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I would describe my first semester at Baruch as this picture shows. Baruch is a new, exciting and nerve wrecking adventure but I am glad that I was here to experience it. Everything new I learn at Baruch makes me feel as if I just accomplished something, even I don’t know what but I have learned what college is like and even if this does not refer to every college I know the gist of how college operates, the classes, the professors, student resources and I hope that when I go to other colleges they will have the same resources available for students. I have experienced both grew professors who care a lot for their students and professors who make the work college harder than necessary but these professors only helped me learn to adapt to each professor and how to deal different professors. I can only say that my one regret was not being very sociable because I can say that I did miss out on some aspects of college. I like to sociable atmosphere in Baruch because it is very welcoming and an great experience for a freshman college student.

My first few months at Baruch feels like it has been a lot longer. From the 8 hour orientation during the summer, to Convocation day, to today its been a while. This meme is something that I find relatable. Going through the entire semester being stuck with the professors and the classes that Baruch chose and without having a say, was a big pain to deal with. As registration came around I made sure to pick classes with professors that got great ratings so as not to repeat what happened this semester. Registration is a fight to get into classes and the minute my allotted time opened up I enrolled so I wouldn’t get locked out. It’s really a fight to get into the classes and hoping your desired class doesn’t fill up by your registration time.

I did not plan on what to write so what is said here is me thinking out quietly. I have to eat lunch outside now so I can feel myself getting more winded after certain activities. I always feel guilty when I eat lunch outside because I have no idea what kind of chemicals I’m putting into my body. It’s different with Chinese food though because I know I’m consuming mainly oil, soy sauce, and MSG which are not actually healthy but there is no mystery included in my order. I want to eat some cookies and cream ice cream right now.. My mom got her first iphone somewhere in the middle of the school year. She keeps asking me to add contacts for her and listening to Chinese music. It’s not enough that the volume has my relatives from China complaining but she also sings along to it.

I don’t talk much. Not talking is kind of nice for me because some days I don’t want to talk or see another human being. Sometimes I just have nothing to say. I used to go whole days without saying a sentence. Now I say one or two on average, which is my season high. There are different people at Baruch. Some are pretty and some are pretty to others. I can forget about talking to pretty girls but I’m working on that. Maybe I can drop my pencil by “mistake”, or knock her books down by “mistake” and pick them back up. Who knows.

I am really tired sometimes. I haven’t had a good sleep in months. When I say good sleep I mean the kind where you sleep for 9 hours and wake up and feel like you can dominate that ten pound dumbbell (I’m pretty skinny). No, the sleep I’ve been getting is the type with the 9 hours but waking up like I just stayed up all night. Cheez-its sound pretty good right now.. It’s a good thing that cold water and a rubbing of the eye can get rid of that groggy feeling. There are days when that doesn’t work and I’m walking around like the walking dead. You know those zombies that do a crappy job walking? how they’re stumbling and stuff (exaggerated) and they have that dead look in their eyes. Well they do that because they’re not excited about their brief presence on camera and do half-ass jobs but I do it because I am tired. On the days that the groggy feeling disappears, I’m fine that is until math class. It is boring in there. The teacher has a soft voice. I have to make an effort to keep my eyes open it takes everything not to place my book bag on the floor, lie down and count sheep. Even then I have to take little flash naps, enough to not feel totally crappy, just crappy. These flash naps are in five-second intervals then I snap back up because I don’t want to be rude.

Who’s that on the picture up there? He’s a monkey. A monkey named Wukong. I call him Wu because we’re buddies. He’s one of the champions in the internet game League Of Legends and my favorite. On the days where I don’t feel like doing homework- which are pretty common- I go on and we team up to wreck some noobs. Playing games is a good way to cope with Baruch in my opinion. There is no doubt that Baruch will take some getting use to but I think it will be a good experience. I may not be willing to do homework but once I get started, I get started, exhibit A. This piece has 621 words so far. That’s a whole 121 from the required! Now it’s 631. I’m on fire(634). I’m hoping the length can somehow compensate for how late this post is (sorry) (648).

I was really excited coming into college this fall for my classes, and on top of everything. I was really proud of myself for not procrastinating anymore like I did in high school. And then midterms happened, and I gave up. I didn’t give up because I wasn’t happy with my grades, on the contrary, I’ve been doing very well. I’ve just lost that motivation to keep doing my work. But I’m excited for the spring semester though. It’s an endless cycle: in the very beginning I’m looking forward to everything and then midway through, I’m just counting down hours till I can sleep. What is the remedy?

