The Third Part of the FRO Blog Post Trilogy

As I write my third and final blog post for Freshman seminar, memories are rushing back to me. I have been a Baruch student since August 28th and in a nearly three month span, I learned the four essentials of being a Baruch student. The first essential and the first thing I need use in the morning to get to my classes are my Baruch ID and Metrocard. My Baruch ID is needed to get inside my school and I can never enter with only one swipe. My Metrocard has a monthly unlimited fare and it is the key to my freedom. I use my Metrocard everyday and it can take me anywhere at anytime in New York. The second essential is the reason I’m writing this blog post, I first assumed Freshman seminar would be similar to my Senior seminar in high school which was just an empty time period in my schedule. However, it was the exact opposite and was very useful. I was taught many aspects of Baruch and college in general through this class. My favorite memory of Freshman seminar was when everyone had to write a personal monologue. I wrote a lot for mine and it was a great release of built up emotion. I was blown away by my other classmates’ monologues because I did not know they were such interesting and intellectual individuals. Freshman seminar was truly an enriching experience. The third part of my starter pack for a Baruch freshman is the sign that many of us walk by on a daily basis. It’s outside the store that nobody knows the name of and is famous for their pizza slices that cost only a dollar. For the first week of school, I was a constant visitor and purchaser. These slices were incredibly thin and more often than not, they were flavorless even with the addition of pepper flakes. Nevertheless, these dollar slices satisfied my hunger during my two hour break on Tuesdays and Thursdays. At one point, I thought to myself that college really forces one to chose between starving and being broke. I decided from an extraordinarily horrible slice of pizza that I need to budget my money and also balance my diet. That does not stop me from indulging in a dollar slice from time to time though. The last and most important part of my starter pack is sleep. Everyone is so stressed out about assignments, grades, GPAs, subway delays, transitioning from college, Ebola, and the future that they sometimes sacrifice their well-being for these things. I learned that my body knows what it wants and if it is sleep deprived, I am irritable and slow the next day so if I ever have a free moment, I try to catch up on sleep. I hope that students next year can use their own starter pack to be a part of the Baruch family and that they make the most out of their Freshman seminar as well.