FRO12 LC15

The three workshops that I attended was the news literacy workshop, the Dare to Engage workshop, the Baruch Voices. My favorite workshop is the Baruch Voices. The other two workshops were repetitions of what I had already learned in high school. I listened to Baruch Voices during convocation, and I dreaded the idea of having to do a monologue. When I listened to the performances of the monologues, I learned about new people without meeting them. In addition to the monologues, the enthusiasm of the performers allowed me to visualize the feelings in the monologue. It is very interesting to learn about the struggles and the achievements that people experienced.

A common topic that was shared in the monologues is moving away. Now that we are college students, we are beginning to earn money on our own, live on our own, and make our own rules. The transition from a senior in high school to a freshman in college is probably the most difficult transition because of the new challenges that we face. I can relate to most of the monologues that were performed, but there is one difference. I did not want to move away from home. I feel very connected to my family, and spending more than half a year away from it seemed impossible when I was applying for colleges. College is the time to become adults, and it is common for everyone to want to leave home. I have to work on becoming more of an individual.

When I entered college I expected it to be a breeze, way easier than high school. In high school I hardly tried and maintained at minimum an 85 average. Its either I knew the material or I cheated my ass off. When I entered college I set a goal for myself, straight As in all my classes. The first few weeks of classes I felt I would be able to accomplish this goal but the exact opposite happened. The homework that I planned on doing everyday was never done because the teacher never checked it. All of a sudden I had no time to do any work and I started doing last minute crams to get a decent grade on quizzes and tests. Coming from high school it did help because I did a lot of last minute crams in high school and never actually studied for exams. Now I finally started to get some free time and am starting to finally catch up on some of my work. However it’s already too late in basically all my classes to achieve an A. I even had to drop music class because it was too late to get anything higher than a C. Now that I’ve seen my mistakes this semester, I can correct what I did wrong and do well in my class’s next semester. Grades are extra important in college then it is in high school because this actually counts to what you want to do in the future.

Other than the schoolwork, I’m enjoying Baruch College a lot. I met a lot of new people and enjoying myself when I’m not in class.  In addition to that I did a lot to build up my resume through a very vigorous extracurricular activity which took up two months of my college life. Throughout my future years at baruch I will be building my resume through permanent activity and support, and maintaining a high GPA.

School is not the only thing I’ll be doing though because in college school isn’t everything. I believe that in college you should have as much fun as you can and that is what I plan on doing. A lot of smoking, drinking, partying guaranteed.  I still have high expectations for college and I’ll make sure I accomplish what I plan to get done.

Edited Pic of The Voice Official Logo

Even though I went to several workshops, the Baruch Voices was the most interesting. The other workshops were too informational. It was really dry and really boring. I rather be in class than be in those workshops.

The first time watching the Baruch Voices was very fun. The monologues were funny and interesting, unlike the monologues from the second one. People from the previous year wrote so much better monologues.

The only one i found interesting was the one about the friend who died. That friend was one of my classmate. I don’t really know that person that well, but his death was a really big deal back at my high school.

Also all the monologues the Asian boy performer performed was really funny. I think it is cause the performer was really into it. He performs it as if it was his monologue that he was presenting.

Like Youn has in her monologue, there was this very annoying girl sitting like two rows behind laughing really loud. I don’t even know what she was laughing about. It is either she was on her phone or she was on drugs since when she was laughing, noting funny happened. Maybe that is why I didn’t enjoy the second Baruch Voices. I was really annoyed. Finished ranting

We had the chance to attend a few workshops so far. My favorite so far is the one about Resources. This workshop showed us which resources were trustworthy and which were not. It also taught us how to check if it is trustworthy and a primary source. Videos were shown to us and some were pretty funny.

This workshop was my favorite because of the videos shown. The first video was about spaghetti and how it came from trees. At first, I believed it but when I thought about it further, I knew it was a lie. It was broadcasted on the news so I immediately thought it was true. But it turned out it was an April Fools Joke. It was actually pretty funny.

The second video was aired on Inside Edition and it was about a girl with a rare disease called Dystonia. Because of this disease, she is not able to walk and eat properly. Before this workshop, I had seen this video already and believed it was true. Then we found out that this was a hoax.

The third video was about the assassination of President Kennedy if I remember correctly. We kept hearing that he appears to be dead but not yet confirmed from unfamiliar sources. Then finally, from a dependent source, we found out that he was dead.

