that point on my motto in life became, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” After that day I tried so hard to regain my parents trust. Eventually they started to believe me and now everything is back to normal. This whole situation definitely taught me to never take my parents trust for granted.

There have also been many times in my life when I have felt proud. When I was in eighth grade I became president of my middle school. Now just like most other people I hate public speaking and of course I had to give a speech. In the end I won the election. It made me proud that I was able to accomplish the task. Being president taught me so many good qualities that I still use today. I learned time management, how to be organized, and how to be a great leader.

All the events in my life I believe were there for a reason. Each one of them has taught me a lesson and I hope to continue learning. In the end I will definitely take all the opportunities that Baruch gives me and hope that it helps become all I can in the future.

 

I chose this picture to put on my blog, because this is a part of me that doesn’t come out very often. For a better part of my life i was raised to be this perfect son, perfect composure, smart, obedient, and I would be reprimanded if I did other wise. I was kept from a lot of things and constantly judged and modeled by my family, so when my parents divorced I was physically and mentally set free. I’ve always been withdrawn and reserved but always longed to be someone who had the courage, personality and charm to be who I am, and not give a shit about what others think of me.

Hi! My name is Ricardo Rivadeneira. At first glace you probably wont care too much about me, I’m a bit reserved and not really the life of the party, but I can assure you! I’m pretty dam interesting. So pay attention.  I was born in Ecuador and legally came here when I was around 4 years old. I never absorbed too much of the Hispanic culture so I’m pretty Americanized in almost every sense, which, I guess is how I identify myself. I mean I don’t identify myself as any specific thing or with any specific quality but more of an array of different aspects that come together to form Ricardo.

I assume plenty of roles in my everyday life: I am a son, a brother, a lover, a peacemaker, ex-gymnast, a future lawyer, and at one point in life a home-wrecker. These roles don’t exactly make up whom I am but they paint a very decent picture.  I feel that I have changed so much through out my life that it’s pretty difficult to get a super clear picture of who I am.

I went through a lot of phases in life, In a small recap of my high-school career I probably went through a few different social scenarios, I mean I don’t want to make it seem like I believe in labeling or anything but for the sake of argument: I think I went from dressing and acting like a “want to be” rapper to like a hardcore rocker, emo dude. I guess really took the whole teen searching for an identity thing very seriously and it all leads to the person standing in front of you.

The person standing in front of you also already managed to make a total fool out of himself during his first few weeks of college. The revolving door entrance, to the vertical campus, you know the one in front of the library, yea they spin pretty darn fast for some reason whenever I have to go through them. So, within the first week of being at Baruch college I someone how manage to get my book bag strap stuck in the revolving doors, backing up like 20 people and embarrassing myself. I had to push the doors back, so I could get my strap loose and then continue on forwards, I just ran jetted out, never looked back. Other than that, classes are going great and I’ve met really awesome people who I hope to remain friends with.

Coming to Baruch College was a decision that I made because of financial reasons and of course because Baruch is a really good College but one of the factors that also led me to choosing Baruch College is my overall happiness. I wanted to stay close to the people that I loved and cared about, they make me very happy each and every day and are apart of who I am and who I want to be. My mother and sister are the best part of my life and the only people in the world that I would give up anything for.

Who I want to be isn’t very difficult to understand, like the rest of me. Right now I am very focused and determined in continuing a business career at Baruch College and eventually taking that career into law, and thus becoming a corporate lawyer.

 

 

My name is Rebecca. I prefer being called Becca, not Becky, I’m not really a Becky. I was born and raised in Manhattan. I’m not very ethnic but my mother’s family is from Italy and Ireland and my dad’s family is from Lithuania. My parents were both born in the united stated and they were both educated and have successful careers. My mother is a retired United Nations employee and my father is an accountant and a CPA. He went to baruch for undergraduate also. I have an older sister whose 20 years old. She goes to McGill university in Montreal. Its the Canada equivalent of an ivy league but her tuition is 12 thousand. And the drinking age is 18, so she’s really enjoying herself.
I did really bad in my first two years of high school. My school was relatively challenging and so I started thinking school was a waste of time. Around junior year I decided I wanted to be successful and I should take school seriously. I started getting 90’s and that balanced out my shitty grades from the first two years.

