My first semester at Baruch definitely challenged me to balance my school work with my social life and job. I ended up not having time to go to club events and participate in the student life outside of classes because the two days of the week that I was free, I would have to work on all my papers and study for exams. I ended up not liking my schedule  that much because, given that I would get home exhausted Monday, Wednesday and Friday and work on the weekends, only Tuesday and Thursday were available for dealing with the big load of school work. Besides that, I’m struggling with deciding what I want to major in and that has been another burden on my back. My Introduction to Business class, that I was super excited about, helped me realize that I’m actually not that interested in Business after all. However, I have to say that this semester wasn’t completely bad. I made great friends in my seminar class and I took classes like Philosophy and Theatre that didn’t seem to spark my interest initially but ended up opening my mind to different areas that I seemed to enjoy. College has helped me become independent and I’ve realized that I really like being able to organize my day and plan my schedule and not have someone checking up on me all the time. It’s been 3 months of ups and downs, of confusion and excitement but, all in one, it’s been an interesting start to my college career.

The theme my group selected for the New York Times project was racial and cultural diversity. We selected this theme because each of the team members comes from a different background, so our group itself was a representation of diversity.  As a result, we thought it would be interesting to explore the various articles relating to race in both, the positive and negative aspect. My individual role in the team was to select and summarize one NYTimes article and write the Bearcats section. The article I picked is called “In Looks, a Sense of Racial Unity” and I chose it because it talks about how specific fashion trends started transcending to various racial groups in the 1990s. I thought this was very interesting because it has not always been ‘normal’ to see white people wear dreadlocks or black people dye their hair blonde. Additionally, I worked on the Bearcats section and decided to talk about the Club Fair I attended and what I experienced there. This event was a great representation of student life outside the classroom because it allowed students from different classes and nationalities to connect on mutual interests.

This project has helped me realize how important ‘news literacy’ is in people’s every day life. It is essential for everyone to be aware of what is going on in the world and there’s no better and more convenient way of finding out than through reliable news. It helps people get involved and learn about the struggles and achievements of others.

https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/nytcoverpage/

Hello Professor Braimah,

I’m currently working on the New York Times project and I’m confused about what exactly we should write for the Bearcats section. Could you please remind me what this section needs to talk about? Thank you!

My name is Marina Stojanovic and as my first slide shows I was born in Mostar, one of the main cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is famous for being the home to the Unesco heritage, Old Bridge of Mostar. Leading into my second slide, I only lived in Bosnia for 4 years and then my journey began, which is represented by the world map. Because of my mother’s job, my family and I move to a new country every three to four years. This has allowed me to visit and experience places like Berlin and Vienna and now New York City. It has given me the opportunity to meet people from all over the world as well as learn about different cultures. This lifestyle has made me a very adventurous person. I love the thrill of getting on scary rollercoasters,  skiing down steep mountains, parasailing, and just doing things that push me out of my comfort zone. Traveling has also introduced me to many different types of cuisine, which resulted in me loving sushi so much that I wouldn’t mind eating it every day for the rest of my life. Growing up, fashion has been one of my biggest passions. I have always enjoyed flipping through magazines and being inspired by designers’ works, creating my own style, and even sewing a few of my own pieces. Being involved in so many different areas and learning about new cultures has taught me to always keep an open mind. I believe that it’s crucial to be open-minded in order to experience the world to its fullest. Lastly, one of my biggest goals in life, no matter what I end up doing, is to make the world a better place in any possible way.