New Life at Baruch College

Posted on December 5, 2011 by yue.liu2

Time flies. When I
started to write this blog, I realized that it was already the end of my first
semester at Baruch College.  During the
past three months, there were a lot of things and new people bursting into my
life that either made me feel depressed, crazy, or made me feel impressed,
happy.

Before I attended
Baruch College, I expected that I would manage and divide my time perfectly
into three aspects: develop my social network, handle my school work and take
care of my personal life. However, since I didn’t develop an effective time
management skill, my whole plan messed up. During a limited period of time, I
could never get all the work of these three aspects done. For example, on
Saturday, I could only stay home, focus on my papers with a cup of coffee and a
McDonald’s No. 5 meal, without handing out with my friends or preparing a big
meal for myself. Similar things kept happening to me showed how my experience
had not lived up to my expectation.

On the other hand, I
really improved my reading skills, which was the experience that had lived
exceeded my expectation. I got a really poor reading skill before I attended
Baruch College. I had to spend a longer period of time either reading or interpreting
an article than others. However, after attending Baruch College, I realized
that the reading assignments I had to complete within one week were almost
equal to the quantity I had to complete within two months when I was in high
school. This situation forced me to really pay attention to my poor reading
skill, and develop it as soon as possible.

Overall, I think my
first semester at Baruch College deserves a B+. Even though there were many
things that had not lived up to my expectations, I still got some achievements
of certain areas under this new environment at college. If I could do my first
semester all again, I would definitely drop my philosophy class at the
beginning instead of being tortured by it for the whole semester, so that I
could use that huge amount of time to study something that was really
attractive for me, because philosophy was really a class that caused people
lots of time but only gave them few rewards.

I don’t think that I
have changed a lot since I started at Baruch College. As I know, I tended to
contribute more time on my school work and my social network; I started to
spend less time at home, and discuss fewer things with my parents. In a word, I
got more involved in college and became more independent at home. I’m not sure
if those changes are right, but I’m sure that they are the marks of my new life
at Baruch College.

Posted in Blog Post 3 | 5 Comments

Got survived ! First semester of college

Posted on December 5, 2011 by ying

Finally, the first semester of  college freshmen almost end! Time went by so fast, I still feels like the first day at Baruch College. Remember when I first step into Baruch, I carried a lot of expectations along with a lot of worries, now it’s been one semester already. I can’t say I accomplished all my expectations, because at least, I didn’t get involved in any club yet which is originally one of my expectations. However, I did fulfill some others, such as making a lot of friends which I didn’t expect that I actually exceeded my original expectation, because I wasn’t really good at social communication before.

Well, I can’t say my first semester at Baruch is perfect, because I still have a lot of expectations that weren’t finished, and also the large amount of readings from every class really give me a shock that I couldn’t deal with it. I guess because I was still dreaming in high school, that causes I did not put 100% effort in class working, which made the deeper knowledge than high school more complicated, and eventually led me a bad test grade. Thus, at the end of the semester, I think I need to have a self-examination,  in order to improve my ability to fit in college life better.

If I could retake the first semester again, first of first, I will put more effort in class working and concentrating on class listening,
try my best not to fall asleep in class, or do more class participation to keep myself awake, so I won’t be worried about my test grade anymore. And also try to find some interesting clubs to join, and then my college life won’t be such boring. Well, I know all these are just hypothesis, because things already happened and won’t go back, but at least I can set those as my goals for the next semester,
which is not too late, isn’t it?

To be honest, I actually changed a lot after I went to college. I noticed that  I wasn’t so afraid of public speaking or class participation as I used to be in high school because of my language barrier, and my pronunciation is more smooth than I used
to have, which actually makes me really happy. Well I guess I can say this is really a big progress. I believe that I can improve more during the later life at Baruch, which I am looking forward to it.

Keep fighting!

 

Posted in Blog Post 3 | 6 Comments

Community Service

Posted on December 5, 2011 by zhuoxin.pan

     I choose to join the Breast Cancer Walk in Prospect Park as my community service project. The walk was on October 16. We needed to walk 5 miles around the Prospect Park. The purpose of this walk is to do fundraising for breast cancer patients, inspirit the breast cancer survivors, and caution the publics to pay attention to breast cancer. I think this walk is not only influence our community, but have a wide effect on our society.

