Author Archives: Michael Polgur

What’s up, my name is Michael Polgur. I’m a freshman at Baruch college, and I’m loving it.

I think my biggest fear is failure. Not failing a test or being rejected or something like that, not at all, I’m talking about self-failure. Like… I wouldn’t really care if my parents weren’t proud of me… but I would care if I didn’t do something that I expected that I could. Weird? Maybe. That’s me.

I like the fact that I never give up though. It’s pretty cool, especially when you consider the fact that there’s so many places where I could have given up. I’m not saying that i’m special or anything… just that… I’ve got a lot on my plate. Aside from school, and school-work, I’m on a team, and I’m practicing six days a week (intesively). It’s one extra addition, but it’s one heck of a commitment.

If I was a…. giver-upper… I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today. I’m not saying that I’ve gotten above and beyond everyone around me, but what I am trying to say is that I started off behind everyone… we all share the same finish line (our goals in life being complete), but everyone else had a 100 yard headstart, on nice, smooth pavement. My first 100 yards were a rocky road with lots of terrain, steep uphills, and rocks that seemed stable to step on, but weren’t.

I had scoliosis, with a 29 degree curve in my spine, and doctors were telling me that I had to either wear a brace until I’m 18 (which I am currently STILL not), or get surgery (and that was out of the question). I was also a pretty bad kid in junior high, and I did a lot of stupid stuff that put my starting line even farther back. I caught up on the grades and the maturity, and I swam every day, for two hours a day to strengthen my spine, and currently (thank God if there is one), I have a 0 degree bend in my back, and I am in tip-top shape.

I guess that my curse was my blessing. Those setbacks had set a pace of self-bettering that is higher than everyone else’s. Primarily, it was so that someday, I could catch up. I feel like now that I have caught up, my pace hasn’t slowed down, not at all. The finish line is still far ahead, but I’m not tired, and my pace is hardcore.

I’ll get to wherever I want, because I know that nothing is impossible. Nothing.
-Mike.

   I think that I’m the average college freshman in class, I do my best to pay attention, and I am hungry for that 4.0 gpa.  Unlike other freshman, I have already become a bearcat, and am a ncaa registered swimmer!

   My top 3 concerns about my freshman year at Baruch are getting a good GPA to start, making the right connections, and ending the year with an internship. Getting a good GPA to start is crucial to being able to continue in the same spirit, if I don’t start well… I’ll probably get discouraged and stop putting in 100% of my effort. Making the right connections is one of my concerns because you know what they say, the friends you make in college are the friends you keep for the rest of your life. Baruch has an awesome crowd, and I have already made an abundance of aquaintance, whether they are team-mates, class-mates, or some other random connection. Right on! Lastly, but definetely not leastly, I want to end this year with an internship for the summer, because I need work experience in order to start laying a base from which I will work up from in “the real world”.

     A lot of people are saying that Baruch is like highschool all over again. I think that those are the people who come to school, go to class, and go straight home, with no other connection to Baruch other than classes, and homework. I’m not trying to say that I don’t enjoy classes (although I can’t say I enjoy homework!), but if all I had in common with Baruch was classes, I would HATE it! Thankfully, I’m on a team, and I’m planning on joining an honor society (if my GPA will be good enough… which I hope it will be), and some other club – although I haven’t decided which one yet! Although I was a high-school athlete with the PSAL, and I was also in clubs and honor societies, everything at Baruch just seems so much more… real? I suppose it’s the maturity that come’s with attending college, but everything is much more organized, and people are much more cooperative as a team, and I LOVE it.

     My first year at college is going to teach me what it’s like to really be an adult. Long nights of studying, hard training with my team, hanging out with new friends, and learning what it’s like to be a college student in general are going to make me into a citizen of this world that understands exactly what it takes to get by, but hopefully it’ll take me above and beyond that!

– Mike