Freshman year at Baruch was an adventure for me. It has taught me that I don’t really know the city I’ve lived in my entire life and to enjoy yourself while you can. Before college, I would never get out of my comfort zone, Queens. Now I just want to explore the other five boroughs and see what they have to offer, especially food wise. I love trying new foods, which is probably why I eat out so much and am broke. In Manhattan there everything is within walking distance, or a short train ride away. Everything is in arms length, you just have to get up and grab it.

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=97743

My semester at Baruch has been very eventful and full of new experiences.  I’ve learned to really love this school even though at first I wasn’t too sure if I’d enjoy my four years here.  One thing I’ve truly realized is that the work in college does not even compare to the lack of work I did in high school.  The work is on a different level in college.  A lot of effort is required to complete every assignment in each class.  A lot of the time, the work just piles up and becomes unbearable.  Living in NYC, I like to explore the areas around me and that means I’ll put work off for even later.  I just always have something to do and most of the time I’ll leave it for last minute.  This meme describes that situation I put myself in perfectly.

Post a meme, photo or animated Gif that you came across during the semester that represents in some way your experience at Baruch thus far. Embed your image in a blog post in which you reflect in no more than 500 words, on your impression of your first three months at Baruch. Your response should be personal and creative. If you use an image that you did not create yourself, be sure to credit the source with some name, if possible, and a URL.

URL:http://www.quickmeme.com/img/98/98ca600a9245d90a2a9b333126c45f5a29d2b1b5ae8678769060dfb7a9fa70d0.jpg

This semester having 2 history classes was hectic. The readings were so long for both classes and both of the classes were on the same day so reading for both was impossible. Reading for history was always a struggle this semester because the books were in a old english and it was so hard to understand what the reading meant. So basically like 2-3 weeks into the semester i stopped reading for american history since even after reading I was still so clueless, it was like just reading the words and not knowing a thing you’re reading. Also the professor use to make us read so many letters from the book and he would alway go over the letter in class which i didn’t read and never actually analyzed the one I tried reading. So for the rest of the semester this was me as you can see in the picture. For the other latin history class the readings were too long and really boring. I tried reading, but the most i did was open the book and read literally a page and I was already struggling to pay attention. So this semester I really didn’t read much.

(Click on the image to view the gif.)

College hit me hard! I have been having a difficult transition into college and part of it is due to the amount of work that is given. Since college semesters are a lot shorter,  more work are being given in those short amount of time.  Maybe the amount of work given is not THAT much, but I had a very relaxing senior year in high school with minimal amount of work that needed to be done. Like this gif, sometimes I just want to throw away (not burn) all my assignments. Just throw away all my problems and pretend that they do not exist. Or, if you read in between the lines of this gif, turn your work into something you like to do/fun so you would actually want to do it.
I have always thought that my time management was on point but everyone has their limit. I have obviously reached and passed mine so right now I am working on it all over again, from scratch! I am trying to be like this gif, turning all my assignments into something “fun” so it would not feel like a chore.
My overall experience at Baruch thus far has been overwhelming. Trying to juggle my social life with my school life is difficult enough but I went ahead and added my work life to the two. Right now I feel like a tightrope walker that have to balance in three different directions and any second, one of the three are going to tip over and I am going to fall. I am currently attempting to tackle everything with positivity but to be honest, I cannot wait for this semester to be over so one of the weight can be lifted off my shoulders.

Gif credit goes to chibird.com.

I would describe myself as an outgoing introvert. I’m able to talk to people and get along well but it is a struggle each day to motivate myself to do so.  Everyday I weigh out my decisions. I can crawl back into my bed and hide from my  responsibilities and those who care about me or I can go and do something productive with my life. The decisions I’ve made throughout the first 18 years of my life have made me feel alienated from everyone around me. I’ve neglected my friends, my family, and even my studies. I have lost great opportunities and relationships with people because of my selfish decisions.

This is what I regret most about my life growing up and what I most desperately want to change about myself. Now that I’ve been given a new environment and even more responsibilities I am working towards being a reliable and trustworthy friend.

Growing up biracial has been quite the experience. On my mother’s side I’m Filipino and on my Father’s I’m Irish. I’ve always been stuck in the middle when it comes to race. To Whites I’m Asian and to Asian I’m White. It’s not a negative thing because it allows me to experience both cultures. The Filipino culture has had a deep impact on my life because my Mother is an immigrant from the Philippines, so a lot of Filipino customs have been practiced in my house while I was growing up. Eating things like Chicken Adobo, Lumpia, Pansit, Inasal, Kare-Kare and Halo-Halo; singing Karaoke, watching all the Manny Pacquiao fights are just some of the things Filipino culture has given me. My Father is a born and raised American so the Irish culture has been suppressed quite a bit. I appreciate everything being biracial has given me. It has given me insight into two different worlds.  

Hi I’m Jason.
I get really really confused when people that i first meet say i look hard to approach or what not. In high school, my friends told me that i looked like those kids that want to be left alone all the time.

WELL that is not true, haha.

After getting comfortable, i’m down to earth, and i’m never serious, 100% real.
ONE.
HUNNIT.
PERCENT.

I don’t like beating around the bush a lot, so because of that, i talk really directly. So some  people think that I’m cold or aggressive.
I’m sure some of my classmates think I’m quiet ( you know who you are, i’m calling you out right now huhu ). The truth is, on some days i just want to get class over with and go home, because honestly school is not something I’m enthusiastic about. Especially calculus and history, i’m bad at studying on my own so these subjects get me worried everyday.

I had to cover my right hand, because i was doing something lol lol lol lol lol

Hi, my name is Gitanjali and I used to think that if you couldn’t pronounce it, then its your problem and you should get it right. However, I learned that I would have to meet people half because my name is kind of hard to pronounce. Now I would say, “hi, My name is Geet.” Now if you can’t pronounce “Geet”, something is definitely wrong with you. I basically met you more than halfway. No, I did not shorten my name because it would easier for you. This is my nickname at home and it basically means music in Hindi.

I love my nickname; it’s short and sweet and I love music. It just describes me in one word. I don’t love my full name. It’s not short, it’s not sweet. In third grade I won a contest fro having the most letters in my name. That was a stupid contest. Why would a teacher make that into a competition? Anyways, I’ve gotten used to it by now, but I still prefer my nickname.

When I was younger, no one cared about names or how they were pronounced my name. Apparently, as humans we tend to complicate things as we get older. Every first day is so bad for me because of  some people won’t even try. It’s even gotten to the point where I have thought about changing my name to Geet. I don’t know, I guess that will always be an option but I wouldn’t want to change my name right now. Despite the struggles, it’s actually made life interesting. Some of the people who’ve had trouble with my name became my best friends.

Our names are a part of identity and it is part of part of the initial phase of getting to know someone. If someone genuinely wants to be your friend, they should at least try to say your name right and not change it.

Names mean a lot, get it right.

When I was about nine years old, my grandmother bought a set of classic books for me. One of these special books caught my attention. The Call of the Wild by Jack London seemed, to me, to call upon my imagination. I had always loved the wilderness; I realized that as I grow older, my desire to explore the wilderness grows as well.

In the story, a young dog is kidnapped and taken to Alaska, and taught to be a sled dog. Then, after proving his loyalty to his former masters by fighting men and beasts, he escapes into the wild. Although I did not understand some parts of the book seeing how I was nine years old, the setting and action proved to be exciting, and so I ended up reading this book many times. The thought of a wild dog in the Alaskan wilderness going back home captivated me.

The story was adventurous and compelling, which is why I believe it caught my interest as I was growing up and developed my curiosity to explore.