Author: is143258

Yep. That’s an actual video of me doing math this semester. Literally everything else is fine. My other classes were great, I didn’t slack off (too badly), and I was able to have fun outside of class. Just, Math… Oh well, Applied Calculus II, here I come. Hopefully.

Professor Gluck,

I am emailing you to inform you that I will not be able to attend class today (11/12/12). I have been unable to make it to New York from New Jersey due to NJTransit lines being out of service. My last option is now to take a bus that doesn’t arrive to New York until after class ends. My apologies and this will hopefully not happen again.

Thank you,
Irving J Shabot

Anthropology 1001
Monday and Wednesday 11:10-12:25

Time Management and I have a love-hate relationship. I love the idea of it and sometimes even make an effort to use it. However, I mostly hate following through with it. Being a procrastinator when it comes to school has its pros. No, not really. Procrastinating has, seriously, NEVER been beneficial to me. I’m some one who refuses to submit hurried assignments, so waiting to the last minute often results in me not doing my work at all, or delaying past the due date.

Oddly enough, I don’t really procrastinate in work. I guess it’s the idea that working on somebody else’s time and money that keeps me from wasting it. Oh well, at least I got this in on time.

For some odd reason, whenever I stand atop a mountain, I get the exact same feeling as I do when about to speak publicly. I understand: Is standing atop mountains a usual occurrence? Believe it or not – yes. It is. Snowboarding is my all-time favorite activity. I’ve been to Colorado, Utah, Vermont, and all over Upstate New York because there is nothing more enjoyable to me than riding a new mountain. Contrarily, my all-time least favorite activity is speaking publicly.

What these two things have in common is the following: They both make me nervous. However, only snowboarding rewards me. The beginning of a snowboard run is the beginning a series of amazing rewards for the effort I’m about to put in. However much effort I put in to the run, I get back as a reward in the form of adrenaline. Speaking, on the other hand, penalizes me for the slightest slip-up. I forgot a word? Well now I have to stutter the next few and maybe lose my place a few lines down. Why? Because this tiny error is now stuck in the back of my mind. The idea that this mistake prevented me from giving my best version of that speech tears away at me while trying to continue my speech. What happens if I slip-up riding down a mountain? I put it behind me – literately and figuratively. The sheer joy I know I’ll get from continuing onward overwhelms me and prevents me from even thinking of fear or failure. Mountainside, I understand that I simply did my best and must continue on to the rest of the run.

It is the combination of these two that teaches me  to always aim for perfection, as I do in my speeches, yet continue on after error – as I do in snowboarding.

It seems as if we have all at the very least witnessed cheating at least once in our lifetime. An obviously, unethical and immoral thing to do, it has recently become a topic of much debate on the Baruch Campus. I’ve been getting emails regarding cheating, I’m now assigned to write about it, the whole hoopla seems kind of unnecessary. Shouldn’t the consequences for cheating be carried out swiftly and secretly? Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the public shaming of a school or group of students is just what we need to dissuade cheaters. Who knows… All I know is that as technology advances, measures to stop cheating will advance too, and the ruining of lives or careers will always be the risk cheaters face.

Blogging has been an interesting experience for me thus far. I don’t really “blog” per se, but I do have a Facebook and Twitter that I actively use. This made writing short paragraphs for others to see feel normal to me. What I really enjoy is the incorporation of other media types like slideshows and playlists in to the blog. It, in a sense, breaks the barriers of what I’m used to.

As much as it prides itself on not looking like a blog, http://www.theverge.com is my favorite blog for that reason and many others. It breaks the traditional “blog” mold and its writers are all of the highest quality. It’s a technology-driven blog with writing that rivals the New York Times.

 

Here’s a list of 10 songs that, together and separately, represent who I am and what I am interested in –

1. Hey Mama – Kanye West – We’ll start off with a song that portrays two of my favorite things: Rap, and my mom. Just like Kanye West, I recognize all that my mother has done for me. He’s just able to display it more creatively than I.
2. Sixteen – Rick Ross and Andre 3000 – Another rap song, Sixteen focuses on how the average 16 bar verse of everyday rap songs is never enough to fully express how some one really feels. Just like how a 10-song playlist constricts me, trying to convey my interests to the class.
3. Houdini – Foster The People – I felt it was appropriate to add this song to the playlist as it was my most played song from last year. Whenever I went snowboarding, I would shuffle through my playlists just to make sure it came on before starting a run.
4. REVOFEV – Kid Cudi – Now a completely different person, the old Kid Cudi was all about the younger generation doing nothing but partying and having fun. Obviously, it would be bad to take his advice to extremely, but I can’t remember a time where a Cudi song was playing and I wasn’t having a good time. This song just captures that message. REVOFEV = Revolution of Evolution.
5. Do You Feel Like I Do? – Peter Frampton – I had to add this song. It’s by Peter Frampton – the first mainstream artist to use autotune. That’s right, before T-Pain. He would begin concerts as rock and roll shows and break out the autotune half way through. His use of it was incredible and unfortunately, has almost been forgotten. This song (the oldest in my playlist) of his uses autotune in a completely bizarre yet amazing way.
6. The New Workout Plan – Kanye West – A song which mocks modern culture and people’s (specifically, women) obsession with appearance. A trend that I enjoy to mock, yet be guilty of.
7. Exile Vilify – The National – An incredibly somber song that was introduced in a game that I use when trying to explain my obsession with video games – Portal 2.
8. It Was a Good Day – Ice Cube – This song speaks for itself. It’s the song you want to listen to on a drive home after a long, fulfilling day. I’ve done this countless times.
9. Clique – Kanye West, Jay Z, and Big Sean – A song that is manly just boasting about one’s own circle of friends. It emphasizes my love of my friends and how much more they mean to me than just a “clique”.
10. King Without a Crown (Live at Stubbs version) – Matisyahu – Me, being Jewish, can’t not love this song alongside Matisyahu himself. A mix of upbeat reggae and rap, it emphasizes my importance of religion yet having fun too.

My perfect class could be on any subject. The factors that make it perfect and the subject it is on are not mutually exclusive. My perfect class would embrace technology fully and correctly. It would use the Cuny Blackboard system correctly and the professor would update it on time. Speaking of the professor, he or she would be helpful on an individual level, yet also on a class level. Also, the professor would have to be entertaining. If the professor chooses a lecture-style teaching format, at least keep it interesting. Cell phones and laptops would be allowed, because it is the choice of the student whether or not he or she wants to receive a decent education. The college already has the students money: If they want to waste it – so be it. Finally, homework would be neatly scheduled and not too difficult. I have no problem with homework when it is reasonable.

Well, I’m writing this about 30 minutes from the deadline after trying to log on countless times, so here goes nothing. I’m Irving. I was born and raised near Deal, New Jersey – a town that is extremely unlike the typical Jersey Shore stereotype of New Jersey. I’m part of a large Jewish community that inhabits a large part of Brooklyn and a small part of the area I live in. I’m 18 and I’m currently living in the Baruch dorms while commuting back to New Jersey every weekend.

I love to snowboard in the winter and play tennis in the summer. I’d say I’m best at those two sports. A close third favorite would have to be surfing – not kidding. I plan to major in Real Estate and minor in Computer Science (my guilty pleasure).