My first semester at Baruch isn’t what I really expected it to be, but it was alright. I met a lot of new people, and got closer to the people I already knew in high school that followed me to college. To be honest, being a first-semester freshman sucks because you’re not really orientated to the way things work at a new school, and it can be pretty confusing. But along the way you pick things up and understand how everything works. Like the express elevators and how escalators only come up to the 5^th floor, or how it’s really really crowded on the 2^nd floor after the 345 classes are let out (didn’t know these on the first day). Then there are things like picking out a schedule for the next semester or actually knowing how to register for classes that you need to learn how to do that are really frustrating

You would think that if you don’t have homework that often you will be less likely to procrastinate, right? Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. Procrastination hit hardest this first semester, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t do it for college. I’ve been doing my homework the night before, and at times the day of during breaks. The list wasn’t/isn’t limited to homework, though. I’ve studied for tests/midterms on the nights before, too.

So basically, I picked this picture because although I’ve lost countless hours of sleep and spent hours on the train commuting to and from school, my first semester whizzed by. It was kind of a jumble, and I don’t really know how to describe it. It feels like it started yesterday (okay, overstatement) and it’s going to end in like six days. It makes me think that if high school passed by quickly, college will pass by much quicker. Hopefully the next 3 and a half years are good.

In our collectively created mock newspaper, The Baruch Times, each of us pitched in an article that we thought would either reflect our current or future interests. For instance, the article “Why We Make Bad Decisions” by Noreena Hertz best depicts the experience of most, if not all, college freshman. In her article, Hertz speaks about her illness, and offers insights found from visiting numerous physicians. One of the more significant aspects of her article was her knowledge of anxiety, stress, and fear, which she claims distorts our choices (“Stress makes us prone to tunnel vision, less likely to take in the information we need. Anxiety makes us more risk-averse than we would be regularly and more deferential.”) Hertz’s insight illustrates why some students may not perform to the best of their capabilities during midterms and finals.

In the second article we chose, “Possible Clues in Fatal Chase, but No Motive” by N.R. Kkeinfield and William Rashbaum, the authors tell of a woman named Miriam Carey who in a high speed car chase between Washington D.C. and Capitol Hill was shot and killed due to the assumption  that she was a threat, or potential car bomb. This brings up the question of whether or not she posed as enough of a threat to be shot, and why police shot her (most police departments discourage or prohibit opening nfire on vehicles). This is significant to us, because as Baruch students, if there are set in stone rules about the whole student body, it brings up the question whether or not it breaking the rules was right and whether or not there should be exceptions of rules.

In the third article, “After Misuse, a Push for Tutoring” by Morgan Smith, Smith speaks of the No Child Left Behind tutoring program, which takes aside some of the federal financing for economically disadvantaged students. It also speaks about how in Texas, millions of dollars in public money were shown to be going to companies who showed very little evidence of their services’ academic benefit, and at worst committed outright fraud. This brings up the question, as Baruch students, of how much of our tuition really goes to our own benefit.

In “Arrest in U.S. Shuts Down A Black Market For Narcotics” it is discusses how a seemingly small mistake can lead to the downfall of an illegal organization for the trafficking of drugs. This shows how no matter how secure you think you are, and how much you think you got away with what you did, you’ll eventually get caught.

In the fourth article, “Caribbean Nations to Seek Reparations, Putting Price on Damage of Slavery”, shows how the Caribbean nations want reparations from certain European countries. It shows how even though slavery seems like a non-existent issue, and an issue of the past, its negative effects are still affecting countries. The atrocities haven’t been forgotten.

In the last article mentioned, “Lobbyists representatives are Ready for a New Fight on U.S. Spending”, The NY Times covers the battle about to be fought between special interest groups in Washington that will be fighting to avoid having the programs they represent have funding cut as a long term U.S budget is created in the upcoming months. This article relates to Baruch in that there are many groups and organizations on campus and we need to be informed which organizations we want to support and be a part of.

One of the hardest things to do is to even attempt to explain yourself or who you think you are in the matter of a few words (obviously had a hard time with personal statements senior year). But here it is,

1. Kids- MGMT
2. Wake Me Up- Avicii
3. Youth- Foxes
4. Young Blood- The Naked and Famous
5. Everything Has Changed- Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran
6. Cups- Anna Kendrick
7. Roar- Katy Perry
8. Fireworks- Katy Perry
9. Royals- Lorde
10. Intro- The xx

I picked the first song because despite however old I am, I’m probably still a “Kid” at heart. Also, because it’s super catchy. “Wake Me Up” and “Youth” are second and third because of the common theme of not knowing where I’m going in life, and how maybe I’m too young to know. “Young Blood” is next, and it sort of explains my naivety towards everything. Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed by the changes around me, like when I notice how the same people that were in my life just a year ago are no longer either with me or associated with me, and I sort of feel displaced or nostalgic, and so “Everything Has Changed” is next. Watched Pitch Perfect last weekend, and so I guess it’ll make sense to have “Cups” in this playlist! Plus, it’s an awesome song. “Roar” and “Fireworks” are next because I used to be really conscious of others when I was younger and­­­­ now I just really don’t care about what people think or have to say. “Royals” is next because it’s probably the most played song on my ipod right now. Sometimes I have a lot to say, and I just really don’t know how to put it in words or explain how I feel. And so, “Intro” is last, since it’s lyric-less and I sort of have else to say. ­­