     I don’t feel any surprise when I initially hear that I need to participant in the community service project, since I have participant in some community service projects throughout my high school years. Actually, it’s my second year to walk for the Breast Cancer Walk. So, I can tell some of my experience to my group member during the project.

     I don’t regret to give my time and energy to others in this walk. I just take it as a morning exercise. I don’t think it cost me a lot. Honestly, I don’t think I can help them much either. However, I learn that the people around me are very engaging. Lots of people are dressing in pink and holding some support sites. The service site is also well decorated, that makes the whole atmosphere is very excited and energetic.

     My most trying experience in the project is to try me best to walk through the whole 5 miles, even though I feel extremely tired after the first mile. However, I make it at last. This experience teaches me an old lesion again: Never give up. I don’t think this project is quite relating to my education. If you want me to point out some relationship, I may just say that the in both area, we need to have a good attitude. This project also relates to the “Leadership and Service” session, in terms of lots of people engaging in community service every year. The project does tell me this point. The people in the walk are countless. My community service experience also changes my thinking, in terms of team working. As we live in the same society, we need to work with people in lots of cases. And the community service well develops my skill in team working.

     Overall, I quite satisfy with my experience, since I take part in this big event and people say that I can help others. I am looking forward participant in more community service during my college and adulthood as well, since I feel lots of people help me in this society, I need to give some feedback to my community.

     Summing up, my service-learning experience is tired but quite sunny and warm.

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The Third Workshop

Posted on December 5, 2011 by zhuoxin.pan

     I went to a workshop call “Job Search Strategies” on December 01 during the Club Hours. It’s a workshop offered by the Starr Career Development Center. Basically, this workshop taught us some important strategies to find a job. Even though I am just a freshman, I think it’s important for me to start thinking of my future earlier, which can give me a clearer goal during college.

     I think some points the instructors informed to us are very important. She suggested us to be realistic and know about our interest when we are looking for a job. She also pointed out that it was much harder to find a job in this economics. Alternative, she suggested us to think more diversity, such as working outside of New York State or in another country. I think that’s true, we can’t limit ourselves within New York area.     

     Personal pitch is another strategy that I learn from the workshop. It is a 30-second to 2-minute long infomercial about you containing the most important and relevant information you want the listener to know. As the instructor said “We are the products in the job market, we need to let the buyers know what’s our features.”  It’s necessary for us to create our own personal pitch before the interview. A good personal pitch can increase our chance to get a job. She also informed the formal social network called Linkedin for us. Unlike Facebook, it’s a formal business network. It’s an important building block for our people networking. Besides, she also taught us not to do silly things on our Facebook profile, because lots of companies would take a look at our Facebook profile when they make their decision. Even though most of us think it’s impossible, but actually they do.

     Overall, this workshop is informative and helpful, even freshman can benefit from it. After this workshop, I know that actually the Starr Career Development Center offers lots of different workshops to help us, such as teaching us to write a resume, preparing us for interview, etc. I definitely need to attend those kinds of workshops more at Baruch. In college, I can’s only pay attention to my academic work.

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My First Semester

Posted on December 5, 2011 by zhuoxin.pan

     As I look back, I think my experience at Baruch has almost lived up with my expectations. Before I stepped into college, I heard some friends said that college was not easy. Thus, I don’t have a very high expectation for myself, in terms of grade. For the first semester, I just expect myself to get used to the college environment. Throughout the semester, I think I have met my expectations. I make some new friends and have pretty good time with them at Baruch. I also feel familiar with our campuses. At least I know the main structure of the campuses. If I have some questions or problems, I also know some departments that I can go for help, such as the STARR Career Development Center can help me create my resume and help me to develop my future career. If I need help for registering classes, I can walk in the Center for Academic Advisement. Overall, I feel comfortable with the Baruch environment now. It’s not a strange place for me anymore. I get used to my college environment. That’s enough for my first semester.

