FRO12 BTB

Well to start off with this blog post I saw too many funny memes to choose just one so I chose three.

Now although these images are funny, in many ways they are very true. My first three months at Baruch have been a wave of excitement and a bit of a reality check thus far. Although I’ve been in college before, I was out for a semester and I was not use to all the work I was previously putting in. I almost forgot how important time management is and that is the think I struggle most with. Getting back to my experiences though, I think I have a slight advantage since I already know how much work college entails. A lot of the time, students (including myself) have a preconceived notion that college is so hard because that is what we were taught to think. When I arrived and actually became immersed in my classes I realized that as long as you complete the work asked of you, it flows pretty well. I may seem a bit lazy at times but that does not mean I don’t take the work seriously. The memes are a good representation of what almost all students are thinking and doing at college. I mean college is supposed to be some of the best years of your life so why take them so seriously that you miss out on all the fun? The professor meme is one of the truest ones because of course professors expect their students to pay attention and take notes, that is a given. The human hand is only capable of writing so much at a time and especially not if the professor is speaking like an auctioneer. I’ve learned to deal with this by just listen intently and while information is being said, separate the useful information from the useless info. The other picture is probably the most accurate in terms of what people perceive college to be and from what I’ve seen at Baruch. When I walk into the library (and I go everyday, usually 2-3 times) and I go to the computer labs, 60 percent of the students are on a social networking site whether that me Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. I think that it’s good to get away from the work once in a while and there is no harm in goofing off for a while. College does have a purpose and that is to give you the tools to find a career suitable for you but at the same time it is also to find yourself. It is meant to be as hard and as difficult as you want to make it. I take education very seriously but since I’ve been through some of it already, I’ve learned that stressing less is key and if you have to sit back and laugh one day, DO NOT be afraid to do just that. After all, its a business anyway right?

Picture Credit: #1 -http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/photos/best-what-people-think-i-dowhat-i-really-do and http://sneakertalk.yuku.com/topic/329617

Picture Credit #2 -http://www.trendyblackguy.com/2012/03/the-ultimate-lazy-college-senior-meme/

Picture Credit #3 – http://www.memestache.com/Unhelpful+High+School+Teacher/tells-you-to-take-notes/255678

My name is James. I am from Staten Island, New York. I like to play lacrosse in my free time and I am a huge sports fan. My favorite sport is hockey, so the lockout they are in right now is killing me. I’m also a little bit of an adrenaline juke and would like to go skydiving and cage diving with Great White sharks.
So far I am enjoying Baruch. The commute is annoying but it is only a minor inconvenience. I have already made several new friends and my classes are not too bad. Overall I think I made the right decision in coming to Baruch and I am looking forward to a bright future here.

My name is Lindsey Martinez and I’m eighteen years old. I’m growing up in New York City. I went to high school for arts and there were only like 7 people in my class and I was with them all the time for all 4 years because thats how my school worked, so I kind of don’t know how to make new friends. Sorry if it seems like I’m being rude or standoffish, I’m just always thinking of a million things at once so I barley pay attention to what is happening around me. I’m pretty boring, so I’ll just tell a story instead of listing my hobbies or something like that. This story might be a little inappropriate but I figured were all adults here and I can type whatever I want so whatever. Also I never really spoke to any of you so don’t get the wrong impression of me please. Hopefully this is interesting, I don’t really know. So a couple of years ago I went to Amsterdam for the first time with my dad. Now when I thought of Amsterdam I had all the typical images in my head, tulips, canals, and the red light district. Of course I wanted to visit the red light district, I mean who doesn’t really? I just didn’t realize who I was going with. I was going to a place filled with sex and drugs with my dad. Now I don’t know the relationship any of you have with your dad but unless your totally comfortable talking with your dad about sex then I don’t suggest going there with him. So walking by the “coffee shops” or the windows with half naked girls, that wasn’t even that bad. I expected that. But walking past 100s of different sex toy stores with your dad, that was just horrible. Its like would you ever go to the museum of sex with your mom or dad. Probably not. Its hard to imagine a more uncomfortable situation. By the end of the night my dad was suggesting I try a “space cake”. I think he wanted to wipe the memory of that totally awkward experience. 

