Surviving College 101 Section: FTA

     Heraclitus says “Nothing is permanent except change.”  I believe this quote exactly defines my personal theme. Yes, everything is changing. One second ago, millions of old cells were got replaced inside my body. One minute ago, I was still on 23^rd   Street but I am inside the Newman Vertical campus now. One hour ago, I was at home and sitting in front of my desktop, but I am in my philosophy class now. One year ago, I was still a high school student, but I am in college now.

     Life is changing all the time. I used to have a relaxing high school life, not much pressure, without tons of reading and writing, low pacing, and easy grading. However, it can’t last forever. Now, my school life just shifts to a totally opposite side. I face lots of challenges in my college now. There is a ton of reading material for each class. The amount of reading I do in a week is like what I did in a year in my high school time. I need to devote lots of time into my school work now. I can’t catch up with such a fast pace. I am tired. Surly, I will get used to it as time goes by. But then I will be placed into a new environment, take a new role again. At the time I feel comfortable with my college life or even love it, graduation may not far from me. Then, I may struggle with my graduate school or struggle in looking for a job.

      That’s also what I am afraid of.  Changing makes unstable. Because I don’t know what is next, where the destination is. As I get closer or get used to something, it won’t last for a while. I may love and get used to my philosophy class in some days, but at the moment I love it, I may be writing my final paper and ready to say good bye to my professor. Then, we will register for lots of brand new class and struggle with them again. Life is going too fast and changing so often. More precise, it changes all the time. I am afraid of it. What I enjoy it’s what I borrow but not what I own. I can’t stay at the same spot forever, no matter how much I like it. Time keeps taking away my old stuffs and giving me the news. Maybe I need to keep growing my mind at the same time.

     Change is ahead. Don’t dream about my childhood, my secondary school life, or whatever happened in the past. Maybe I need to cherish what I have now and get ready to what is coming soon.

I notice that most of the time I am a quiet, non-talkative, a very shy person. This part of my personality is something I don’t like about myself. I believe that my shyness may affect how I handle myself, my responsibilities and situations, and about growing up. I think I would like to be stronger and braver when dealing with life when it comes to my family and college life.

My parents and family have high expectations of me. Being in a new and strange country, my family relies on me very much. I find that I need to be stronger and braver, even if not for them, but for myself. I feel a lot of pressure about all of this. I always hoped that I had an older sister, someone who could take some of the pressure off from me. It has been a real struggle for me also. I guess that I don’t want to grow up yet. I always talk to myself that I must grow up now and I must be brave and strong. Maybe it would even be helpful if I were a little less shy, but personality and character are hard to change. When I was a kid, I always hoped that I could grow up faster so my mom wouldn’t continue to nag me. As I am finally growing up right now, I find that I am really afraid. I feel more helpless being independent, dealing with life’s hardships and responsibilities. I am envious of my younger sister. I always wanted to be her because she seems to be without as much sorrow and worry. Besides my family life, I am also finding some new challenge in college life.

As I attend college now, not only I find that I have to deal with many new challenges, but also time seems to be running faster. I find that college classes, reading material, lecture, and homework make me feel exhausted. Whenever I experience this pressure and have setbacks, I always think about reverting back to being a kid. I was afraid to grow up, and not facing my life as I should as an adult.

I realize that everyone needs to grow up. I must take responsibility with my family, my school, and life in general.  My goal is to try to think positive, and accept who I am, also try to change myself. I believe that tomorrow will be bright, and life can be better every day.

                                                 “Before” and “After”

“Who are you?”

“I’m just a normal girl.”

“And who are you?”

“Well…I don’t know…”

 When I was a little girl, all my mind was filled with fantastic dreams: I want to be an actress, so everyone can see me on TV; I want to be a painter, so  I can draw down every beautiful thing I’ve ever seen; I want to be doctor, just like a white angel who saves people’s life; I want to be a musician, whose music can warm people’s heart.