I learned from this workshop that many resources can be really misleading or just completely false. I also learned to not be so gullible.

            My favorite workshop, out of all three, was the Baruch Voices. It was the second time freshmen attended Voices and I felt somewhat different this time. Last time, I was not really sure about what Voices were about and I honestly did not relate myself to the monologues. However, since this Voice was about this year’s freshmen like me, I was excited to hear some stories. Unfortunately before Voices, I was in the computer lab sitting right in front of the air conditioner. I did not know why the air conditioner was on in the winter, but I felt sick in the stomach. Even though I had a hard time to focus during the Voices, most of the monologues were engaging and fun enough to bring my full attention.

             Usually, I like to listen to other people’s stories and share experiences. Therefore, this Voices was a perfect workshop for me. From Voices, I got to listen to what other college students were experiencing and some of their problems and lovely moments before college. My favorite one was a monologue about a boy excited about his baby sister born on the first day of the year. It was such a sweet story and I was able to relate to his excitement. This monologue impressed me personally. I have one younger sister and one younger brother. They are always on my side and care for me. I think I am lucky to have two siblings to share my happiness and pain together. My younger brother is seven years younger than me and even though the age difference is somewhat large, he is a great boy who takes care of his sisters and willing to listen. I agreed mostly with this monologue that having younger sibling is a pleasure in life.

             The other monologue I found interesting was about moving away from her mom and live independently. I always wondered what it would feel like to move away from my family and live independently. Even though I enjoy having times alone, I think I am still not ready to move out. This monologue gave me time to deeply think about what it means to grow up and be independent.

             This Voice felt special since the monologue was about every college student’s life. Listening to their stories, I got to notice that I am not the only one with many stress and problems. The performers did wonderful job reading the monologue and I could actually feel the enthusiastic expressions and emotions. The combination between great performance and unique monologues gave me thrill and happiness at the end.

Out of the three workshops that I have attended, Baruch Voices was definitely my favorite workshop. The performance was captivating and the performers did a great job of portraying what the monologues would sound like coming from the poeple who created them. Baruch Voices was different from the other workshops because this one was more engaging, it left a more lasting effect on me, and it was memorable.

One monologue that stood out to me was the one about the smoker. It brings to perspective how hard it is for people to get rid of the addiction of smoking. Really any addiction is hard to get rid of and people should know that there are people and places that they can go to get help and get rid of the addiction. Another monologue that stood out to me was the one about the girl who cut her wrists. This one really had a lasting effect on me. It shows that a fellow Freshman had a really tough life before college and the only way out was to injury herself. She believed it was the only way out and that the pain would solve her problems. It is sad to know that people go to that extreme to solve their problems and inflict pain on themselves. They should know that they have family, friends, and professionals that will listen to their problems.

Baruch Voices proves that everyone is different and sometimes people are similar. It shows how different each person’s journey was before becoming a Fresham here at Baruch. We are all here for the same purpose and that is to get a higher education and to do well in life. Freshman should stick together and work with one another to make our journey through college even better. We are all on the same team.

Throughout this semester, I have been to three different workshops. There was the one about reliable online research, harmful words/phrases regarding sexual preferences, and Voices. My favorite has to be Baruch Voices. It was my second time attending and I had some level of expectation. I’d have to say, I was disappointed with the first few monologues. They seemed dry and too familiar. Not to be a critic or anything, but it started off quite boring.

After the first few, one caught my attention. I think it was the one about a student’s addiction to smoking. The moment the performer “lit a cigarette,” I had a feeling it was going to be different. The student wrote about how he wanted to quit, but there was always an excuse not to. It reminded me of my brother. Everyday he tells me he will stop, but I see no progress.  If I was in his shoes, I wonder what I would do …

The following story was about the birth of a student’s sister. It was very sweet. Although I could not empathize with the writer, I was able to see his love for his new sibling. Others were about relationships with friends and family, addictions, and college.

Starting with writing my monologue to Baruch Voices, I realized people come from a diverse background. Most of my concerns are very simple and can be resolved with some dedication. For others, I didn’t expect them to be enduring such hardships. The story about  a girl cutting herself and hanging out with the “wrong crowd” left me wondering. It must have been very difficult for her open up to her family and friends. She should have tried to resolve her problems without causing more pain.

