My experiences at Baruch so far have been a test of my time management abilities. I say this because I don’t really think I’d be all that stressed at times if I just managed to stop  procrastinating. I can easily see if someone has great time management skills they would be able to breeze through a semester such as this one. I’m more or less in the middle of having great time management skills and procrastination habits, so, I’m obviously not quite yet there. I hope I can really pick up my work habits in the next couple of weeks before this semester comes to an end. To go about this, I will make sure to get all my work finished well before deadlines. This picture of coffee relates to my first three months at Baruch because I have really increased my coffee and red bull consumption. Coffee really saved me during some of my big assignments, but I try my best to only consume caffeine during my big waves of work, as that’s how work is ironically assigned in this first semester of Baruch.

This is how the last three months at Baruch has made me feel. I do not like the workload at all, i feel like work comes in waves. One week I might have nothing to do, the next week i’ll have 3 essays due on one day.  On top of that, I have to balance work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. College has been pretty stressful thus far. I don’t quite know how I plan on scheduling my classes next semester either. I have a bad feeling about getting to schedule on the 22nd of November. Life at Baruch just seems too repetitive, I’m looking for more flavor and excitement in my life. I want to transfer out to a suny, but i don’t know who to talk to about that.

My first three months at Baruch have been interesting. Ultimately I have been searching for my main interests and goals in life. I have not yet come up with anything but I believe that I will sooner than later. I have also learned a great deal of things from baruch so far. I have learned to use the resources presented to me and, and have learned to adapt to different work loads and prosper. I have yet to attend a social outing at Baruch. So far the school has been all work and no play. I believe that the school will be more enjoyable once I get the chance to settle in. I am hoping that I can get even more familiar with the school, and be able to make it like a second home. I want to use all of the schools resources and leave the school feeling accomplished and fulfilled by the time I spent at the school.

In the past three months of my experience at Baruch, I feel like a cat fighting a lion. I feel small in the big school. I feel devoured by the stress and responsibility I have for school and work outside from school. I am struggling to keep track of my time. Time management is out of the question. I am horrendous at prioritizing. Often times, I have to choose school or work and I always seem to choose school over work. Not that I don’t like school but it is rather tedious. Work is more fun. I hope in my coming months at Baruch I will learn to balance my life out more. I will grow like the kitty cat into a lion someday.

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The summer before college was enjoyable because of the relaxation, but scary because college was right around the corner. The first impression I had about college was that it was going to be a complicated experience, just like chess. In chess, there are 16 pieces per player, but these 16 pieces can be played a ton of different ways. Similarly, in college you are given groups of classes which you can manage several different ways. Overall, college seems very complicated but can become simple once you make a plan.

The trick, however, is to be adjustable, because that is what college is about. I’ve learned that college is a time where you can personalize your education. Defenses, or in other words, backup plans, should be established as a fall back. There’s no reason to be scared when something doesn’t go as planned. Instead, a student should feel excited and be creative to set up a plan of action. In chess, you will develop a plan, but there is a great chance for the opponent to challenge your plans. With the pieces set up defensively, just like the backup plans for college, pick up where you left off and set up a new plan.

The objective of both is to keep moving forward, because there will always be new paths to create. Even though they might take time, it’s better to set up something late, than give up and never do it at all. A player can make a come-back from almost losing if the right moves are made at the end. A student can retake classes and change majors if what they are currently doing isn’t going as planned. There is light at the end of the tunnel for those who are willing to work hard and make it all the way through.

College so far has been a little less than what I expected. I thought the classes would be a little more difficult. I thought that I would instantly get involved in clubs and campus life. I imagined more autonomy and freedom in the classes I chose to take. And I thought that the overall feeling would just be more.

But I’m not saying it’s been easy. Its been far from easy. Waking up is so hard, I have no idea how I got up at 7:00 am during high school because right now, waking up at 8:30 is a daunting task. Late nights are spent writing papers hours before they’re due. Staying out late and balancing my course load is definitely as hard as I thought it would be, its just that I thought the work would be more thought provoking, rather than just numerous. But college has made me think: How did I handle 8 periods of different classes a day, if I can’t handle 4 courses a week, taking only 2 classes a day?

However, college hasn’t been a total drag. I’ve met some really cool people and had lots of fun. I’m not looking forward to finals and I know I didn’t make this a perfect semester but hey “I tried, and therefore no one should criticize me”. 

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Growing up I have always loved art or anything that had to do with that feild. I continued it throughout high school until my parents embedded it into my head that art will get me no where.  I ended up giving up on my dream and went to business school.  So far Baruch is not what I expected and i dont see myself taking on business for the rest of my life.  What Baruch really did for me was open my eyes and realize that even if i have to work a little harder i will go to art school and get my degree in what I love instead of something i have no interests in.  These were my results  for the work interest self-assesment test and it just proves more that art is my field of interest and sadly Baruch does not offer the  opportunities i am looking for.

My experience at Baruch was exactly what I would have imagined school in the city to be.  What was not expected, however,  was the workload. Sometimes, I didn’t have any work or exams for two weeks while four different things were due on the same day. My circadian rhythm was flipped around. I realized that I needed a way to regulate my time better. After about two months, I learned to juggle my personal life and academics. I tried my hardest to finish my work before it as due. I found out that i had more free time this way. In the near future, I hope to continue to do better and make more time for myself so I can get more sleep.