FRO 2012: BWA

            As I first heard the second enrichment shop was going to a museum, I thought it would be boring and dull. However, the museum attending experience turned out to extremely interesting. I was really fascinated by delicate and exquisite masterpieces made in ancient Tibet and Nepal. Even though I myself do not believe in any religion, I would do a lot research on Tibetan Buddhism and its theology. After conducting some research, I learn that Tibetan/Nepali Buddhism is a section of Buddhism that emphasizes on personal meditation and tranquility. A perfect state of mind, according to Tibetan Buddhism, could be achieved by devoting one’s life to meditation and sit quietly. In order to become a satisfactory monk, also known as Lama in Tibetan, one has to spend much time reading Buddhist classics and practices religious ritual. The process of becoming a lama and then the head of lama is difficult and requires hours of training. Nevertheless, Buddhism as one of three most influential religion next to Christianity and Islam, tend to promote tolerance, peace and forgiveness, which make it more attractive to some non religious thinkers. As a college student, we should not only learn to respect the difference in other cultures but also take a step forward and try to embrace other cultural diversities. On the other hand, in the globalizing world, we are also ought to be more knowledgeable and tolerant and be ready to accept challenges from different fields.

Blog #4:

            It’s near the end of the semester and we should be able to describe the experiences at Baruch. First of all, I really think Baruch provides good education here. The faculty members as well as freshman seminar class are very helpful in terms of making us used to the college life. All my professors and instructors are nice and responsible people who give nice advices. I would use describe the first semester experience at Baruch as adaptation. It is the process of realization and adapting to changes that help us do better in college. As we all know, college life style is different and we are expected to control our time better. And Baruch is located at the heart of Manhattan, so a lot of us spend so much times commuting everyday. Thus, we must develop a schedule on our own in order to succeed in classes.  on the other hand, there is so much going on outside of classes, so it is crucial to keep a balance between extra curriculum activities and academic works. Therefore, we really should adapt to the all the changes occur at college and be ready to take more challenges next year.

I figured what better way to sum up my experience thus far than by making my own meme. This sums up my experience at Baruch VERY well. I’ll just share my college decision story to help explain this for you. I wanted to go to a school that was very creative and gave me a lot of options while still having that university feel and was in Manhattan. Fordham, Lincoln center campus, was the perfect school, and I luckily got in. It was way too expensive though, so I decided on Hunter, thinking it was more of a ‘liberal’ CUNY school. However I saw that they didn’t have photography or photojournalism (my intended major) while Baruch did. The only problem was that I was already enrolled in Hunter and I had never even applied to Baruch. So one day I walked into Baruch and told them my story, and they literally handed me an acceptance letter without having my transcript, SAT scores, ACT scores, recommendations or anything.
So that generosity on Baruch’s part is what caused this meme. Once I started school I started telling my story to others. One Hunter student told me that he didn’t get accepted to Baruch, and his SAT scores were much higher than mine, and he wanted to be an accountant, whereas I don’t even want to study business here. Another Hunter student told me he got into Baruch but they unaccepted him because he started to get lazy his senior year of high school. A current Baruch student even told me she thought she wouldn’t have gotten in if it weren’t for a connection she had. I started to feel that I was some guy who got in without doing any work, surrounded by people who tried really hard to make it to Baruch. So this meme portrays my idea that some random, high up, intense Baruch group like  Alpha Kappa Psi or Women in Business are gonna come for me.

Throughout high school, I was undoubtedly a slacker in every regard. School, homework, and grades just seemed to shrink in importance next to…I don’t know what exactly. I could reason with myself all I want, the time just seemed to slip away, and slope just got steeper and more slippery. I slipped through the grasping jaws of failure by the skin of my teeth, and for the first few weeks of college, it seemed like I was simply going to repeat my actions. As of now, I have 2 big assignments due that I know I can finish in a day, but would have taken me 2 or 3.
Slowly, I feel like Baruch has made a strong impression on me. It’s been said that one can be judged by the people he surrounds himself with, and I’m glad I chose Baruch as the place to immerse myself in. The constant movement of the city; the quiet studiousness of the library; and the complete lack of hounding has driven home something that was lingered over my consciousness the whole course of high school: There is always something to be done, and if you’re not going to do it, then who? If not now, then when?
I’m not sure I won’t regress to the endless cycle of regression, but I do know something for sure. At the end of these next 3 weeks, I will have to face the consequences of my initial laziness, but I can do something about that now. After all, I’m in college, and here, it’s A or nothing.
I think have sufficiently expressed what Baruch has taught me this semester. I think it’s time to move on to my next assignenment.