The only thing that could have made it a better experience was doing away with this one girl. She laughed at everything that was said. There were serious, heartfelt monologues, but she still laughed. Man she was so annoying. She took out the fun in watching part of the show. Otherwise, I had a good time before going to class. I wouldn’t mind seeing Voices again. 🙂

With the upcoming semesters, there are more stories and performances to come.

My first semester at Baruch college has been a very stressful three months since i was not used to the work load of college. I have stayed up till 3am on a lot of days this semester which is not a pleasant experience.  I am starting to cope better with the work now after three months of hardship.

Though the first three months were hard they were also quite fun. I got to know some people in my classes who have made my time at school fly by. School is acually quite fun when you minus the work. But in the end school is a place to learn by doing work so I have to learn to manage both my social life and work time wisly.

For the first time i experienced creating a schedule of my own for the first time. It is a great experiences to know that i can control my class to my own liking. Though it was quite difficult being nearly last pick on the classes. I actually did not get my most ideal schedule where the last spot for the class i wanted to taken right before my time to choose classes. In the end i still like the idea of making my own classes since now i know i will not be late for my classes as often since they are all afternoon classes now, considering I’m not a morning person.

Also the food around Baruch has been getting quite sicken towards the end of semester. I have eaten at the same place few places around Baruch for the whole semester. I hope a few new place open up next semester so i eat different kinds of food next semester hopefully.

My experience in college has been fun with times of stress.  I think it is healthy to have stress if there are ways to relax.  In college, there is very little homework.  To make up for this, there is great emphasis on quiz and exams.  I spend two days before a test with a stressful mood.  I work for my grades and learn from mistakes.

Even thought, I study and have more stress in college.  I still have fun.  I get to eat new foods, meet new friends, have peers to share stress with and money to use.  There is a wide variety of foods in and near Baruch.  The cafe in Baruch has delicious Italian, Chinese, Japanese and American foods.  The only down side to the food is the cost.  In high school food was free.  It was also very predictable and boring.

Outside Baruch, there are also places with foods.  I have been to many different places with my friends.  The most memorable one was sacrificing an extra two rides on my metro card to go to the Japanese supermarket a few stops away from Baruch.

Friends also help reduce a large amount of stress.  I just feel that we share the same workload.  We share the pros and cons of professors.  The block programming helped me made some really good friends.  When I share my stress in words it really helps to reduce it.

Having money is also new to me.  In high school I could not get a job.  I had a boring life because I was always broke.  When my friends get new phones and electronics I felt poor.  Although I do have some luxuries like a fast computer and a iPod I could not afford expensive brand name clothes.

College is different.  the first thing is I had money.  I got money from my summer job, the first real paying job I had.  When I finally got some money I had a hard time controlling myself.  After every purchase there was a feeling of guilt.  Using the financial aid, I also felt guilt.  I think whenever I use money I feel some guilt.  I think it is because I keep remembering the time when I had no money to spend.  Now, I waste like 80 dollars a month on foods and transportation.

The increase in money, time, lunch responsibility is part of my college experience thus far at Baruch.   I do not have any good pictures so here is a funny picture that represents my struggles trying to control my money.

College has been a lot different from what I expected. But it has surprised me in a good way. Before I got into Baruch College, I thought college meant more freedom and flexibility to allow me to focus more on extra-curricular activities like clubs, jobs, and sports. After these few months of college experiences, I have realized that it was different from my expectation.

Now I know that I need to put a lot more time and effort on my classes in order to maintain a good GPA. Even though I have more time outside from school, this extra time is meant for more studying to prepare and do well on my tests. Fortunately, with tons of workload and hours of studying, I have been doing well so far in all my classes.

Another thing I have learned in college is flexibility. Back in high school, I always just memorized all the homework and important dates in my head because they were simple to remember. But college is different. There are different due dates and many important events to participate in. Therefore, I have developed my time management skills. Now I am used to record every detail for classes and events in a planner. It helps me organize and remind myself what to prepare for the next day. I also learn how to divide my homework and readings to finish them on time without struggling everything in one day.

The most interesting experience that I have had in Baruch College is its club hours on every Thursday. During this session, I have the opportunities to explore new things and make new connections with people that could potentially help me with my future career. For example, Hong Kong Club provides different games that allow me to take a break from all those stressful readings and tests. ALPFA gives me an advantage for future application for internships and jobs. Hopefully, I could get involved more and explore more clubs next semester.