Monthly Archives: October 2011

To be honest, I think the question of “who am I?” is highly overrated and misused in this society. Why do people have a need to define who they are? Essentially, they end up defining WHAT they are instead. A student, a sister, a friend, a lover, a fighter, blah blah blah. These words lose meaning because they can be used to “define” millions of different people, narrowing absolutely nothing down. I can proudly proclaim that I have no idea who I am! And instead of spending my life on trying to find out something that cannot be changed, I prefer to just enjoy life without question.
For this reason, when the voice in the back of my head told me to choose to go to Baruch instead of Hunter, I didn’t question it. I acted. It makes no sense for someone who is aspiring to become a doctor to go to business school, but I did it anyway. This is one of my main concerns about being in Baruch, but it won’t truly worry me until that voice speaks out again and tells me to either transfer out or to change direction. Another one of my concerns is being able to balance work with school. This is the first time in my life that I have to do both at the same time, and to be honest, it could be going better. However I’m hoping that when I am able to choose my own schedule for next semester, I will be able to find a better balance and go to work more often. Also, I hope that eventually I will be able to overcome my social awkwardness and join some of the clubs at Baruch.
In high school I joined a lot of clubs, and I was even a founder and president of one, but in college the dynamics of the social functions feel different. It’s weird to walk down a hallway without knowing everyone and their mothers, and I miss that. But it’s smart to organize freshmen in blocks, because it’s so much easier to make friends. I’m hoping that my first year in college will encourage me to never give up my education again. I’m glad to be back in school, and it’s hard to get back in the rhythm of it, so I’ll try to keep my education continuous throughout my life.

     My name is Wilmar Ng and I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. I’m 18 years old and I live with my parents. I enjoy cooking, hanging out with my friends,reading and shopping. My favorite dish to cook is chicken parmesan and my favorite food to bake is red velvet cake. I also enjoy traveling because exploring new places is always exciting. I graduated from Midwood High School in Brooklyn.
          
     My top three concerns about my freshman year is time management, my grades and my school work. I’m concerned about the way I manage my time because sometimes I tend to procrastinate with my school work and I end up rushing and doing a poor job. I’m concerned about my grades because I want to get the best grades as possible but so far I’m not doing as well as I thought I would be. I’m concerned about my school work because I’m not spending as much time as I want to on my school work.
          
     So far, I think the freedom that comes with college will make my college experience different from my high school experience. With freedom comes more responsibility which leads people to be more mature. I feel that the way professors treat students force students to be more responsible with there school work and life in general. in high school teachers constantly remind you of tests and when class work is due but college is nothing like that. 
          
     I think my first year of college will lead me to become more mature. So far I remind myself of every test, quiz, and assignment due which was difficult at first but now I’m accustomed to it. I expect college to be a life changing experience.

Scenario 1: You are having difficulty figuring out a specific homework exercise.

Title: MTH2610 Class Homework Troubles

Dear Professor Doe,

My name is Boris Adamovich and I am a student in your mon/wed MTH2610 class at 1230pm. I was not able to open the syllabus document on Blackboard. Would you be able to please send me the questions that are due for the homework assignment entitled, “Optimization” ? I am looking forward to our next class.

Thank you,

Boris Adamovich

What has the Train system come to ? I thought that as the years pass, everything evolves, and becomes better than it used to be. Well at least thats what my mom tells me. The only thing changing is the friggin’ fares for a ride ! I used to pay a dollar to ride the metro. Now I’m paying $2.25. Does it look like I’m made out of money ?! Besides, why should I be paying so much for system that can’t get a hold of itself. I’m not gonna lie, I am an optimistic person, but when it comes to the subway system of New York, my optimism is completely depleted.

I always and I mean always end up having to take that one train that has been running for 50 years. I can almost smell the stench of the countless number of bums that have occupied this train as it loudly approaches the stop. It would be so nice if the MTA could once in a while clean the train, whereas me sitting down in a white shirt won’t turn it into a gray one.

