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My first semester at Baruch College has been a major transition into college, and I think that applies to most incoming freshman.  Coming to college meant a move to where I would call home in the foreseeable future.  No longer would I reside in Huntington, New York, but I would call the greatest city on Earth my home for the next four years.  I came into college thinking that I could live my life the say I did in high school, which meant doing my homework every once in awhile, waiting till midnight the night before an assignment was due to actually start the assignment, and not having to study for exams.

Well I was wrong with pretty much all my assumptions.  If you see the kid in the chair as me and the incoming backpacks as the rude awakening to what was to come.  I thought that I could pull a 3.7 GPA easy, with minimal effort.  But I soon found myself doing something that I rarely did, if ever, in high school and that is studying.  For the second exam for the class Introduction to Sociology, I found myself prepping and reviewing the material nearly half a week before the exam itself.  But it was worth it in the end.  For some people that might not seem like such an accomplishment, but for me that is a big deal.  I also found out that the pace at which the material is presented and taught just seems to zoom by.  In high school you could miss a week full of classes and it still would not be equivalent to missing one class in college.  The length of the classes is also something that took me a while to get used to.  Having sometimes an almost two hour class can be tough to sit through, let alone paying attention to the whole thing.  It is a rough feeling sitting in class for an hour and looking at the clock and realizing that you still have another hour to sit through.

Learning to manage your time is a crucial skill that is imperative to survive in college.  Often times you’ll have 2 or 3 assignments due on the same day.  So you have to plan out what you are going to do and when you are going to do them.  Gone are the days of starting an assignment the night before and getting a good grade on the assignment.  I mean you could try starting it the night before, but you probably are not going to do too well on it.

So pretty much try to avoid the backpacks and don’t be the kid sitting in the chair when they come raining down.

As I find myself exploring a new chapter of my life, I ended up in The City That Never Sleeps. It seems that this new chapter is very foreign to me; I mean I spent 15 years of my life in the quite suburbs of Long Island. Coming to the city means that I am in a new environment and completely independent for the very first time. No one is here to constantly look over my actions, making sure I don’t do anything too stupid. No one is there reminding me to do the days readings or to do my homework. I have no one to ask, “What’s for dinner?” All this newfound responsibility falls onto my plate. I found myself learning skills no college course can teach me, like cooking and cleaning. Then I quickly discovered the differences between high school and college. Professors are not going to chase me down if I don’t do an assignment, it will just be reflected in my course grades. No one is here to coddle me along. College isn’t going to get easier and will most likely involve countless hours studying in the library and many late nights completing assignments. There will be times were I will just want to give up in the midst of a challenge, but that’s when it becomes an obstacle. I look forward to confronting these future challenges on my way to get a 3.8 GPA and to expand my horizons as an individual. In my four years at Baruch, I hope to hone the skills necessary for my career and life.

Sincerely

Gavin Li