Monthly Archives: October 2011

I will always remember and think back on this moment. This day before we graduate, my friends and I will be together to cherish the moments that we have shared throughout high school. I see the school and all my fellow graduates gathered together taking advantage of the last moments some of us will have together. Wow, I’ve never even seen some of these people before. But then again, this can’t be everyone. I doubt all 960 seniors came to this barbeque. We definitely wouldn’t be able to all fit out here. But I see the guidance counselors and teachers sure made an effort to be here today.  It seems like they’re having a good time themselves. Before I leave, I must acknowledge all of the guidance counselors and teachers out on the field who have helped me to get to where I am today. I hope I remember to thank them for setting up this amazing senior barbeque as well.

My emotions are running wild. It saddens me knowing I will never see some of these familiar faces from the halls again. At the same time, I am glad we are moving on to bigger and better things in life.

How lovely, why are so many of my friends holding out their yearbooks for me to sign? Oh gosh, whose should I sign first? I guess I’ll take Gina’s. What should I write? I have so much to say! Should I write about the fun times we had in class together and reminisce about our crazy adventures or wish her well in the future hoping we hang out before she leaves for college. Oh how I’ll miss this crazy chick! If I’m having such a hard time thinking of what to write in one of my closest friend’s yearbook, I can’t imagine what I am going to write in other people’s yearbooks.

Oh gosh, a big group is coming towards us. Is it picture taking time already? Who the hell is pulling me by the arm trying to get me to pose for a picture? I hope I didn’t blink.

Subject: Midterm illness

To Professor ___________

I missed my midterm on Sunday because I had food poisoning and had to be hospitalized. I hope you can help me reschedule another test day for me to take it. Thank you very much.

Henry T.

Hello my name is Henry and I’m just a sarcastic guy that likes to chill with his friends. Sometimes though i tend to take my jokes a little far so don’t hate on me for that. My hobbies are playing handball, chillin with friends and working out. I like to push people to do their hardest whether it’s mental or physical. My top three concerns for baruch would be making a lot of friends, getting good grades, and just having fun in school. I feel that a lot of people now make grades the top priority in their lives and i just think having fun in school is a lot better than just competing with other people for good grades so enjoy your life now. What makes Baruch different from high school is probably the size, the facilities, and the amount of influence it has on the outside world. Baruch has indoor gyms and courts for a lot of sports and also has a lot of connections with a large amount of business institutions. My first year at college really determines how my life will be for the rest of my college life and I’m hoping it’ll help me change into a more active and confident student.

I’ve always thought of forgetting about New York for a while and just leaving for a vacation with just my friends. No adults, no supervision. It’s just us versus the outside world. We would have to cook, clean and basically just survive together. Last spring, I finally had a chance to do it. It was exciting to get on a bus and just leave New York behind for a while. It was scary at first because we got lost in new jersey. We ended up at a house that looked nothing like the house we rented for the week. Eventually we found our way around. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of entering a house that was yours, oh wait not “yours” I meant ours, even if it was just for the week. Managing it wasn’t easy though. Twelve people in one house means A LOT of cleaning. A LOT of responsibility. It was also probably the best time I’ve ever had in my life. Watching basketball games and late night movies, playing poker, playing video games, cooking, going to the beach, playing sports, and watching the sunsets together made all the chores worth it. What about the money? It was never about that. Friends never need to worry about money. Friends always enjoy what they have together now. Friends with no worries about what’s going to happen. Friends that always have each other’s backs. Maybe that’s why we had such a great time.

Subject: Difficulty with HW MTH2100

To Professor Bob,

Hello, I am a student in your calculus class on Mondays and Wednesdays during 10:20 AM to 12:00 AM. I am currently completing your homework assignment due next Monday and I am having difficulty. In the textbook on page 55, I spent a long time on number 24. I am still unable to compute what 1+1 is. Please give me some hints on how to complete this question.