Fell asleep, woke up on top of the world.

Growing up, I was always the girl who went right if you told me to go left. Modestly I enjoyed watching the world squirm with aggravation over my manipulated confusion of a structured environment with a form of North Korean dictatorship.  Naturally, this desire to revoke any means of conformity landed me on Santa’s naughty list more frequently then my parents would like to admit.

I detest the idea of being labeled a rebellious “black sheep”. Subjectively, I was the vibrant pink unicorn with a golden razor-sharp glitter horn on a path of destruction, and I loved every minute of it. While I might have been popular amongst my peers, I was relatively loathed by any means of authority, thus adding to the excitement. Dually noted, my term of destruction should not be confused with tangible destruction; I wasn’t killing hamsters and blogging about it, but I thoroughly enjoyed creating a ruse of external chaos before I dotted my i’s and crossed my t’s.  I was simply high off life, and saw rule abiding behaviors as a piercing cry of mediocrity.

When I was 18 years old and fresh out of high school, I impulsively made the bold choice to move out of the safety net of my parent’s house and get an apartment with my boyfriend. We had known each other for a few years, and had casually dated in the past. Our rekindled romance grew with the fierce intensity of an Arizona wildfire. Naturally, this didn’t thrill my parents, but my confidence overshadowed any negative commentary. Adapting to the dynamics of independence was similar to learning how to swim by jumping in the deep end of the pool.  The first six months of rent payments, grocery store dashes, and Ikea trips nearly drowned me in 10 feet of stress. I had no clue how much financial responsibility I had invited into my young adult life. With failure not being an option, I quickly reformed my teenage persona from lazy sleep-in Sundays into a bargain shopping, breakfast-lunch-dinner cooking, 45 hour a week working, happy homemaker. I learned more about myself in the five years that followed the relationship then I could of ever dreamed possible.

Today, I know more then I did yesterday, yet I wouldn’t change anything about my past, if I was given a second chance. This cognitive decision making process is our ability to uniquely identify ourselves, and ultimately make our mark in the warm pavement of history. Your actions, words, movement, and efforts are permanently inscribed into your personal little black book of life. Some people choose to be mild participators in the society, and follow cookie-cutter regulations for what they think they should do, instead of what they actually want to do.

I cherish every vivid tearful moment, as much as I do the uncontrollable fits of pure happiness, because without the ying, there is no yang. You can never learn to appreciate the highest of the highs, without the lowest of the lows. Personally, I would rather suffer the consequences of a million mistakes due to cause & effect of creating my own destiny, then dwell in the dreary abbess of bland, lethargic, robotic actions. I’ve had an amazing experience thus far, crafting the blueprint to my unique roller coaster life. I’m proud to say I’ve made mistakes; yet equally grateful to hold no regrets. Moments spent drinking champagne under the Eiffel tower in Paris, racing jet skis in crystal blue water in Puerto Rico, or dancing on the tables of  every nightclub in the Meatpacking District are things ill always recollect with a smile; but knowing I singlehandedly created my destiny is superior to the rolodex of excitement I have stored in my memory.

I’ve learned that the spontaneous moments are usually the best, negativity is contagious, love is eternal, and karma is real. Always hold yourself in the highest regards; the world will only value you as high as you value yourself.

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.” – Oscar Wilde

I could be a lot of things …

I’m way too tall for a girl I’ve been told

I’m way too skinny for society I’ve been told

I’m way too loud, I sweat too much, my feet are too big, my face is too young….

“You can’t buy a lottery ticket, you aren’t a day over sixteen!”

“You can’t play basketball? What are you, at least 7 feet?”

You dress too much like a boy, you wear too much pink, you look so mean …

“You live in Brooklyn? I feel sorry for you …”

“You’re a dancer? What do they do?”