 But now…

 Actress? Nah…that’s a very tired job, and not every actress can be famous, you may ruin your life by any chance; Painter? Nah… it’s not going to make money that way. Interest is important, but without money you can’t develop your interest; Doctor? Nah…that’s may be a good way to make money, but you can’t even bear to see blood, and that’s a dangerous job, you may get infected by accident, that’s scared; Musician? Nah…music doesn’t feed you, does it?

“Oh, come on, let’s be more practical!”

 Sometimes, I am thinking, is everyone going to change their dreams after they become adult, or being brain washed by their last generation, parents? Do they prefer to be practical rather than dreaming? Why can’t “before” and “after” being the same?

 Am I going to change or being brain washed, and give up my own dream? I think I know my answer, but do you know your answer?

“Who are you?”

“I’m not a common girl.”

“And who are you?”

“I’m a girl who chases my own dream.”

                                                “The Girl Sat in the Corner” 

Who is the shy girl?

The girl sits in the corner.

Who is the taciturn girl?

The girl sits in the corner.

Who is the girl sits in the corner?

I’m that girl.

Being a non-native speaker and a girl who came from another country not long time ago, the accent mixed in my English makes me want to dig a hole in the land and hide myself, whenever I open my mouth to speak. There is always another voice in my heart said: “Don’t speak, all you can get are people’s laughing.” Maybe that’s true…

Hours by hours and days by days, I try not to speak.

But…

What’s this feeling? Lonely? Isolated? Or what? It tastes a little bitter, and acerbic. It makes me sad, I miss my old friends, but they are far away from here. I hate this feeling, I want to change it.

“Yes, that’s right, you can change it.” There is another voice flows up in my heart, it’s bright and warm. “All you can do is ‘Don’t Mind’. You are not the only person who feels this way. You are not alone. Everyone is the same.”

“Really?”

“Yes, look around. How many kinds of skin color you see? How many different languages you hear? We are all from different areas, different countries, no one has the right to laugh at others, because you may be even much better than them.”

“That’s right! All the problems are just excuses for me to run away from reality, all I need is confidence, right?”

Ok, now…

Who is the girl sits in the corner?

I was that girl.

What kind of person I want to be? I never stop asking myself this question, but I still cannot get a satisfied answer for myself. I think that the only way which I have a content solution through my thinking and experiences to explore the world and to pursue my own well-being.

Even though I have been in The United State for 3 years, I am afraid of speaking English in front of people or in public now. I tried to practice English to be better, but it came too slowly. No matter it will take how long time, I will persist in studying the communication skill.

What kind of challenges in Baruch College? So far, everything looks like so good for me, but still there are some problems. My biggest challenge is Philosophy class, because I really confused what are exactly the professor talk about. Even I already have prepared the lesson before the class; I also did not understand it. However, I will try my best do it. On the other hand, I am pleasure to make more friends in the college. They always help me with enthusiasm and give me a power and encourage when I have troubles. I really appreciate your guys from bottom of my heart.

As the image shows that my personal quote is “Never ever give up”. The quote always reminds me that keep perseverance to do anything when I fall into the dilemma every time. It inspires me to believe that tomorrow will be better because the sunshine always come out after the stormy rain

I see myself is weak and indecisive wherever I have dilemmas. What if I don’t have that fear, would I be able to solve the problem anyway or even worse? What happened in the last three years has made the person I am right now, but now I can shape my future.

I like being around with my friends, but at the same time, I like being alone and enjoy the quiet. Sometimes, I am ambivalent. I could not tell the reason but I am looking forward to finding it. I am afraid of change, but I also don’t like have repetitive life style. I am the kind of person who live my life depends on my mood. I like thinking because I can found it helpful for me to plan everything. I like to schedule things in mind and arrange them in order.

