FRO 1000 – LC 16

This semester has been going  pretty fast and I can’t believe I’m about half way through my freshman year. It’s definitely been fun and college is for the most part what I expected it to be, which is trying to fit social time and partying in between studying, work, and class.

I think my first semester went pretty well. I  got to meet some cool people, and most of my professors were on point. I definitely got a feel for the workload that I can successfully handle, and the workload that is just overwhelming. I managed to keep most of my grades between Bs and As, and I’m really looking forward to next semester.

If I could redo this semester, I think I would have put more time and effort into my schoolwork. There were definitely a few things that I didn’t do too well simply because I wasn’t prepared. I also probably would have made more of an effort to meet more people. The learning community helped me make friends fast, but it would have been nice to meet a couple more people this semester.

I think I’ve become more independent since my start at Baruch. It’s to the point where I might as well have been dorming. I take it upon myself to balance my academic life with my social life and with the exception of some monetary support from my parents every now and then, I’m basically on my own. I also learned what my limits were, as far as managing time and partying goes. All in all, I think this was a productive semester that I enjoyed. I’m just waiting for that amazing break then I’m charging head on into next semester.

Wow so the semester is ending and all I have to say is that I cant believe that its already over! Baruch has been an interesting experience that’s for sure, it has been everything that I expected it to be and so much more. I have met so many different people who come all over the city as well from outside areas. I have learned that I HATE THE TRAIN. Being stuck on the Q train for two hours is not fun. But over all my first semester in Baruch has been pretty good. Classes are not to difficult other then math but I gave up on our professor. She can be speaking Ukrainian and I still will not understand her that is why I have resorted to tutoring which is a big help.
Lets see what would I do differently if I could again, nothing really. I like my first semester and even those there were some bad days, who doesn’t. It’s funny but I think that I have actually grown as a person after starting college who knew. College so far has been an experience to remember and I really cant wait till Thanksgiving when all my friends from high school come home. For they said that I would not be getting the full college experience and even though they were right in a sense since I still live under my parents roof and I am not free to do everything I want. Its pretty nice to come home and not think about groceries and stuff.
I cant wait for the next semester and its many surprises.

My experience at Baruch this first semester has been super-ultra-mega-stressful-make-you-wanna-blow-your-head-off. Going to the gym is where I let the steam out. I might just quit and become a cop. I mean why not?

When I was told that college was tough, I took it lightly because that advice often came from average people. Now that I am here, I see the light. I really hope this is a first-semester thing. The problem with me is that I was used to having senioritus in high school, so much so that I slacked on every side of the spectrum and I guess that there’s still a large imprint of it in me. Baruch did not live up to my expectations… it exceeded them. I feel like one of the “slow” kids now.

I’ve done poorly this semester. I hope that this is a lesson I learn from immediately and that nothing remotely similar to this circumstance ever occurs again. If I could repeat this first semester all over, I would never have let myself fall behind in anything, not even once. I would also go to sleep earlier and not in class.

I’ve started to become a semi-studious person and by the end of this semester I hope to be able to take the prefix “semi” out of the equation. I have also become a more astute person. I realize now, although I’ve heard it before, that the quality of effort you put into something determines the quality of the result you get back. I will become a truly focused student. Teehee :”)

       LOOK AT IT!

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** watch?v=Dsg8JccRZCw **

I can’t believe it. Today is finally the big day. The day I turn 18. All these years have always been leading up to this moment. I can do all the things I used to do without sneaking to do it now. Of course I can’t still legally drink, but that’s another story. This makes me wonder what I’m doing with my lief though. Pretty soon I’ll be 21, out of college and in the real world. Ill have bills to worry about. Rent, food, all those things. Wow, I guess I havent thought much of the fact that one day, I’ll be completely on my own and responsible for everything. It seems a bit daunting, but I guess it can’t be that bad. Everyone has to go through it after all. Well Ill save those worries for tomorrow because today is a day of celebration. Not only is it my birthday, its also New Years Eve. Ill make each birthday special, because in a few years, Ill be celebrating my birthday as a grown man, not a college freshman.