These sorts of judgements, these silly one dimensional observations. I love them … they keep me young

“Girls don’t know anything about basketball, so how can your favorite team be the Celtics?”

“Why are you 20 and a freshman?”

Why are you always on the phone?”

Why don’t you have a job?”

“I like your hair … is it fake?”

I mean I thought I was pretty average but all these questions make me wonder. To me I am just a tall basketball loving tomboy with an obsession for pink and a sailors mouth. Sounds complicated but really being a 20 year old that looks like a gigantic 12 year old has its pros and cons.

“Why are you worried about voting? Your vote doesn’t even count …”

“I bet you are voting for Obama right?”

You see the excitement? The never ending thrust of questions.

Like I said earlier, they keep me young. Stereotype or not …

I could be a lot of these things, but you know something…you people with the questions, do you know who you are?

– Mandisa Nickerson 🙂

Hi 🙂

           Not the most interesting picture, I know. Serena Vishala Sooklall. My mother once read a book in which the main characters name was Serena. She thought it was a beautiful name, originating from the word Serenity meaning peace or tranquility. I’d like to think she named me accordingly but once you get to know me, you’d realize it simply isn’t true. No, I’m not obnoxiously loud but I’m not one to hold my breath if I have something to say. I was born on October 15th, 1994 making me a Libra which is represented by the scale of justice or simply “the balance.” This holds to be true in my eyes seeing as I’m generally the tie breaker or the one to make decisions, generally what I feel are just ones.

          Jamaica, Queens has always been and always will be my home. I love New York City, the concrete Jungle, the city that never sleeps. I love telling people where I come from because I always have a sense of pride when I talk about my city, everyone wants to know all about the Big Apple. I love the diversity of the people, the different cultures food and experiences to be found. I love the music and sound of general city life. I love my friends, almost as much as I love my family. Dancing, is my passion. I generally have a positive outlook on things. I like surrounding myself with happy people and good auras. I’m not a whiner and even if I don’t like it, I generally get the job done, whatever the job may be. I believe in few things but the things that I do believe in I keep close to me. I strongly dislike  people who don’t practice what they preach, then again who am I to judge?

I like to think I’m a simple girl, with a simple life who makes simple decisions in a simple world with other simple people. This, simply isn’t true. I’m a complex human being just like everyone else. I have irrational thoughts and I make irrational decisions. I like ears, specifically cold ones. I hate oatmeal. I cry every single time I see Titanic and change the channel every time an ASPCA commercial comes on because it’s too sad. I have a hard time saying no to people. I believe in giving people second chances, even third and fourth ones. I don’t care for religion or politics. I know the world is a corrupt place but I choose to have faith in people in an unjust world. I don’t believe in resorting to violence I’m more of a increase the peace type of woman. Hippie style, minus the clothing and drugs. I tell people things for their own good despite the fact that they may not like to hear it. I tend to hurt peoples feelings, but with good intentions in mind. I love to give, more than I love to take. I love to share. I love to love. All in all, I live and let live. 

BLOG POST NO.2 – MONOLOGUE

My name is Robert. I was born in Harlem, but have lived most of my life in the Bronx. I have also attended private school for much of my life (at a Lutheran school) where class sizes were very small in comparison. So of course in preparing for college, I was not sure how well I would integrate with the larger environment. However, I enjoy going to school in the city.

I am the youngest of three children and have two siblings—one brother and one sister. I was raised in a Baptist household and my parents are very religious, particularly my mother. I love watching sports, specifically basketball; and I’m really hoping the Knicks can finally get their stuff together this season, but at the same time, I won’t hold my breath for them.

I abhor waking up early in the morning (around 5:30) and having to take what I consider to be a long commute to the city just to go to class (which is about 1 ½ hours on a good day). With college, there always seems one paper after another or an important exam to take. I was never much of a studier, but now I find myself having to apply much more attention to studying in order to keep up. Fortunately though, we classes only from Mons-Thurs and thus have three-day weekends to prepare ourselves for following week.

