Author: katrina.wu

It’s crazy how time flies.  I remember walking in to Baruch on Convocation thinking wow college is gonna be crazy.  But now the first semester is almost over and I still can’t believe it.  My experience at Baruch so far has exceeded my expectations.  I’ve met so many new and interesting people that I can honestly say are my true friends.  I think my first semester at Baruch has gone really well, other than commuting to school everyday.  I’ve never taken the bus and subway before, coming from Long Island, but it really isn’t too bad, unless there’s a crazy delay.   Coming in to college, I didn’t think the workload would be so manageable, but this semester I was able to keep up with all of my work and stay on top of deadlines, and still have free time to myself.  Honestly, I wouldn’t do anything differently if I had the chance.  Even though there are days were I just don’t want to go to class, or I just feel like giving up, those are the days that make me stronger.  Those days help me power through the rest of the week and help me remember that those days don’t last.  I think that Baruch has changed me as a person.  In high school, I was the shy, quiet person who only at softball practice would I begin to come out of my shell.  Now, I’ve become so much more confident in myself, and I’ve become much more independent.  Even when I went back to my high school a month ago to visit, my teachers noticed a big difference from how I was in high school.  Overall, Baruch has been everything that I expected and more.  I so can’t wait to see what the next semester and my next 3 years hold for me.  LC 16 is amazing and I will never forget you guys. <3

What makes me different from everyone else in this big world we live in? Honestly, not much.  I’m a normal, everyday teenager who loves to have fun and chill out with my friends.  Most of my friends describe me as funny, crazy, and chill. Coming to Baruch has definitely been different since I never would’ve used those three words to describe myself a couple of years ago.  I used to be the typical “asian nerd” back in my freshman year of high school.  I didn’t particularly like who I was back then; I had glasses, braces, and basically everything one hates especially when starting high school.  It wasn’t until sophomore year that I ditched my glasses for contacts and finally got my braces removed.  Senior year was pretty much my breakout year where I felt everything was going right for me.  I started to have a lot more confidence in myself which I think has really helped me this first semester here.  I was never part of the “popular group” in school, but I have a variety of friends who don’t care who I am, or what I have.  I don’t have any special or amazing talents, or amazingly good looks, but I do have one of the most important things in life, an amazing loving family, and a group of the most loyal friends any person could ask for.  Right now, I love where my life is headed and I’m satisfied with myself and being a normal teenager is just fine with me.

Ever since 2005, everyone’s been calling me hurricane Katrina.  Its one of my many nicknames that I have been given over the years.  Some others include kit-kat, or even Katie Wu.  I’m usually described as the shy and quiet asian, but as many of my friends know, that’s definitely not the case.  I’ve lived on Long Island all my life, so commuting everyday to the city is definitely something different.  I love softball and was on my high school varsity softball team all 4 years.

One of my biggest concerns about my freshman year at Baruch is getting the grades that I’m used to getting in high school.  Getting the highest GPA possible is my top priority and achieving that is going to be a challenge.  Another concern that I have is being able to keep up with the workload of college.  I just hope that I’m able to stay on top of my work and not fall behind.  The last concern that I have is the challenge of trying to find my place in such a big commuter school.  Since Baruch is a commuter school, it is hard to try and find the right people to hang out with and also try and find who I’m supposed to become over these next 4 years.

My Baruch experience is going to be different from my high school experience because of all the different people in this school.  In high school, I was so used to seeing the same people everyday for 4 years straight and now, every time I walk through the doors of the school, its a different person.

I think my first year of college is going to make me more independent and more outgoing.  It’s also going to help me prepare for life after college.  Since the professors aren’t constantly reminding us about due dates, I’m going to become more responsible and stay ahead of the work.