I am happy to come to New York City and be a student at Baruch College. Here I found many friends and learned a lot from them. I spent a lot of time with my high school friends in the last two years and I have been able to develop a strong friendship with them. I see myself I have to try everything which will enrich my life. I am dedicated to make myself a better person, no matter how long it takes.

What am I afraid of? The first thing I would definitely say it is height! I realized I have fear of height since I was a child in China. I am afraid of losing my track on work; I am afraid of living without ambition and dream.  I believe in myself, not to regret what I had missed in the past but look for a better future.

Hello guys,

 This is my first post on blog 😀

For this question”who do you think you are?” my answer is “I am the one which others couldn’t be.”I never feared about other people talking about me because they could not

change me at all.I have my own way to go,either hardship or happiness gained, I am still me ,not others.Sometimes, I lost myself for various  things such as giving up

study,addicted to online games,etc.However,when other people told me that these things wasted my life time even if  i never thought they wasted time,I told myself “I am

who I am,I I know who I am,and I definitely know what am i doing.”

I try to understand this world in many different ways by learning different subjects,but learning a huge amount of knowledges takes long time,even one’s entire life.Therefore,

focusing on specific field of study will be more realistic.I do not know what I want to learn yet,but I do think I will be someone in someplace. I just want to keep searching

the one thing that I interested in most ,and then spend my whole life time onto it.

My name is Min Kyung Seong. I was born in Korea on December 9th 1992. I have no definite answer for the question, “Who do you think you are?”. My answers will vary as time goes by. My current answer to this question is different from my past answer. It will be also different in the future because of the concerns I have now.
In the past I was asked to answer the same question. Back then, this question was not difficult. I answered it very simply. I was an elementary kid with a bright personality. I was a good friend and a good daughter. When I was in elementary, I had no major experiences in my life. I was just a normal kid who likes to have fun. Now, I am a college student who had many experiences in life. I had happy moments and sad moments. I believe those experiences makes me who I am now. For example, if I had not attended Baruch College, I might have gone to Albany University. Then, I might have different experiences that could change me from who I am now.
I was excited about going to Baruch College, but at the same time, I was also worried. I was separated from my friends because we are all attending different colleges. I had to start all over again starting with making new friends. I always had difficulties with making new friends. But I think I’m doing fine now but, not satisfied. My second concern is the grades. The college work is harder than I thought. I have a feeling that I cannot be the same person as I was in high school if I want to do well in college. I was not a dedicated student in high school which laid me in the middle. I wasn’t a smart student but I also wasn’t a stupid one. I have to work hard in order to raise my grades. The third concern is the lateness. I am a very lazy person. When I first got my schedule, I was so worried about the morning classes. I tried my best to be on time but it is not working out. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying.
So far, I think I am enjoying my first year of college. Everything is new and I am excited about the changes it will bring me. I just wish this excitement lasts for long.

 Before I logged in my account, I was wondering whether I would be the last person of the entire seminar class to post this blog. Unfortunately, the thing I hate has really happened on me. I am not ashamed about being the last one, I am just fail to reach one of my goals, the goals that I set up for myself before I attended college. I was so confident to get all the goals done, now it seems like I was dreaming at the time I made those goals, finally I found out I am not awake yet at this moment. I am writing this blog right now, for nothing but completing the assignment, the original intention has gone already, and the following things I’m going to write have been meaningless for me.

The first concern during my college period should be time management. I was so naïve to think that there will be a change on me, I would be no longer a lazy student, the darkness in high school has gone, the assignment would not be done at the last minute by due day anymore. Eventually I’ve found out I couldn’t get rid of these weakness so far. I’ve been attending college for one month, I felt absolutely disappointed about myself, but there is still a hope, which I am hoping to reach this goal before I graduate fromBaruchCollege. It might take couple months or couple years, I don’t know, I will try my best effort to get this done!