And the turnstiles! Is there absolutely nothing to replace them with!? I can’t stress enough how many times i’ve almost dismembered myself in half while running to catch a train. “Please Swipe Again at this Turnstile” …. Don’t tell me what to do ! What about all the people that hop these turnstiles? You don’t have to be an athlete to do that. I’m sure all these fare hikes bring in enough money to come up with a new entry system which doesn’t lack in efficiency.

The seats, the seats, the seats. I might as well sit on a cinder block if thats what you call comfortable. I know I’m not a small fella’ but would it be so hard to improve the leg room? I feel like I’m in a can of sardines during rush hour. If i can’t sit in peace for a one and a half hour ride where I’m not being felt up on, nudged, bumped into, then what is the purpose of the subway system ?

I’m just a regular kid from Brooklyn, trying to make it somewhere in life. My life is centered around school work, family, and the sport of hockey. Im very caring towards my circle of friends and family. People can always count on me for help. Im that go to guy. I can be hard headed sometimes but through explanation and some sympathy I can always understand someone. I’m am known for my tallness. Most of my friends see me as their gigantic guardian that will protect them from anything. This makes me feel better about my self.
Talking about School work, I chose to go to Baruch College which I saw as the ultimate way of getting somewhere in life. Baruch offered me things that other schools didn’t. First off, the city is practically the campus of Baruch which beats any other campus in New York. The people that go to Baruch are very diverse and friendly. My first year of Baruch has thus far been great. I met a lot of cool people, my professors are very esteemed and the classes are very interesting. I do have three concerns though. When I came to Baruch, my schedule was already composed, but as the term comes to an end, I’m going to have to compose my own schedule which sounds pretty challenging. The reasoning behind that is because I’m not really sure with what i want to focus my studies on. This would be my second concern. My final concern is what club I should join in Baruch. There are so many to choose from yet I don’t know which would be the right for me.
Baruch will provide a different experience from my high school because there is no one to keep you on track but yourself. In high school, the teachers would constantly push you to do your best whereas in college, where some classes are composed of 150 students, it is not in the interest of the professor to provide undivided attention to a single student. Therefore, I believe that my first year at Baruch will change me into a rather studious person who takes their schoolwork seriously.

Subject: Important, missed midterm due to illness

Good Afternoon Professor Dee

My name is Melvin Abramovich and I am a student in your mon/wed calc class at 1230pm. I would like to take this moment and apologize for the missing the midterm in your class. I was infected with a reallybaddiseaseitis and I was rushed to the emergency room causing me to miss your class. I would appreciate a chance to make up the midterm as soon as you get a chance.

Thank you for your time
-Melvin Abramovich

            I am Melvin Abramovich. A freshman at Baruch College, a son, a grandson, and a brother. I am a lot of things to a lot of people but most importantly I am myself. I am a hockey player, a goalie to be exact. I am a role model as well as a follower. I’m eighteen years old and I can act like I am a lot older and a lot younger. I am funny but serious, curious and excited to explore the world. I am Melvin Abramovich.

One of my main concerns at Baruch College is not keeping up with the readings. There are so many pages to read for so many classes and reading was never my thing. I need to be forced to read and if im not I tend to avoid the reading. Another one of my main concerns is not having a high enough GPA to get into the business school. I really need to get into the business school in order to be successful in life. My final concern is being late to class. Sometimes my train can be late and I feel like my professor judges me if I come late to class.

My Baruch experience is already different from high school. I love having no school on Fridays. I also enjoy having fewer classes in one day. It is different having a class every other day but for a longer amount of time. Finally the homework assignment and tests are different and all in all my Baruch Experience is already different from high school.

My first year of college will not really change me. I will still have the same values and beliefs. The only difference is I just have to travel farther to get to school. I am still Melvin Abramovich and I will remain Melvin Abramovich.