I started looking for college’s senior year and didn’t really feel great about any of the schools. They all seemed the same to me. I’ve never been that social so the party aspect of college didn’t really appeal to me. But I applied to like 15 schools and got into suny albany, suny new paltz, university of delaware, umass amherst and baruch. I was going to go to umass but then I decided I wanted to stay in the city because I love the city and can’t imagine living anywhere else (for the time being). Because my parents had set aside my college tuition assuming it would be over 20 thousand, and baruch is 5 thousand they agreed to rent me an apartment, which is awesome.

I moved in august 1st, I live on the upper east side. I know I’m very lucky. My apartment is small, I live alone but I can do whatever I want which I enjoy. People always ask me if I get lonely. I don’t. There hasn’t really been a shortage of people to hang out with.

In the future I hope to become an accountant. Not because anyone wants me to be an accountant, but because I want to be an accountant. I was always good at math and like the logic of it. There is always a right answer and I’m generally a very pragmatic person. If I study accounting I can work for my father when I get out of school. Even if I end up not liking accounting I think it would be silly to give up a successful job that I have offered to me.

I don’t hate baruch because I’m only here to educate myself and so far that’s been happening. I try not to complain. If millions of people did it before me and survived I’m sure I can too. My motto for life is basically to try and balance what you have to do and what you want to do as well as you can. You can’t be too selfish and you can’t be too selfless or you’ll never get anywhere. I work hard and party hard and generally feel good about that.

 

Something I do for fun is play pool with my friends. One time my friend and I were watching hey Arnold and the characters were at an arcade. My friend and I discussed how fantastic it would be to go to an arcade. At the time I recalled a location close to my apartment that I believed to be an arcade. Upon arriving we saw that it had been turned into a pool hall. Because we were already there we decided to stay and try out a game of pool. We returned frequently after that day. I however, am still very poor at pool. I’ve tried to improve my skills but only seem to make myself worse. I don’t really mind though, because it’s still fun and you get to be around questionable individuals who all look like their wardrobes are at least 20% leather. I don’t have very many hobbies or interests other than that.

My strongest attribute is probably that I’m incapable of procrastination. I’m always early and generally do assignments before they’re do (excluding the one I’m doing right now).  My biggest weakness is probably that I can be too honest. I don’t have much of a filter and I can make people very uncomfortable with the things I say.  Another weakness of mine is that I don’t value my body like I should. I have a lot of very unhealthy habits that could very well affect me in the future. My worst habit is that I smoke cigarettes. I initially started when I was younger because I thought it was ‘cool’. Eventually, it became an extremely expensive addiction. I would like to quit…not anytime soon

 

“How do I identify myself?” To answer this question, and the ones ahead, I’ll have to tell a little background story. A year and a half ago, while all of my friends were going on their “after army trips” to South America, South East Asia, Europe etc., I went to volunteer in a non-profit yoga retreat center, located on the Big Island of Hawaii, called “Kalani Oceanside Retreat”. I initially went for only a month, just to check it out, and I ended up staying for almost a year. The Big Island in general, is known for its healing energies, having Pele, the goddess of the volcano protecting and guiding people towards their true path, by using “tough love”. “Kalani Oceanside Retreat”, means “heaven on earth”, and for more than 35 years, people from all over the world have been going there, to relax and heal the body and mind.  It was there, that I went through what some might call a spiritual journey, but I say I went through a period of self-exploration. I can talk about my attributes, my flaws and insecurities. But none of them really matter. I believe the most important thing is that I’m a person who strives to better himself each and every day.

I’ve learned that what makes me happy, and what I believe would make anyone happy, is being surrounded by love. Unconditional love. It may come from a partner, friends, family, or all of the above (hopefully). It’s what makes my days so much more meaningful. It was in Hawaii, that I accepted the roles that I play in my life, instead of trying to change them. I am a caretaker, a friend, a listener, a competent worker, and sometimes as many of us are, my own worst enemy. It was also in Hawaii, where the next story took place.

For a volunteer event, we set up an improvised and spontaneous fashion show, called the “Freebox Fashion Show”. The Freebox, is an area in the volunteer lounge where people “donate” their clothes and belongings to other volunteers. This was where most of the volunteers did their “shopping in the jungle”. So, the point of the fashion show, was to make an outfit out of whatever you find in the Freebox. It didn’t take too long, but my friends convinced me to dress up like one of my bosses did a few times, he’s an amazing yet very unique person. This entailed wearing a 3- inchheel, “S&M like” leather boots, a mini-skirt and a torn up shirt. I walked out on the walkway, trying to “work it”, feeling completely exposed and embarrassed, but after a few deep breathes, it was just a fun night.

