FRO12 BRB

I managed to collect all these medals during my first semester at Baruch. I’ve given 4 presentations without practicing it at all and I did well, I am such a procrastinator that sometimes I procrastinate the activity that is already considered a procrastination. I think I’m still trying to get used to having complete control over my actions and not being influenced or not fearing my parents. It’s so hard to do all my work when I know that it can be done a bit later or losing just a few points won’t hurt. I think I’m doing well in most of my classes but I really was looking forward to getting all A’s during the first semester and that is not happening. I usually just get frustrated with myself at 3am and get out of bed so I can finish my assignments before the morning. I just want to have better control over my time and workload. This blogpost went in an unexpected direction, I was just planning on explaining all the medals.

This drawing just speaks for itself, I just want to not do things.

This picture describes my experience thus far. Just like the plant, I also had a new beginning. A new school. A new route. New people. New classes. New experience. Baruch has definitely been an area where I can really explore what else is outside of y suburban New Jersey town of Fort Lee. The experience at Baruch was and is eye-opening. I learn new things everyday whether it be inside the classroom or in the subway.

The people I have met at Baruch thus far are very different from what I am used to. Through the freshman block schedule, I was able to meet and get closer to many students in the same situation I was in, which was a bit comforting. In addition, my active participation in the Baruch Korean Campus Crusade for Christ has helped me grow in my faith tremendously and changed me for the better.

I was given the opportunity to make a change for the better when I entered Baruch and although there are many areas where I am still lacking, I have made positive changes too. I was also surprised at how professors and students behaved. It was nothing like high school and I had to take more of an active role in my life. It’s tough, but I know it’s necessary.

I am sure there will be more instances where I realize how I had new beginnings in other areas.  But for now, all I can say is that everything is a blessing in disguise.

The most helpful enrichment workshop thus far had to be the one where our academic advisor came as a guest and explained the courses students needed to take. As our registration dates were approaching, she definitely provided us with a lot of information that would later guide us in the registration process.

She explained what each course consisted of and why we need it. She also explained what Tiers were and what our actual requirements were. With her help, I was able to register for many classes that I needed to take.

Overall, it was the most informative and necessary for all the students. That one session can help us in the later future and we actually have a sense of what we need now.

The transition from high school to college was somewhat different and in some ways, very similar. After being at Baruch for 3 months, I can definitely say that college is very challenging. I have to always keep up with my work and study for all of my exams. The picture below, a picture I found on Google when I searched “high school and college,” is an image that quotes “In high school, the teachers cared about humiliating, punish and squelching me. In college, they just don’t care.” In a sense, this is true. In high school, teachers would always bother you about turning in work and they would help us if we were in danger of failing. In high school, teachers were closer to the students and they built strong connections. College is completely different. Teachers would not chase you if you didn’t hand in paper. They would not care if you fail the exam or hear your excuses. They won’t ask you why you were absent the other day. I’m not saying that teachers aren’t helpful; I’m saying that teachers in college stick to their own business and their job is to teach students and give out grades. This is what college is like for me. Teachers won’t care about you anymore and you are independent in college. College has been rough however, I know I’ll make it if try my best and work to my fullest potential.

Well, after an extensive search for something that I could upload, I finally settled for this. I wish I could’ve put a gif of something funny, but in the end, I guess this picture is going to have to do. While I wish I could say I’m the little girl at the end, I never took ballet, but you can bet money that if I did, I would be the one hanging upside down from the barre.

I think the picture actually goes really well with my experience here in Baruch because it shows how I evolved through stages. Stage one is: I have no idea what’s going on, I don’t know anyone here, what is going on? Stage two is: Well, they look like they know what they’re doing, I’m just going to observe and maybe follow their lead. Stage three: Wait a second, what just happened? Now I’m more lost than before. Stage four: No, really, what is going on here? And finally (my favorite) stage five: I give up, I’m just going to do whatever I feel like.

These five stages can apply to writing essays (which I usually skip stages two to four), attempting math homework, and life in general. Baruch has shown me that no matter where you go in life, eventually you’ll have to go with your gut and, even if you might look weird or crazy, that’s just the way to go.

My favorite enrichment workshop in freshmen seminar was Baruch Voices. This experience was my favorite because I was able to listen to my peers about their personal blogs. I learned something new about every person and it made me wonder how diverse our college is. College has shaped people’s lives; every single person has similar difficulties as well as goals. During this performance, the most interesting monologue I’ve listened to was the one from the Asian guy reading from a student’s monologue. This monologue was about the experience to quit smoking. I liked how the Asian guy acted out while he was reading it. It was very funny and I enjoyed listening to the monologue. I can relate to this person’s monologue. The student has tried to stop smoking and when he tells himself to stop, he does it again. This is like me when I try to study for my exams. I always tell myself that I would study at a certain time however I always procrastinate and schedule it to another time. In the end, I am usually cramming for my exams therefore I don’t do as well as I could’ve if I studied earlier. I really enjoyed hearing other people’s personal experiences and that is why this was my favorite workshop in freshmen seminar.