Lastly, I think that the biggest pressure that I face right now probably is finishing college and earning a degree. This is because all my immediate family members have gone to college but unfortunately withered and never finished, or rather never earned a degree. The farthest one of them being my brother, who completed about three years but then fell off. So of course, there’s a lot of pressure and expectation there for me to succeed.

Hi, it’s me, Dickon.  I’ll make it short.  I’m the sixth kid of nine.  I had the best parents, great childhood in western Pennsylvania.  That’s not Philadelphia.  Think deer-huntin’, truck-drivin’, wood-splittin’, in-grown, conservative, back-in-the-holler country.  By the way, that’s the place to grow up.  Lazy summer afternoons, the sound of leaves rustling overhead, water rippling, fishing with a friend.  Long walks through a still, silent, snow-covered evening, just Dad ‘n me.  No worries.

The big world was there when I needed it.  That was 2008, junior high school.  Barack Obama was my hero.  I saw him as the solution to every problem.  That’s right, naïve.  On election day, with two freshman friends, we walked down to the county Obama Campaign Headquarters.  (A county is like a borough, but with less people, more hunters.)  We canvassed the entire town, walking down all three streets, knocking on doors.  We asked people to vote.  We changed the world.

Today I’m a Tolkein fan (see picture).  I am passionate about the Pittsburg Steelers and fighting climate change.  Corporations own President Obama, but he’s better than Mitt.  I guess we were wrong four years ago.  We can’t hire someone to change the world.  It is up to us.

Small Town Girl in a Big City

My name is Kelsey but everybody calls me either Kels or Kelpy, so take your pick. I’m 18 years old and I moved to New York City two months ago from St. Louis, Missouri. If you’ve ever talked to me, you’ll realize that I say ya’ll in about every other sentence; it’s a Missouri thing. I just don’t understand why people would say two words (you all) when you could save your breath and combine the words into one (ya’ll). Everybody asks me how I ended up at Baruch since I grew up in the Midwest. Well…I chose New York City. After I chose to go to school in New York City then I started researching colleges and Baruch seemed to match what I thought would be my major.

I love sweatpants. I think it might be a Missouri thing because I’ve noticed everybody always looks so nice in New York City. I’m not much of a follower so that doesn’t stop me from being comfortable. However, just walking the streets of New York City has given me a lot of fashion advice.

I grew up on a lake, as an only child, and my friends became my family. I always grew up with dogs, Standard Poodles to be exact, and they were like my siblings too. It sounds silly but in my household I wasn’t allowed to say the word “dogs”. Our “dogs” either had to be referred to as Poodles or Four Legged Family Members.

I value trust more than you can imagine. No trust, no friendship. I’m extremely sarcastic and probably one of the weirdest people you will every meet. I am a firm believer that everything eaten with a fork tastes better. I don’t like nice restaurants; I tried getting my friends to go to Taco Bell for dinner before Prom. I’m a horrible driver. I am an awful singer, but that doesn’t stop me. I’m deathly afraid of ghosts and refuse to watch ghosts movies. Paranormal Activity sent me into insomnia. I think I’m the funniest person on the planet and I laugh at my own jokes, even if nobody else does. I love scary movies. Megan off of Bridesmaids is my role model. I’m addicted to diet soda and Red Bull. I wish whipped cream were its own food group. Very few people have every seen me cry or show emotion. Nevertheless, I love my life and everybody in it.

Moving to New York City has been both a blessing and a curse. I love the city, all the fun activities there are and the people in it. However, where I grew up country music is a religion, boating is a way of life, riding horses western style is a past time activity and sitting around a bonfire in the fall makes you feel like there is no better place on Earth. I know New York City will provide all of the opportunities I could ever imagine in my life but there are too many precious in Missouri things I left behind. New York City might be for me and it might not but my time here and my time with the people at Baruch will always be great memories.