The picture I attached was taken on the west side of the Big Island near Kona. Many people take fossilized corals and make use them to make words on the black lava rocks. We saw this while we were driving, and we could all completely relate to that saying, because of the environment we all lived in at the time.

 

 

So I have to write 1500 words, so this is going to be pretty long. So my name is Edward, I’m currently a freshman in Baruch like everyone else in the class. I’m 18, born on July 9^th, and I live in Forest Hills.  I’m Cantonese, nothing special about my nationality or anything. I speak broken down Chinese, not really good at it. I live with my mom, who has taken care of me for 18 years. My dad left, but whatever it’s all good. I really don’t have much family here in New York. Everyone on my mom’s side is in Hong Kong and my dad lives in Long Island. I also have a few cousins here and there on my dad’s side, but I don’t really talk to them or know them that much.

I have a pretty relaxed and straightforward personality. I’m usually laidback and chill. That’s my normal state, though. I’m also a very emotional person when it comes down to it, and I have really short patience. I really hate this side of me because it’s really screwed things up for me in the past.; especially past relationships. I tend to get mad at the littlest things, but now when I look at it, the things I got mad at were so stupid. I wish every time I get mad, that I just remember that I’m probably overexagerrating, but that never works. One thing most people don’t know about me is that I’m also very self-conscious. And by very, I mean like extremely super duper self-conscious. It’s something really personal to me, and though it’s probably not rational, it bothers me how people view me. Because of this, I try my best usually to only show my good sides in front of people. I’m also really shy. It’s a weird kind of shy though, because I’m only shy until people first start talking to me. Then afterwards, I can talk for days. Once you get to know me, it’s weird how you would’ve thought I was shy. I also hate quitting, and I also have to try and be the best at everything and better than everyone, though it doesn’t always happen.

I have many different likes and dislikes, too many to write in a single essay. But to put it simply, I enjoy things that most guys like; sports, music, video games, girls, clothes, and more. For now, I’m also addicted to playing Tetris Battle on facebook, to past time in classes and stuff. I also have many dislikes too, like spicy stuff, homework, work, cleaning my room, etc. Then, I have my pet peeves. There’s also a lot of them, so it’ll be hard to name them all, but some are: people giving me attitudes, people that don’t use common sense, when my blanket isn’t covering my whole body, and a bunch of other nonsense.

I also have many types of phobias too. One phobia I have is acrophobia. Acrophobia is a fear of heights. Everytime I’m on a roof or on the top floors of the Vertical Campus, I get crazy scared. I always feel like someone is going to accidently push me off or like some strong gust of wind will shove me off. I can’t even begin to imagine how it feels like when you’re falling down such heights. I also have trypophobia, which is a fear of small holes that shouldn’t be there. It’s really hard to explain, but basically I’m scared of holes in places where it shouldn’t exist, such as skin. Im not talking about small holes like your pores, but like enlarged pores or like just creepy holes in places. I honestly don’t know how to explain it, but if you google it, you would know what kind of holes I’m talking about. I’m also claustrophobic, so when I’m in some really tight spaces, occasionally I get anxious and start having trouble breathing. I’m also afraid of the dark to some extent, so that’d be classified as nyctophobia. I know I’m 18, but still, I have a really deep imagination. I always feel like something is going to pop up and scare the living crap out of me. Either that, or I’d make a turn in the dark and see some small ghastly little girl staring at me.

I grew up in a bunch of different places; Forest Hills, Flushing, Chinatown, and Brooklyn. I went to elementary school in P.S. 124, which is in Chinatown. There, I got to know many people that I still see today. Life in elementary school was memorable. I remember how my mom used to drop me off everyday to school, and that afterschool, I’d play some handball or basketball, then head off to my mom’s office and wait there til she drives me home. Life was really easy back then.

After elementary school, I went to M.S. 104 Baruch Middle School on 22^nd st and 2^nd ave. Life started changing a lot then. People strived to be “cool”, there was drama, and things were just different. In 6^th grade, I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. People were fighting, smoking, and just doing things 6^th graders shouldn’t be doing. I hung out with them mainly because everyday, I still needed a ride from my mom, so I’d still hang out in Chinatown. 7^th grade came and I discovered how to use the train. Now, I didn’t have to go to Chinatown everyday, and could just take the train straight home afterschool. Because of this, from 7^th to 8^th grade, I barely ever went to Chinatown; instead I just went home and played video games. I played so much video games, that I literally became a pro at every game I played. Even to this day, I’m a beast when it comes to shooting games, sports games, and more.