I know that it’s almost been 2 months since school started and honestly I still don’t know whether I belong here or not. Coming in and going out just feels too much like high school; nothing is new and on top of that I know nothing about business. Unlike  many people in Baruch who are very  money and work oriented,  I just want to be a dork and constantly learn new things. But so far I don’t feel like I am learning much. Although I don’t see many changes outside, I see the changes inside of me. It’s weird saying that I grew up within the last 2 months, but I definitely did. I learned how to prioritize things and really get shit done. In order to get shit done I gave up a few things. I barely have time to talk to my friends, family or hang out because of school and AIESEC stuff. So in order to get a life I gave up playing volleyball on a club team. I miss it so much. I haven’t touched a volleyball in 2 months. Hopefully in the end I will find my perfect place in Baruch and it will be worth it.

So I had a scary thought – a sort of vision – today. I left class, walked out of the building, down the block, into the train station. It felt familiar. It occurred to me that this is quickly turning into high school all over again – just going through the motions: go to school, sit quietly in my classes, go home. Day after day. Not enjoying it, not making the most of it, definitely not trying as hard or doing as well as I can. Just getting it over with. I make excuses for not doing much else: it’s probably stupid, probably boring, what’s the point ? and I convince myself even when I know it’s BS. I don’t want this. I hated it the first time. So why am I doing it again ? Maybe cause I don”t know where to go from here. Maybe I’m just used to it.  Maybe the wall I built is so big, it’ll take a while to break down. Hopefully not too long. Don’t know why I’m writing about this. It’s the only thing on my mind besides the fact that I’m hungry and in desperate need of Advil (the joys of womanhood) so it’ll have to do.

k so the names Aashish, often mistaken for hashish…but yea i dont really mind. I may seem quiet but dont mistake that for shyness at all, im pretty crazy. You just have to catch my interest somehow. I love to workout and compete in my favorite sports such as basketball, track and field, and football. Im a pretty active guy, always been athletic since childhood. Love to have fun and party with friends. Looking to live life to the fullest. Also looking forward to grow into an adult, but my immaturity is not going anywhere haha. I dont believe baruch has changed my personality during the transition from high school to college. Entering baruch i was just on the lookout for finding people who share the same interests as me. Fortunately i found many in my lc and the club that i joined. I still wish i was in a college atmosphere where i was dorming nd we had a huge campus so I might consider transferring outta baruch. Before baruch i was in forest hills hs but yea i wasnt much different back then. My first day in baruch was an interesting one, i tried that first impression thing on everyone. My analysis of my boys in my lc were; vinod seemed oddly stern but he isn’t that serious once you get to know him in fact hes one of the biggest douchebags you’ll meet; Gabriel looked like a stoner to me so i planned on making him my connect in baruch but hes not; joey looked like an alcoholic, right on the dot bout that; chris seemed like a normal kid didnt expect him to be a badass but hes a badass; Adam i met in orientation caught me off guard sitting next to me in the comp room so i couldnt get a first impression but hes cool, lives 2 min away from baruch lucky fellow. Im nearing the deadline on this so ill post it up before i forget.

May be continued…

Apparently, I’m not as “out-there” or strange as I had thought.

Here, there are so many people, that there are statically more people like myself.

I like that.

I’m used to being different, in the sense that I don’t share the same beliefs or am brought up the same way as others

Like, I grew up in New Jersey, right? Only an hour a way, tri-state area, typical.

People were always confused by me.

I wasn’t an athlete, or Italian, or Irish, or rich.

I liked art, and worked really hard in school, and my family was a big part of my life.

That really wasn’t common.

I also, apparently, looked different.

I dressed slightly more avant-garde, and my mom, being from the city, always wore a lot of black.

So, even when I was younger, I never saw anything weird about wearing at least something black.

That WAS weird, apparently.

And my favorite thing, or not favorite, but something I always found secretly humourous, was when the Abercrombie Barbie phase died out around junior year in high school.

And all the cool Jersey kids wore urban outfitters, like vitage-esque dresses, with their Uggs.

So hot, I really can’t.

Then it became all, “Oh Sydney, I really love your outfit.”

Because apparently I was more with it than everyone else thought.