Thank you,

Rex Chan

Hello everyone, my name is Rex and I am named after a dinosaur. There is nothing much really special about me besides my unusual name. All my life I have been asked for my name twice when meeting new people. They would always think they heard wrong when I say my name is Rex.  But thanks to this peculiar name, I was able to write my college essay about my name and even this monologue. So why would I be named after a dinosaur? My parents thought that dinosaurs were strong and they wanted me to be strong too… Some people said that it’s because Rex means king in Latin but I’m sure my parents did not know that. Also, some friends told me it was because my parents were drunk which I think is unlikely. Well whether or not I’m named after an ancient reptile or the highest position in royalty, I will still be who I am today. As someone once said, “always be a first rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of somebody else”. Thank you.

I am Rex and I am a very carefree person. I usually just go with the flow and I am extremely lazy. After being admitted into Baruch, I hope that i would be able to become more hard working. I also wish to become active within Baruch, such as attending clubs and events. Unfortunately the transit from my home to Baruch College takes around less than two hours which is a real hassle everyday. So far, college life has really been similar to high school. I am still doing the minimum amount of work needed and I really hope to change this habit. After the first year of college, I am confident that I would change to become a more determined college student.

Subject: Question regarding the grade I received

Dear professor,

I was perplexed by the B- grade that I received from you. I normally would not waste your time asking you to boost my grade unnecessarily, but in this case, I really feel like I deserved an A. If you could possibly review the work I’ve done this semester and the A grades I received on my exams, I think you would agree that I deserve something higher than what I got. I always participate in the lectures and am always on time, and have not shown anything to suggest that I deserve anything less than an A. Hopefully you can look at my work and exams and give me the grade I truly deserve. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Bilal Raja

Let’s play a little game, shall we? No, it’s not a videogame. It’s not a board game either. Just listen for a second. Alright, here’s how it goes: I’ll play some lyrics from a song, and it’s your job to try and guess the name of the song. Simple, right? No? What do you mean no? I think the game is pretty self-explanatory. You think the game is too vauge? How is it vauge? Yeah, I know we like different kinds of music, but I also know which song you like, and I was planning to use those anyway. I was going to give you hints too, something that I was going to mentions before you started jumping to conclusions. Besides, does it really matter if you don’t get the answer right away? The answer doesn’t have to be right at your fingertips. You really need to learn to be more patient. But anyway, I digress. Do you want to play the game or not? Alright, then here’s the first song…

Bilal Raja

Freshman Seminar

Response

            For me, I am an independent individual who likes to do his own thing, whether it be popular at the moment or not. In fact, some of the things that interest me seem absurd and strange to some people. For example, unlike the majority of my friends, I prefer buying and riding a motorcycle over a car. My friends, most of whom already have licenses, find it strange that I don’t have a passion for cars like most kids our age do. I feel that I am prone to trying to be different from other people around me subconsciously, because this is the trend I see across everything I do/like. In this way, I think of myself as being unique and the opposite of what one would call a hype beast.

One concern that I have with my freshman year atBaruchCollegeis that it still hasn’t hit me that I am in college now and that everything I do from now on is going to affect my future. This is a personal concern for me and it scares me that I must maintain a very high GPA in times where jobs are scarce. I think that a college freshman may have some trouble transitioning from high school and this is something I am dealing with at the moment. Another concern I’ve had with my freshman year so far is the breakup of students into blocks. I never liked the idea of having the same students in every class – even in high school – and would have preferred getting a chance to meet new and more people. Because of the blocks for freshmen, I feel as if I’m limited to meeting the same group of students everyday. A third concern I have with my freshman year atBaruchCollegeis the increase in work that we have. College work is a big jump from the work I had in high school, and at times, it seems overwhelming. This issue concerns me because at times, professors expect too much from us and don’t realize that as freshmen just entering college, it will take some time to get adjusted to the workload. These high expectations to an extent have hurt my grade and therefore it is concerning for me.

What will make my Baruch experience different from my high school experience is the change in attitude: in high school, education felt like an obligation, something that was a burden for me. But in college, I think my learning experience will be developed by a realization of the importance of a good education and this will help me become more mature in terms of education. Since there is more freedom in college, it provides me with learning tools that are not as accessible in high school. My first year at college will change me by making me more mature when it comes to my education it will develop me into a person who is more proactive and intelligent.