     At the beginning of this semester, I felt time went extremely slow. First of all, classes at Baruch are longer than classes at high school in general. That makes me feel that class is never end. Second, everything was new so that I couldn’t find any enjoyment, thus, I felt very hard at the beginning of the semester. It seemed a long journey for me. However, college life is in a high pace. I got lots of reading and assignments to deal with. As I stick with them, I felt this semester went very fast. Now, I almost walk to the end of the semester. I may need to catch up with the pace and enjoy the rest of the time of my first semester at Baruch.

     If I can start my first semester again, I definitely will try to enjoy it more. I think I was over nervous at the first couple months of the semester. May be the environment is strange for me, or the classes are too hard. I felt too nervous about anything at Baruch. As a result, I gave up some time to enjoy the college. If I can start over again, I will go to join a club or use the gym at some times during the club hours instead of sitting in the library to torture myself. Alright, I will try to involve more next semester.

     Have I changed since I started at Baruch? Definitely! As I start at Baruch, I need to stick with MTA every day. I need to log in to the MTA home page routinely to check the trains’ status. Before, I only took train if I wanted to go out during the weekends. Academically, I also have changed. Specifically, I have improved my reading and writing skills as well as my time management skill. They all change me positively.

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my college experience part two

Posted on December 4, 2011 by kunchen
Os iusti meditabitur sapientiam,
et lingua eius
loquetur iudicium.
Beatus vir qui
suffert tentationem,
quoniam cum probatus fruerit
accipiet coronam vitae.
Kyrie, ignis divine, eleison.
quam sancta,
quam serena,
quam benigna,
quam amoena.
O castitatis lilium
 
i do not need any credit for translating this lyrics from Latin to English.
 
The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom
And his language shall be spoken in judgment
Blessed is he who suffers temptation
Since he, with approval, shall receive the crown of life
Lord, fire divine, have mercy
Oh how holy
How serene
How kind
How pleasant
Oh, lily of chastity!
Lord, fire by divine, have mercy
Oh how sacred
Oh, How serene
How benevolent
How lovely
Oh! Lily of chastity
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College experience

Posted on December 4, 2011 by ying.jiang

     Times always go through as fast as water. I already spent almost a semester time to know about Baruch College. At beginning of semester, I was full of nervous and expectations to attend to the college. And I remembered that I hope that I could improve my English skill, make more friends, get a high GPA and get accustomed to the new environment in college at that time. After first semester in Baruch College, I found those expectations were really close me. I am pleasure to encounter more friends who always encourage and help me when I had some troubles.

     So far, I could hand out all classes that I have. Through whole semester at Baruch college, I realized how different experience and more pressures to students who studied in college. The first and most important thing that I learned is self-awareness, which means you have to remind yourself in any time. For example, you have to make a schedule and take time to study outside of class by yourself.

     There is no doubt that I have some obstacles during Baruch College. If I could make choice again, I would drop philosophy class immediately when I felt it was difficult to me. Even though I dropped it on the last day to drop class, but I felt like pity about it, because I already spent a lot time to overcome it. However, I cannot regrets to make this decision because of a rational choice for my GPA. As we know, it was impossible to exit a medicine call “regrets” in this world. Therefore, we should think about it carefully when we make choices or decisions.

      During those months, I believe that I have got some changes since I started at Baruch College. First of all, I began to make a plan which try to push myself to follow my schedule to do everything. I found that it was helpful, efficient and convenient to work and study. On the other hand, I made effort to communicate with my classmates in English in the class. The college provides a suitable environment to participant communication skills; I do not want to miss this opportunity.

     In conclusion, even though there were some problems in college life, I still enjoy first semester at Baruch College.

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3rd Workshop

Posted on December 4, 2011 by haochuan.luo

Recently I attended a Job Search Strategies workshop on Thursday, December 1st. It is a presentation of job searching. It talks about how we can apply different strategies into interview and job researching in order to get into the job we are pursuing. The workshop tells me how to prepare for interview and use different utilities to search for jobs in a general sense.

Instructor started the workshop by telling us we should better know what we are looking for. For instance, it is a good idea to identify our goals and evaluate ourselves before we go into interview. We should look for realistic goal for a job instead of thinking unrealistically. In instructor’s words, we are the product for the job. Employers are looking for a specific product that can benefit their company and in particularly, they are choosing the quality of our production. Our ability to work is the production they are looking at. Therefore, employers are just like an individual that looking for some quality that stands out of the product. We have to understand our advantage and strength so that we know how to sell ourselves.