My second concern is to have a good relationship with other students in Baruch. It’s usually more difficult for us, the Chinese immigrants, to build up a wide social network at college because of the language problem. So far I am still in trouble with this insistence, I believed I could make friends who do not speak Chinese, and finally it has became one of my beliefs……I am just able to communicate with those Chinese guys in my class, I am even uncomfortable to speak English, I have failed again. But the same conclusion as my first concern, I am doing my best to reach the goal. Even though this insistence is tough, it may take me ten years to overcome it, or maybe I couldn’t speak fluent English forever, I will never stop my steps forward.

The third concern is having a full attendance for every course, so far I’ve done a good job at this so I don’t want to spend time to talk about it. Not because I am lazy, the time now is 22:45 P.M, it’s about one hour to the deadline. After this I must study for my philosophy exam, I am rushing on everything and all the works can not be done unless I study overnight.

Who do I think I am? …… Who do you think I am?  ：）

To me, college is like taking a journey to find one’s self, not knowing where you will end up and what experiences you can gain. College is different from high school in many ways in which you are given more freedom to decide what path you want to take and it is your own responsibility to reach out and participate in the many opportunities given to you.

One of my main concerns about my freshman year at Baruch College is getting comfortable with the school and getting to know the resources available because unlike in high school, where you had some sort of guidance, it is up to yourself to get involved and get to know the resources and opportunities given to you and take advantage of them. Another concern from being a freshman in college is maintaining a good GPA.I feel that maintaining a good GPA is important because it opens up more opportunities and choices. In high school for example, those who achieved higher GPAs were rewarded with scholarships and opportunities at better Colleges while those with lower GPAs were given limited choices. In order to maintain a good GPA, one must show that they understand the subject and complete the assigned work within the given time. This leads me to my third concern in College, time management. I feel that time management will be my biggest concern in College because having been given all this extra time, I may slack off on my work and hold it off until the very end before completing it which may cause me to not do so well.

I am hoping that in my first year of College, I will be able to find out what I am interested in and decide on a major. Some changes that I expect from my first year of college is having to speak more in front of a large audience and making new friends in order to pass my time and have fun during my time in college.

In my opinion the question “Who Do You Think You Are?” is really meaningless, because the person who is sitting here and writing this blog is just me. Whatever I think shows how I interpret different things, whatever I do shows how I solve problems, and whatever I perform decides how people look at me.

I think I am just the person I am.

Now, as a college student, there are three top concerns about my freshman year at Baruch College.

Firstly, I have to develop self-study skill. When I was in high school, teachers usually taught us everything we supposed to know and summarized it for us, which made me spend just a little time to study at home. However at college, it’s on the opposite side. For every class, teacher assigns homework for us to read the next chapter on the text book. And then, on the next day, he just goes over the main idea with us and leaves everything else for us to figure out by ourselves instead of covering all of them. It forces me to spend a lot of time at home learning it by myself, which I would never have to do in high school. Therefore a self-study skill is very necessary at college, and I have to develop it as soon as possible.

Secondly, I have to develop my own social network. As a business student, although I need to study hard on my courses, it doesn’t mean I have to be a nerd. I should participate in many clubs and act energetically to make a lot of friends using my free time. Because when I graduate from college, get into the society and start my business, I need friends to help me in many different ways. For work, we can either share some information or corporate to do a project; for private, we can either hang out to relax ourselves or solve some personal problems if we need. Therefore I need to figure out the way of making friends and develop my own network.

Thirdly, I have to develop my time management skills. I am the kind of person who really knows how to waste time. I can spend whole day watching movies, chatting with my friends, or just lying on my bed without thinking anything. Then at the end of that day when I am ready to sleep, I feel so sorry about losing another day and hope I can get tomorrow fully used. But guess what? The same thing happens again on the next day. Therefore I always feel so stress out when there comes the deadline of some homework or project that is really important for the class. I have to change this situation right now, because if I keep doing this, I will definitely fail all my classes and harm my future plans.

I, a freshman at Baruch college, with three top concerns in mind, hope to change myself into a better way for my future.