I think that this is a gif that accurately represents every morning that I have to go to school. Not that I hit into something every morning, but that I have to rush to school every morning. Ever since school started I’ve slept less than I previously had in high school. It’s also a longer trip to get to school and an extra transfer so I’m usually rushing to get to the train station or make the doors of the closing trains. College has been a totally new experience for me.

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My experience at Baruch college this semester was definitely a different one. Everyone says their first semester at their respective colleges/universities are easy but I found my first semester at Baruch very difficult. I honestly loved how endless assignments were toppled on me. I love being pushed to my limits and genuinely working hard for success. My peer mentors Jessica and Shanima warned us that time management is imperative in college. Experience is a great teacher. The road only gets tougher from here so I feel that I can do what I need to do to do well.  Anywho, like most others, you are on your own in college. I had to make all the decisions and everything was on me. I thought I would hate the idea of a block for my first semester in college but it turned out to be a great experience. First off, I met some great people in my block; people I would have never thought I would meet. People from anywhere and everywhere entered my life here at Baruch college and it was amazing. I really do like this school. I love how I receive a higher level education that is being paid for. Lastly, I love how I have taken my next step in life here at Baruch College.

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Dear Professor Rocha,

I do not feel it is fair our grades for pre calculus are based off three tests and the final. This puts extreme pressure on just four grades and is harmful to those who are not good test takers. It would be much more efficient and utilitarian if the homework, webwork, or even some quizzes  added to our overall grades. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Justin Stanziola.

Pretty much me.

In my first three months at Baruch, its been a small struggle, with obstacles here and there. But none of it has been out of my control, and I’m slowly but surely getting used to everything. To be honest it has been pretty uneventful, and nothing has really been to challenging, but I guess I would rather that than overwhelming and sometimes exciting. I think in the future in making new friends and getting more involved everything will amp up.

This meme can honestly sum up how many last minute assignments and papers I’ve done throughout my first semester at Baruch. I thought that my procrastination would go away in college, but if anything it has gotten so much worse. I even try to start ahead of time, but I always end up doing it sunday night, or better yet, the morning before its due. It’s honestly so bad. I think the worst one was my paper for art history; I stayed up until 5 am and the paper was due at 9:30 am. All my professors say that “we shouldn’t wait until the last minute” and I know they’re right. However, I end up taking upon that challenge and pulling all nighters to finish the work. It was definitely a lot easier in high school to procrastinate, but in college it’s really hard sometimes. I really hope to break my procrastination habits for the future.

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It was hard finding a meme among the wealth of memes on the internet. Today people are able to convey their emotions by simply pasting some white letters on a picture. I enjoy how many there are about school and it’s nice knowing that I am not the only one in the world who has a hard time finding out what I need to do and how I’m supposed to do it. Especially when it seems that all of my other classes have such high expectations of me. My life at Baruch isn’t what I had hoped it would be but I  half-knew that I wasn’t going to enjoy myself having had to turn down my dream school due to financial reasons. On top of all this I am faced with long readings of long passages of long works that I had no interest in reading, in long classes that I didn’t even get to choose. I have no idea what I want to pursue in terms of majors or careers and I am still faced with the uncertainty of random classes in my first semester. For my History class in particular I often have forty page passages that are assigned three at a time for an assignment that is usually due the next day. Whether I am reading about globalization or the Holocaust  I feel  a constant strain on my eyes and on my mind not only to transfer the images of the letters on the pages but also on my mind who is contacted through the optical nerve to retain the ever-flowing information. I sometimes feel like my eyes are popping out of my skull on their own, or that I may have to rip them out and place them on the page to keep up with the readings.

I’m hoping transfer to any new school to alleviate me from some of my literal misery.

Outside of the “da fuck” I receive from my readings I also “da fuck” over the fact that everyone in this school seems to want to come to class, sit there, and leave without saying a word or attempting to befriend any other students who aren’t already in pre-formed cliques. It feels like work to pay attention to anything when others aren’t willing to put in the effort.

The real monotony comes from sitting in the cafe or at a Starbucks waiting for my classes to start then end and in-between– working at American Apparel (where we have the world’s worst management who can’t seem to get their shit together when it comes to communication). This has everything to do with the meme in regards to not understanding when I am put on the schedule and when I am being called in for a mandatory meeting.

I am likely to transfer out of Baruch as soon as I can and I am hoping to leave American Apparel as soon as I find another means of income. Sure it will be hard to find the funds for another school and to get by without income for a while but anything could be better than what I have made here.