Fro, what can I even say? Although the timing may be a bit inconvenient and some lessons were pretty uninteresting, I honestly feel like this class has helped me ease my tensions with the transition into college life. I wouldnt exaclty say I had an exact favorite class lesson but the overall experience was pretty interesting and insightful. The point of this class was to create a laxed environment where peers can discuss common situations one needed to deal with in college. More so then teachers, Mr. E and Danny were to me more of a representation of the diverse characters that one associates themself in the real world. Both of them, being students themselves, showed me how everyone has something to offer and you make it in life by applying your potention. With even only a difference of a year, through self innovation, instead of being the one who pays to listen, one can be paid to be one doing the talking. This idea that you are what you make yourself to be is what I will keep with me for the rest of my life. We now are in an environment where any single person can make a difference, and by choosing to not do anything about it, someone else will take that oppurtunity. As a kid I used to think of the what ifs. Now as I mature into adulthood I must think about the cans and what i can do to make the cans happen.

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These past 3 months has really been an eye opening experience not only in school but in life as well. Meeting a range of new people, going to many different places and expereincing a whole new setting really gives one a sense of growing up. Although, along with this addition of freedom, one must also understand the assumption of more responsibilities as well. In college you pay for your chance to aqcuire a degree and your standings are based on your peers. Along with this new sense of culture interaction also comes with this competing system that furthers raises the standard needed to be achieved. Unfortunately my mentality was stuck in the high school slacking senior party mode in the beginning of the semester but I know now I need to manage my time more wisely. I picked this picture because I feel it well represents the situation I went through this semester. I thought I was on top of everything and was perfectly orderly. However, like how your finger can slip and hit the wrong key easily, everything can turn chaotic and hectic quick. Doing things last minute can make one loose track of the amount of workload they really have and the adequacy it will be performed at. This overwhelmingness snapped me back into perspective and had shown me how tought the real world can be. All in all I am truly greatful to experience this and even go to a what i feel to be a very interesting school. This real life experience of competition will prepare me well when  I finally enter the business world.

Picture Source

My first semester at Baruch College has been definitely easygoing. Compared to high school, there are less assignments. However, the assignments require more research and effort. Thankfully, we have a lot of time to complete them. Time is another factor that surprises me at college. Before attending college, I expected to be loaded with work to do and would have no time to do any recreational activities. I was completely mistaken. Most assignments are not due the next day they are assigned, so I have more time to complete them. Additionally, I have a few gaps of a lot of free time between classes, so I go to the lab, gym, or outside to get food. There is definitely a lot of freedom at college, but a lot more responsibility. Time management is really important, and I have to be sure to complete everything on time and study efficiently. Overall, my experience at Baruch College has been balanced. The challenging assignments are balanced with loads of free time, but still the time has to be used wisely. My good classes and professors are balanced with the bad ones, and so on. I just feel neutral towards Baruch.

Even though balance may resemble peace, it resembles chaos for me. Why? Well, to be honest, Baruch College was not my first choice for college. My first choice was Stony Brook University and I wanted to attend there for their engineering programs, but unfortunately I was waitlisted and then rejected. And so, I ended up at Baruch College because I heard it was a popular and zealous college. Moreover, my cousin attended Baruch College, so my decision was made. I intend to transfer to Stony Brook University next year, but I might stay at Baruch College. It all depends on the next semester when I get a taste of how business is like. If I like it, I’ll stay and major in accounting. If not, I’ll transfer to Stony. But at the very moment, I am balanced and conflicted between two colleges. It’s bothering me a lot, and I have no idea what to do. Only time will tell…

The trip to the Rubin Museum was interesting and boring at the same time. I haven’t been to a museum in a long time, so it was kind of a refreshing experience for me. The Rubin Museum was definitely exquisite, with the expensive restaurant and fancy staircase and all, but it featured many exhibits and works of art. Even though there were many exhibits and works of art, it seemed repititive. The works of art were mostly centered around Buddhism and under the influence of the Himalayas, so some of them had common characteritics. However, it was interesting because there was a sense of evolution between the works of art. The works of art were displayed and influenced differently throughout different cultures and different ages of time. In addition to the evolution of the works of art throughout time, the culture difference was also appealing. Different cultures displayed their ideas based on their belief, so it was really diverse.

Another thing that was interesting to me was the position of the religious figures. Even the positions were simple, there were a whole lot of meaning behind them. I learned a lot about the position and how the religious figures connect with nature and the world. For example, an open hand represents receiving and touching the ground represents transferring. The whole idea of the transition of energy from an outer level to an inner level was flabbergasting. Overall, I felt neutral to the trip, but I definitely learned new things regarding cultures and beliefs.
I forgot how interesting museums were and how they promoted education as well as awareness, so I’d probably be interested if there’s another museum trip.

