I love the water…. I grew up by the beach and the first time I swam in the ocean I must have been a couple months old…The ocean is my paradise. Now, what does that have to do with my experience here in Baruch? Here in  this big city where, as far as I know, there’s no sight of a beach around here?

Well…look at this as an analogy.

I remember when I was a little kid and I would get excited when big waves started coming…but this is how I remember the whole experience: I would stand in the shallow water and as I waited for the wave to hit, I would feel butterflies in my stomach and get anxious, but once the wave was close enough I would gather all my courage and jump in it, like a warrior, before it could hit me…so just like a warrior, I would feel victory!

Now I am almost 18, and I made the decision to move to a different continent away from family and friends and come here to go to school. I was anxious, I got those butterflies, and just like when I was a little kid, i had faith in myself and I had the courage to jump in this wave. Coming here, and facing so many unexpected difficulties alone, and overcoming them, does make me feel like a warrior that just won a fight. And after you hit that wave, that amazing feeling of the water on your skin is that great realization that life is simply wonderful….