Knowing our interest and skills, then we should be aware of the opportunity we can get. There are many ways to search for jobs. For example, advertisement, website, and newspaper are all available for us to look for further information. Networking is another useful way of searching for jobs. Instructor also informed us several websites that can help us to develop a better understand of the work field.

Job searchers also need to know the position that you are interested it and try to make connection within the industry. Know the market is also very important for us because from the market we can gather information of where the jobs locate and how many possible employers are there.

In conclusion, I think the workshop is helpful and I would attend more workshops about job searching in the future.

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Community Service – Breast Cancer Walk

Posted on December 4, 2011 by haochuan.luo

 

 

The Breast Cancer Walk is supportive for the community to hear our voice. Our walk can inspire breast cancer patients and also get more people in our community to help the breast cancer patients. I think as a participant in this community service, I could use my time and energy to support the community. This community service work can spread out the information to all community members if we have more participants. Also, there were couple breast cancer walks took place in different area, such as Brooklyn.

I was happy when I heard I am engaging in this community service project because I was getting involved in this event and it was very meaningful to our community to support people in needed. I feel like this is a good opportunity for me and our fellow students to give back to the community.

I feel excited to give my little time and energy to help others. I am willing to do so because as a member in this community, I think I am responsible to help and give out my time to support this event because there would be more people to get inspired and follow our walk. It is an important event to show our energy and unite our community through this Breast Cancer Walk. I learn that I am a member in this community because everyone else can feel the excitement between the walkers. The people around me near the service site are all volunteers and they are giving more effort into the event. They organized well to direct the event. I learn that everyone has power to let people know more about breast cancer and raise awareness. People are so energetic to participate in the event resulting I am getting more involved in the walk and appreciate the time with all of them.

The best experience occurred while engaging in the Breast Cancer Walk was the enjoyment from the event because everyone around me was very devoted into the walk. What I learned from that was we can gather larger attention and even change other’s lives by gathering our voice together. I found this project related to our discussion of the “Leadership and Service”, because it reminds me that we should give back to our community so that it can be a better place for everyone to live in.

This community service experience changed my thinking toward my community in a way that I feel like everyone in this community is willing to help and support others. There were hundreds of volunteers working in the service sites to cheer people. I think by the experience, I would continue to do community service to help others.

From this experience, I realize myself as a member in this community; I do have a voice to join in the people. I can show my passion in it just like everyone else. I was satisfied with my experience overall. My group members were all enjoying the Breast Cancer Walk and it was fun. I see myself staying connected in the community and I am looking forward to doing more for my community in the future.

Everyone can contribute and bring change to the community they live in as long as they are willing to help their community.

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Blog Post 3

Posted on December 4, 2011 by haochuan.luo

My first semester at Baruch College was quite difficult to start at the beginning. I expected to know a lot of people and get accustomed to the college life, but there were more challenges than what I expected. I feel like I can do it better if I could step out my comfort zone a little further. I expected to get good grades and join many clubs but getting to the end of the first semester, I am not successful for doing that. Also, I think I was not comfortable to read through all the assigned reading because they were hard to understand. But, the good thing of it is my reading ability is getting better and I can read faster than before.

I think my first semester at Baruch College went pretty good. I was doing things correctly and had chances to make friends with other fellow students. I think I improve my time management at college and I am a more independent person now. School works are hard but I am trying my best to get the best result. I learned a lot of new knowledge and new people, all those experience inspire me to become a better and well-around person. I feel like I am getting closer to join in the Baruch community. Besides taking subway every single day, I think Baruch is the best for me now.

If I had a chance to do it again, I think I would spend more time on study and mange my time better to stop being late in the calculus class. I would have more participation in classes.

I didn’t recognize my change since I stared at Baruch College, but my parents said I was putting more time in study than I was in high school. If I have to say one thing I changed, I would say it is my attitude of study. I learn that if I was not getting more serious on study, I was not going to get a poor grade at the end of semester. This thought pushed me to focus on my study so far.

To sum up, I think I learn a lot from my freshman experience at Baruch College. It starts a new chapter in my life.

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