Early on in my childhood I visited many museums on a regular basis, but in recent years I don’t remember the last one I’ve been to.  I had never been to the Rubin’s museum in my life so coming in I had no idea of what to expect.  Aside from the long walk to the museum and then getting soaked in rain on our way back, the visit to the Rubin’s museum was a great learning experience.  Upon arriving at the museum I realized that it was a very up-to-date and state-of-the-art facility.  First we visited to fifth floor which was all about Buddhism.  I never really learned much about the religion besides skimming through passages about the religion in high school.  The visit to the museum allowed me to learn about the numerous customs and practices of Buddhists.  For example, when they pray they have one hand touching the ground to show the connection between the Heavens and Earth.  This visit to the museum allowed me to have a much better understanding of the Buddhist religion.

I was just chillin’ in my first semester at Baruch College.

My first semester at Baruch College was surprisingly easygoing. Going into college, I expected the general connotation of college: being “overloaded” with work, all work no play, a lot of stress. I understand that this was only my first semester with relatively easy classes, but college isn’t that bad! Professors are a lot less stuck to rules than high school teachers and they seem to be very understanding regarding homework, absence, etc. Baruch College is just… professional, you know? Everyone is responsible for themselves. I had complete control over what I did and it was up to me PERSONALLY to handle my life. I liked it. The only thing I really disliked was the commute; I live in Queens Village, which is an hour and ten minutes away from Baruch College. The MTA is beyond ridiculous regarding their “delays,” which I never really understood. Why not just admit that they’re disorganized? There really absolutely cannot be “earlier incidents” EVERYDAY that cause delays for at least one minute at a time.
The whole “block” system at Baruch is really limiting. It fixes up first semester freshmen schedules from before, which is a great way to organize, but puts the freshmen with the same general class for all classes. It was great to meet people and kind of create a family dynamic, where we all learned to adapt to college together and made friends that will probably last. However, it’s limiting in the sense that we really should have had a more indicative experience of college by having different people in each class. I’ve come to appreciate the people around me, sure, but I would have liked it better to expand my social circle on a more diverse basis. Besides that whole limitation idea, I enjoyed meeting my fellow peers through this block system.
So yeah, I was “just chillin'” throughout these last three months. As it’s near Thanksgiving, I’d like to say that I’m thankful for the previous school I attended (Bronx Science), which I believe really helped me prepare for college and the level of education that comes with it. I found the assignments given by my professors to be not too difficult but still properly time-consuming. I didn’t have any complaints with my education. I very much would recommend Baruch College and its first semester to seniors in high school, as it’s easy to assimilate academically and socially.

Coming in to Rubin Museum, I did not fully know what to expect. After walking for a while in undesirable weather, I was interested to see what the museum had to offer. Upon entrance we were informed that this museum featured a heavy theme of Buddhism across the Indian subcontinent and Eastern Asia. Different floors showcased different statues, and other artifacts pertaining to the religion. As we moved from one region to another the faces of Buddhas began to reflect the population of a certain Buddhist countries more. Overall, it was a nice experience, and gave a great insight into the religion which I didn’t know past Dalai Lama.

So far, my experience at Baruch has been the same dull routine every day. It’s very similar to how it was in my high school: wake up early, rush to school, go to classes, come home, and complete work required for the next day. Rinse and repeat. The only difference here is that I have some free time in-between classes and not all homework assignments are expected to be due the following day. Because of these changes and being the generally lazy person that I am, my daily life schedule is a total mess. First off, because of the extra time in-between classes, my time spent at college is much longer than my time spent in high school. This becomes a test of attrition for me as my patience battles to maintain my attention span to last all the way from morning to the last class of the day. So after about two hours of commute, I return home, usually sick of doing anything work-related and slouch away on my bed to play with my phone. This is where my second problem comes in; back when I came home from high school, I was usually compelled to complete my homework because, well, it was due the following day. But now I am given much more time to complete much bigger assignments and I usually put these off till the very last day to do. Besides these problems which mostly have to do with myself, Baruch College has been a new and challenging experience. I haven’t quite gotten used to the way of college life yet, but hopefully I will be fully adjusted by next semester.

My trip to the Rubin Museum was magical. I learned about so many pieces of art. The museum help you unlock a deep appreciation within yourself for art. The way the pieces of art are described give off a nice creative environment is very notable. The museum itself is so vast that it feels like an endless cave of wonders. I enjoyed every second of the trip. I wished that it would never end. The artistic values expressed in the museum really changed my beliefs and values. It made me this that I am part of something larger than whatever my entity is. It showed me that my physical from is meaningless and that my imagination is so expansive. I realized what truly matters in life because this trip. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to absorb the useful knowledge that this museum has to offer.

For those who don’t know, this is Snorlax, and it is a Pokemon. Snorlax has a known trait for being lazy and fat. Although I am not fat, I can compare myself to being just as lazy as Snorlax.

Being a freshmen in Baruch College is really stressful and a whole lot different than high school. One of the biggest difference is that college needs you to memorize the notes in class. I remember in high school, I didn’t even have to take notes and I would still past an exam. The amount of homework and its difficulty has made me very lazy. There are days where I didn’t even want to get up from bed because I didn’t want to attend my Music or History class. I really can’t blame the homework for my laziness but I have been a whole lot lazier throughout my college year compared to high school years. This is only the beginning of college and I have a whole lot to get through, and I understand I need to fix this issue.