If only this had been the comment in middle school.

 

But beyond the typical annoyance, I still had really close friends.

And I miss them a lot.

They are at schools all over the place, and I’m in Manhattan, by myself.

I’m the only person from my high school who goes to Baruch.

When I first moved here, it was a relief.

I could be myself, and that was it. No one knew me otherwise.

But what I quickly learned, is that even being a huge city, the island is surprisingly small.

Everyone knows someone, and the odds are good that you have multiple connections to people.

So it turned into, I know a ton of people now and they know me as well, even though we’ve barely talked.

I don’t feel so new anymore.

And as much as I like knowing all of these people, and all of the great friends I’ve made, occasionally I’ll feel kind of lonely.

I don’t have my best friends, or my mom, around to help me

because I haven’t known anyone here as long, I sometimes don’t know if they’ll truly care or be able to help me the way my old best friends did.

It’s a weird feeling.

More positively though, I love it here.

I love all of my new experiences,

& I actually really like Baruch

I’m slowly learning to be independent,

And at the same time

I’m glad I get to spend some of my last teenage years living in a city.

Not many people get to do that.

And because I’ve moved on, sometimes I get a melancholic feeling when I visit my home.

Some people there, never left, and to them apparently I’m this cool story because “oh my god you live in the city? That’s so cool! I’m so jealous!”

And as I say this, I also think about the people I’ve met here who would roll their eyes at me.

Because I’m Sydney from New Jersey

Even though I was born in Portland, Maine

And I can say I live in NY, but it really isn’t my home

And I’ ll never be from here

And it’s funny I act like I am

Because I’ll always be from New Jersey.

 

So this is me, I have nothing to hide.

I’ve become super open since living here, and a lot of people think that’s strange.

But also a good thing.

I like it so I don’t have to waste my time.

I’d rather have people know me for who I am

Than get rid of me once they realize what I’m all about.

Like I said, I don’t like to waste my time

And that’s why I’m glad I’m living

Or I guess quote “dorming”

In a fast-paced city.

I honestly don’t have time for bullshit.

 

so…here i am in college. I still remember my first day of junior high school, feeling like i was growing up, moving on to the next level of maturity. then high school came and i felt like i moved onto an even higher level of maturity. now I’m in college and well i don’t really feel all that different. However I’ve never had to take a bus to school before since i could just walk 15 minutes to my high school and I’ve never lived away from my parents. its just a new chapter in my life  and so far things seem to be going ok. I’ve met some really cool and nice people here and have become friends with most of them. its refreshing to get to know different types of people. back in my town the majority of people were either drunks, pot heads, or just douchebags. and of course i had friends who also drank and smoked weed but they weren’t assholes. Anyways the homework assignments seem to be ok, the professors are ok…except for Rocha and of course my peer mentor is amazing. so this assignment asks for a self portrait of how i see myself…hmmmm Well i guess you can compare me to  spongebob squarepants because i love to joke around, be stupid, and laugh at everything. but he’s also very caring and at times he’s misunderstood by others. but most important of all, he doesn’t let lifes problems get him down, he always has a positive attitude and a smile on his face.

This semester at Baruch has been a blast. Im doing well in all my classes so far and I’ve met a lot of interesting people. I’m not really learning anything new about myself that I didn’t already know. I feel like when people go to college they change their whole persona but I believe that I have stuck true to the person I have always been. Im a fun loving girl from Queens and I went to school and spent most of my time in long island. Now that I think about it the only thing that changed from high school to college is that I am not as involved in extracurricular activities as I was before. In high school I was the secretary of student government, president of the Italian club, captain of the softball team, played on volleyball, basketball, I played the clarinet for my schools band and so much more. I guess you could say I was Miss high school and now that I’m in college I haven’t participated in hardly anything. I guess the dorm life is enough for me so far and I don’t feel like I need to be in everything anymore. I moved into the dorms in August and I love living in the city and taking advantage of all that there is to offer. I have tried so many different types of food and activities. I love living a train ride away from shopping in soho and going to central park. Ever since I moved here my bucket list has been getting bigger and bigger. There is so much more I want to do and I can’t wait to see it all.