Before I came to Baruch, I always imagined college life to be different and less “friendly”. When I say “less friendly”, I meant it as in, of course kids would have friends, but most kids would be to themselves or not bother making much friends since this a commuter school as well. However, during the past 3 months I learned that Baruch college was nothing new to me. I think this is because my high school was on York College campus, where I had the college resources and somewhat of a college lifestyle. For me, Baruch feels like high school all over again especially because we were put into blocs. However, as you can tell from my picture, that is how I depict college now. Nothing has changed, except the fact that no one cares whether you come to class or not, do your homework, or even take your exams. Honestly, in the beginning, I was a little iffy about Baruch. I knew I wanted to major in business but also questioned myself whether I wanted to stay in Baruch for the next few years. I still don’t know if I want too; however, after the first month or two, Baruch has gotten a lot more comfortable. From time to time, I wish we had a real campus with trees and grass and everything, however, sometimes it feels nice to just stay in one building now that the weather is changing. Overall, what made Baruch bearable would be with the help of my friends. Without them, I would never know when what was due and how to do what.

Out of all the workshops we’ve attended, I really enjoyed Baruch Voices this time. My first experience with Baruch Voices was not as great because the workshop lasted over an hour and there were more than 15 pieces read. However, my second Baruch Voices allowed me to pay more attention to the submissions. I think this workshop was my favorite just because I was waiting for the monologue readers to read one of our blocmates. It was great to know that one of your friends monologue will be read out loud, and not only my blocmates, but I heard some of my friends monologues who were not in my bloc. Just like others, I think my favorite one was the bacon one. I knew from the beginning it was bacon. I just loved how he/she had the guts to write a monologue like that. A monologue like that definitely shows his creative and bacon loving side. Not only was his/hers well written, but I had the chance to relate to the others as well. Some wrote about their experience at Baruch and for the most part, I agreed with some of their experiences. Knowing that we all go to the same school, makes it easier for us to understand each other and what we’re going through. Overall, I thought it was great that some of the students took their monologues to a whole new level, sharing even the most personal aspects of their lives.

My favorite workshop was the Baruch Voices. Although the timing was very inconvenient, most people had registration during that time; it was still a very fulfilling experience. It was exciting to realize that our very own block mate’s monologue was the first one read. To be able to watch other students perform the monologues other, younger students have written shows a sense of community that most colleges would not have. Also, the monologues were refreshingly different from one another, which is probably because they are chosen to be that way, but it was still nice. The diversity of experience that were talked about were as funny as making bacon sound like a beautiful woman (I honestly was expecting that monologue to turn into something about food from that actor), to a girl explaining to her mother why she needed to move out, and finally a heart wrenching story about the loss of a friend. All of these monologues are stories that a person tells, sometimes they’re random and don’t require much trust to be told (referring to the bacon monologue), others are something that only close friends can be told. For these people to be confident enough to express these thoughts and experiences with complete strangers, with the only connection being a common school, it shows bravery and courage. These stories are what make our lives ours.

These two pictures represent how I feel about my first semester at Baruch College. The first picture is accurate because for the majority of the time I have no idea what is going on. Overtime I adjusted to the college and how things work but up until mid-october I was still looking at my schedule to see where my classes were and didn’t know the name of any of my professors. I was very lost and confused with how to use Blackboard, what assignments were due when, and most of the time I lost focus in class and when I tried paying attention again I had no idea what my professors were talking about. I was also not used to making my own schedule which was a lot more work than I thought it was- I had to research the professors and make sure the times didn’t conflict and take into consideration the fact that I was not a morning person so any class before 10am was probably not a good idea. I also had to get used to managing my own schedule of balancing work, school and social life. The second picture also relates to my first semester at Baruch because I suddenly felt like I had to decide on what classes I wanted to take, what I wanted to learn and ultimately what I wanted to do with my life. I would find myself surfing the internet for hours and hours or doing absolutely nothing productive and just over thinking, overanalyzing everything and feeling like I was wasting my life away. I still have no idea what I’m doing with my life but I realized not to fret too much about it because future Danielle will figure it out and I’ve got plenty of time to decide down the road. For now I just have to focus on doing well on the core curriculum and everything else should fall into place.