Chicken nuggets. Are they really that good? Or maybe its just the sauce. I mean there are so many different sauces. Theres always the reliable bar b que. But hot sauce? Or even the sweet and sour one. But no one really eats the chicken nugget without the sauce. You can do that but that’s so weird. But what if I bite the chicken nugget. I don’t wana double dip if im sharing. Sharing is caring but I don’t wana share my food. You know when people take a French fry from you. Then you give them a stare and they answer its only one French fry. Yea I know its only one but that’s one more that I could of ate. Anyways back to chicken nuggets. Does the shape have to do with anything? Like are the dino shaped ones better tasting than the regular ones. Probably not, but theyre so much more fun to eat. I can bite the head of first, then the legs and eventually im done with the dinosaur. That’s so much more fun than the boring circle ones. How many can I really eat? 10 is never enough but 20 is too much. I can never find that number in between. Its so annoying because I hate eating all mine and still being hungry but it’s a shame when I have to throw them out. Then whats up with chicken tenders. Its just a chicken nugget on steroids. Are they really necessary? I doubt it. I also doubt that diet coke is good for you. Like come on, it can get the rust of a penny. And you expect me to drink that stuff.? Yea ok that’s gona happen..Not. All this is making me kinda hungry. What should I go and eat? Well im gona go and eat some of my favorite foods. Judging by everything I said theres only one logical thing to go and eat. Yep are you thinking what im thinking? Chicken and rice.

Tae Kwon Do is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. At one point, it was the world’s number one martial art in terms of the number of participants. Tae Kwon Do teaches discipline, philosophy, self-defense and respect. I learned to be a better person because of my time spent at the dojang. A dojang in Tae Kwon Do is the equivalent of a dojo in karate. I have learned Tae Kwon Do for about 6 years, from when I was around five years old until I was eleven. I’m a second degree black belt and I was one of the youngest to have ever gotten a black belt.

I first started Tae Kwon Do because my mom forced me to join. She didn’t even ask me if I wanted to join or not. She made me join because I was a weak and lethargic little kid at a young age so my mom thought that it would be a good idea for me to get some exercise by practicing Tae Kwon Do. At first, I enjoyed it. It was fun and I actually enjoyed learning; but after a while, I started to not enjoy it as much. Everything got a lot more difficult and the instructors went a lot harder on me. I think they forgot that I was still just a little kid. They even made me cry one time by physically forcing me to do a full split for 10 full seconds.  Although Tae Kwon Do wasn’t as enjoyable later on as it was at the start, it still had its good moments.

After reflecting back on it for a while, I have come to realize that I don’t regret practicing Tae Kwon Do. It has definitely helped improve myself overall, both physically and mentally.

I am an Asian-American born and raised in New York City. I am an athlete, student, son and brother. I can be a little hard to understand. I don’t think that I even understand myself sometimes. I am smart but lazy. I know I can do better than how I am now but I don’t have the determination and motivation to do so. I’m a good friend and I can be very understanding and sympathetic. I am very curious and have always been ever since I was young. I want to better myself and I’m aiming to become a better person with every passing day.

My top concerns about my freshman year at Baruch College are the workload, the transition between high school and college, and the time management. I am naturally very lazy and I don’t do well with a lot of homework. I usually take my time to do it and I put it off until the very end. I would like if there is very little homework and all we need to do is to study. I want a smooth transition from high school into college. I don’t like the feeling of being at a new school again. I want to feel welcomed and to feel like I’m in a nice environment to learn. Lastly, I am worried about my time management. I want to use my schedule and the breaks between classes effectively. I don’t want to put time to waste and just not do anything.

What I think will make my Baruch experience different from my high school experience is my schedule and the freedom that we have to go wherever we want whenever we want. My short schedule allows me to do more of the things that I want to do. I have more free time and less time spent at school. However, a good amount of that time outside of school will have to be spent on schoolwork and studying. Some of the breaks between classes will allow me to spend time on my schoolwork and studying too as well as anything else I want to do. I have a lot of free time on my hands but I have to use it right.

I think my first year of college will be a cold dose of reality. At first, I’m not going to work very hard. I’m going to be lazy and then when my grades come in, I’m going to realize that I need to work a lot harder than I have been every working in school. My first year will show me that I can’t live being lazy like I have always been. I need to actually start working hard to get the grades that I want.