Although I have had a lot of fun at Baruch so far, I have to say my life has been very stressful this semester. I have had to balance my time between school,work and baseball. Let me explain to you a day in the life of Matt Ballone first I wake up every morning at 6a.m. to complete my home work for my morning class. Then I shower and get ready for my two mile walk to the subway. Which you all know I hate the subway. once I resurface from the underground you”ll usually see me sprinting to the library to print out my homework then sprinting to class to be on time. Once my classes are over I like to try and get as much work done before work. But usually end up napping to catch up on sleep.From the library I go to work from 3pm-12am. When I get home I eat dinner and try to do some homework before I pass out. I look forward to my days off but when I am off I have to go to baseball work outs. I feel like I am standing still and things are just passing me by.The day in the life of Matt Ballone

As some people may know I am apart of the Women’s Basketball team here at Baruch College and I do wear the number 13. I chose too take a picture of my team bag because my athletic life is truly the definite reflection of my time here at Baruch. If I am not in class, I am doing something related to basketball or I’m always with my teammates. I am so happy that I chose Baruch over any other college that recruited me because I it hasn’t even been a full semester and I am having the time of my life. My coaches and teammates are so supportive and encouraging, they are just a great bunch of people to be around. I was terrified of starting college and starting a whole new life but my experience as a basketball player and the people that I surround myself with make it so much easier to get comfortable and adjust to new beginnings. I love all of my teammates and coaches they are the best. I’m running short on words because there are not enough words to explain how happy and thankful I am to have such an awesome team. This should hopefully give you and= insight as to my experience so far here at Baruch College.

I decided to pick this picture to describe my experience so far in Baruch for a couple of of reasons. I work very hard in this school in order to have the grades that i have received in my classes.  I know I have just begun my college career and understand that I need to maintain this attitude. I also have a new challenge coming up in the second semester. i have to find away to manage my time efficiently between playing baseball for the school and doing well in all my classes. This is going to be challenging. but I like challenges and feel that I can overcome anything that I set my mind to. I am a very determined person and know that I will find the proper balance between balancing my studies and playing baseball. I hope to do well in both baseball and school in the upcoming semester. I believe that if you preserve through hard times, you will feel better and have a sense of accomplishment when you see all the achievements and happy times that you were able to create through this process of persevering. The lesson that I learned from this photograph is that even when you have persevered through a hard situation or task, a new even harder task or situation might come about that you may have to persevere through as well. That is pretty much all I have to say and this is making this blog longer so yea. Thats it.

I couldn’t really think of a specific picture that actually described my time at Baruch so far so I just picked this one. This is a friend of mine that pretty much has a basket on his head, if you couldn’t figure it out. The main reason why I figured this picture would be a good one to use is because its important to remember to make friends throughout college and not just go it alone the entire time. Also, though you may make new friends each and every year it is also very important to remember that all your friends are your friends. I mean that even though they may not be in the same classes as you, you should still stay friends with him/her because as I said it’s important to keep friends by your side. If possible you could even try to go to the same classes as your friends in order to keep in touch with them but truly you should just put yourself first in terms of classes. I feel like the most important thing to remember throughout college is that though it could be a lonely experience, it doesn’t have to be. Now I’m not saying that You should hang out with them twenty four seven but when you’re bored or need help with homework or any of those sorts of things, you could hang out and that would be a good distraction from all the other crap you have on your mind. There are friends out there waiting to be made and I’ve defnetly made a few these past few months.

Although I do enjoy going to Art Galleries I have never really been to one with art so foreign. I have to say it was a very different experience. To be honest the Rubin museum didn’t seem all that great. The main piece I liked there was this little statue of a god with sixteen arms. In each hand it was holding a different kind of weapon except for two of its hands which were empty. The final two weapons were in the hands of two lions in front of it and under its feet was a person the god was punishing. I thought this statue was pretty cool. The amount of detail that could be put into such a small piece was amazing. Don’t get me wrong or anything I don’t think it’s cool enough to put in my room and keep it there but out of the museum in general I thought it was the best thing I had seen. Another thing I had seen at the very beginning when we first entered the museum was another statue, this time bigger, of a lion. Lions seem to fascinate me for some reason so I actually really liked this piece as well. So I guess there were really two pieces that I liked in the museum, who knew? Anyway I probably wouldn’t go back to the Rubin museum unless I was forced to again I’m just gonna stick with MOMA and the MET.

These girls? They mean the absolute world to me. To other people, we might seem like a handful of loonies, but that’s just us being….well, us! I am so thankful to be able to a part of such a great team, but I’m also very sad that we’ll never have the same team again. But I do know that it only gets better from here.

After winning CUNY Championships and making it to NCAAs, I am so determined to do it all again and perhaps get even further for the next seasons to come. But for the past 3 months, our team has been through a lot. We’ve seen each other at our worst, and definitely at our best.

I love volleyball so much. It takes me away from any problems I have in school or with family. Because once you step on that court with your team and you all are playing your hearts out, nothing matters. All the matters is at that very moment, you are working together and playing hard. Who cares the score? Who cares if they’re nationally ranked first place? All that matters is that you’re there, working hard, playing to your fullest potential, and your teammates are there with you doing the same.

So for me, these first 3 months at Baruch have been great. Playing college volleyball has always been one of my dreams, and not it’s coming true.

This is us We may be crazy, wacky, slightly intimidating, and really weird, but this our team, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

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….

my lovey team

My experience at baruch so far is not bad at all. Basically as a baruch student athlete i have it pretty good. At first i had doubts about going to baruch because of the terrible commute but after a while its not as bad. What really made my experience at baruch awesome is my team not only do i love playing volleyball, im playing the sport i love with a bunch of girls that i love. They have really made my time here great. Not only playing with them made me happy but winning the cuny athletic conference really made this a happy ending. Im looking forward to starting my volleyball spring season which involves lots of hard work, but i can’t wait.

This is a painting by one of my favorite paintings by one of my favorte artists, Pablo Picasso. This painting is called Guernica. It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, a village in Spain. It shows the struggles and tragedies of war, and the suffering that many people face because of the war.

Now I’m not saying my time at Baruch has been like a war. I’ve actually enjoyed it very much so far. However, looking at the painting, there are so many different things going on and so much to focus on. That’s why I feel this describes my time at Baruch so far. There are so many different types of people with different beliefs, so many clubs/organizations, so much work to do, and there is always something happening in school. I went to a really small school my whole life, especially high school, but this ks the exact opposite. I always have something going on, either homework or a test to study for, or a club I wanna check out, or just something happenning in the city near school. That’s really why I like the school so far, there’s so much more to do, so much more going on, and it’s just so much bigger than anything I’ve ever been a part of. I feel that looking at my time in school so far is the same as looking at Guernica because there is just so much going on, and so many specific things to focus on.