After middle school, I attended Brooklyn Technical High School. I was so hype when I got in, because I didn’t have the best grades in middle school, yet, I got a good score on the SHSAT, so I got into Brooklyn Tech, which is a specialized high school. Wanting a change of scenery, and missing the days when I used to play sports, I decided to join the football team. I remember the first day at camp, I told myself I was going to quit. But quitting never happened. Even though football took so much of my time, I lasted all 4 years. It taught me a lot of things, like how to endure hardship, and how to be more responsible.  High school in general an interesting experience. I got my first serious girlfriend in sophomore year, it didn’t last long, but we were “unofficial” for like 8 months before we actually went out. A lot of things happened my junior year. I met my ex who I eventually went out with for 1.5 years (broke up recently), and my best friend also pretty much backstabbed me. But both these experiences really shaped me up into the person I am today, and taught me a lot of lessons. My ex really made me realize what caring for a person really meant. My relationship with her made me a more caring and understanding person, and I wish it could’ve lasted longer. To this day, I still care about her, miss her, and really cherish those memories I had with her.

And now, I’m in college. College is so different than high school. I’m still procrastinating a lot like in high school, and since classes start later, I tend to oversleep and miss class or go to class late. I realize that in college, I have to be a lot more responsible for myself; that no one else is going to be responsible for me. My classes are alright. Math teacher can’t speak English, Political Science teacher can’t teach, Writing teacher is too….old. My anthropology teacher has really changed a lot within the weeks, she’s a lot nicer now. My psychology professor is one of the best teachers I’ve had. His classes are fun, but they teach you a lot too.

My life hasn’t been as interesting as a lot of people’s, but a lot of things still ha happened. I’ve changed a lot since I started going to school like 12 years ago. In the future, I expect my life to change a lot too, with a lot of twists and turns. I hope I grow up to become successful, that’s something I’m dedicated to do. I don’t care what it is, as long as I become successful and become someone in the world. One of my favorite quotes in the world is “You never what you’ve got until it’s gone”, because it’s really been reflected in my life. I’ve regret a lot of things that I’ve done, but there’s really nothing else to do but to just move on. What’s the point of crying over something that’s already happened? It’s hard to move on yeah, but it’s something you have to do.

And to finish my essay, here’s a picture of me with Wiz Khalifa, met him at Bamboozle 2011:

Hello, I’m Naomi Hakimi. Identity has always been a weird topic for me because I’m Persian-American and I’m part of a large Persian community living in Great Neck, but I got my education in the Herricks School district. Even though I identify myself more with the Great Neck crowd, my  personality was influence by both the Persians in Great Neck and the Herricks School students, so I don’t fit into either. I would describe myself as a fun-loving but quiet and nervous person. Because of that, I have many fears. My greatest fears are a fear of public speaking and a fear of animals. Dogs are so scary and I always feel like they’re about to chase me. My fear of dogs is so bad that I occasionally cross the street when I saw a dog on the same side of the street as me. Although, my greatest fear are of birds. I don’t know why I’m afraid of them, but I always have been. Thinking about their feathers and eyes gives me anxiety and sometimes nightmares. Because of my nerves, socializing is also a problem for me. It’s very difficult for me to talk to people because I can sometimes become really awkward, but my family and friends are always around to help me relax when I talk to other people. They’re always around to help me or care for me which is why they are so important to me. Luckily, I already had a few friends at Baruch when I started. My first few days at Baruch were difficult because I didn’t know what to expect. I came with the hope of making new friends and being independent, but once I arrived, everyone seemed to already be in clusters which was very intimidating. Though, I slowly began to make more and more friends and am still becoming more independent. My problems then transformed from social to educational. I am now really feeling the pressure to do well in my classes which are becoming more and more difficult. The math we are doing in precalculus are no longer simple equations, the webworks are becoming harder to do and keep up with. My english professor scares me and I have yet to figure out a topic for my term paper. I have no words for my political science class; although, I like that we have no homework in it. Organization and time-management have always been flaws of mine, which I hope I can fix in order to earn good grades. Overall, I look forward to how the rest of my time at Baruch turns out.