Author Archives: atong

Baruch College has exceeded my expectations in every way I thought possible. It has provided me with both a great education at an affordable price and the opportunity to network with hundreds of new people. I’m extremely glad that I made the choice to come here for my first year of college, as it has really set me on the right path and mindset that I wish to retain for the rest of my life.

So far, my first semester at Baruch seems to be going pretty well. My grades so far are more or less where I want them, and time management seems to have gotten a bit easier over the past couple of months. No longer do I procrastinate as much, and I seem to have gotten ahold of my organization skills. I’m also improving upon completing my objective list, and no longer is it piling up as goals are finally being crossed out.

If I could redo my first semester, I think I would have tried to join more clubs and spent a little more time on internship searching. However, it is never too late for me to accomplish both of these goals in my second semester, so I’m not too worried about them yet.

As I said, my procrastination skills have greatly decreased and I am a lot better at managing my time now and sleeping at regular times of the night. I am a lot more focused on my education and getting the grades I want, and I am honestly much more prepared for whatever obstacles college may throw at me, than I was before my first semester. I am excited to continue my education here at Baruch in my second semester, and extremely eager to see what the future holds for me.

Name: Alex Tong

Freshman Seminar Course #: LC06

Name of Community Service Organization: Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

1. By uniting people all over the country, this organization helps raise both awareness and funds to support the battle against breast cancer. Since the start of the organization in 1993, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer has raised more than $400 million from these walking events and donations.

2. I was really excited to hear that I would be participating in community service. I have volunteered at several organizations before including NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, St. Francis Xavier Soup Kitchen, and Our Lady of Czestochowa School, so community service was not too new to me. It is something that I enjoy and something I believe all students should take part in, in order to give back to their communities.

3. Helping others and devoting my time to a good cause is something I really enjoy doing. It gives me satisfaction and happiness, knowing that I devoted my time to something that will go to help someone in a drastic way.

4. I learned that we were all there to genuinely help those in need. A lot of the people helping out were volunteers, and I was extremely surprised by the amount of people that showed up to help that cold Sunday morning. Seeing so many numbers, really makes you think about how many people actually care, and it just makes you really happy seeing so much good in the world, let alone New York City.

5. The best experiences were giving high fives to the walkers who seemed so enthusiastic about the cause in such cold weather at such an early time. I also got to see a lot of old friends and teachers from high school who were participating in the walk, so it was a lot of fun. I learned in Central Park that even with so much evil in the world, there seemed to be so much good in one place.

6. Making the most at a commuter school is all about making relationships with other students and helping each other along the way. Helping each other is what Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is all about. Society needs to realize that if we were to all participate in helping each other throughout our daily lives, the world would be such a better place.

7. Our community service experience was all about “Leadership and Service.” By taking the initiative in taking part in service, we are acting as leaders in society and in our school communities, encouraging others to do the same. This initiative is what starts movements all over the world throughout history.

8. This community service experience hasn’t changed me that much. Like I said, community service has always been something I enjoyed and participated in. It was a bit exciting to participate in a new form of community service, helping out outdoors during a walk, but my attitude towards helping the community in general hasn’t changed much. It will remain something I will do and enjoy for the rest of my life.

9. Community service in general has impacted me by making me a more caring person. I feel that if everyone were to partake in helping the community out, the world would be such a better place. The most important thing I’ve seemed to learn about myself from starting community service back in high school was that giving back to the community is a necessity required by all human beings. It is the way the communities works, and it is what makes the world turn.

10. My experience was very satisfying. I felt that my learning community made quite an impact on the walkers, especially since we were sectioned by the starting line.

11. I’ve been involved in community service since my Freshman Year in high school, so I don’t see why I wouldn’t continue giving back to my community and my world in both college and after college.

12. Community service experiences help volunteers realize that each helping hand goes a long way in making the world a better place, one person at a time.

I’m an eighteen year old Chinese American teenager who’s been living in NYC my entire life. I’m generally a pretty happy and humorous person even in the worst of times. I enjoy keeping smiles on my family and friends. I’m one of three children with two sisters. Family is the most important thing in my life. Dying is the thing that scares me the most. Success for myself and my family is what makes me really happy. School has been very tiring for me and full of work. My inspiration to try this hard comes from my rejection letter to my first choice college. That event had a huge impact on my life and made me want to try harder in life, so I’m extremely grateful for the experience.

The only other time I felt this much motivation to work was at my high school swim team’s championship meet where I took first place for my 50-free event. This event made me feel empowered. Overall, I want to become really successful one day, so successful that I can give back to others and become a distinguished philanthropist. I hope Baruch will be my successful medium to reach these goals.

Self-Portrait:

One of my favorite paintings by Edward Hopper:

nighthwk.jpg

Hey everyone, my name is Alex. I’m a 17 year old teenager born and raised in New York City; originally from the Lower East Side until I moved to Brooklyn in 2008. I’m a guy trying to make something of myself and I’m working as hard as I can in Baruch to get there. I’m a passionate lover of music and film, especially the classics. I love to swim and I’ve been on my high school’s varsity team for two years. And all in all, I look forward to getting to know all of you a lot better!
For the past couple of weeks in Baruch, I’ve had three major concerns. Firstly, I’m worried about my time management skills and whether or not they will be able to keep up with the work. But so far, my skills from high school seem to be adequate so I hope I will adapt even further. Furthermore, I’m also a bit concerned about competing for jobs and internships, because so far the competition looks pretty tough. And finally I’m worried about what will come in the near future and how things will fall into place. I’m hoping for the best, and I’m definitely also working for the best.
Baruch College has already been a drastic change for me. Going to school with people around the world instead of the Manhattan is one big difference. Having shorter classes also allows me the time to focus not only on school but on my jobs and my future as well. I think college has already begun to make me work harder than high school, and it definitely will shape who I will be for the rest of my life, so I will definitely embrace my four years here forever.