Today, I am going to briefly introduce Hong Kong, China, the place that I came from. Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. If you take a look at the map of China, you can’t find Hong Kong easily, because Hong Kong is so small. It’s about 1104 km^2. You can imagine the area of Hong Kong is just one over ten thousand of the area of China, but there are over 7 millions of people with various nationalities living there. Due to its high density of people, it features the most skyscrapers in the world. the highest building is the International Commerce Centre, which has 112 floors.

Although Hong Kong is small, it has a colorful history, and the history contributes a lot to our development now. Hong Kong was a country of China but after the First Opium War in 1842, China was forced to sign some unequal treaties. Under those treaties, Hong Kong was formally ceded to the Great Britain for over a century and returned to China in 1997.

The experience of being a colony actually gives Hong Kong multiple ideas to develop the country.

In terms of education, Hong Kong’s education system roughly follows the system in England, for example, building government primary schools and secondary schools, and using English as the teaching language. Also, Hong Kong was using the A-level test from England, which is the high school graduation test. After returned to China, the trilingualism proficiency is being emphasized, which means the proficiency of using Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. Therefore, the education system needed to be changed slightly. Although Hong Kong now has established the new education system, the England system had provided the based of the change.

The experience of being a colony not only gives Hong Kong multiple ideas to develop the education system but also changes the culture of it. Hong Kong is frequently described as a place where “East meets West”, reflecting the culture’s mix of the territory’s Chinese roots with the culture brought to it during its time as a British colony. The fusion of east and west characterizes Hong Kong’s cuisine, where dim sum, hot pot, and fast food restaurants coexist with haute cuisine. Because of various kinds of food, ”Food paradise” is an adjective of Hong Kong. Besides food, we also value different kinds of festivals. For example, we celebrate Luna Chinese New Year as well as Christmas and Easter.

In terms of economy, Hong Kong is acting as one of the world’s leading international financial centers, it has a major capitalist service economy characterized by low taxation and free trade. This feature attracted different kinds of retailers to import different kinds of goods to Hong Kong. With the low tax, travelers can find the same kind of product with a lower price in Hong Kong. Therefore, many travelers go there to shop. They can also help drive the growth of the economic development.

In terms of the government, Hong Kong’s current structure of governance inherits from the British model of the colonial administration set up in the 1850s, which is the separation of power. The government is divided into three branches, like the United States. It can ensure one branch of government cannot get too much power and can work in a smooth way.

Even though Hong Kong has returned to China, based on the principle of “one country two systems”, Hong Kong remains a separate political and economic system from China. For example, Hong Kong has their own currency, Hong Kong dollars. The Chinese currency, RMB is not legal in Hong Kong. Identically, HKD is not legal in mainland China. Moreover, we have our own law, the basic law. Just like the United States Constitution, the basic law is the supreme law in Hong Kong.

Although I am not living in Hong Kong right now, I hope Hong Kong can have a wonderful future.

Daniel Reinoso 

One of the biggest aspects of my life right now is probably playing guitar. I didn’t start playing until fairly recently. Maybe the last 6 months seriously, but 2 years in total here and there. It is my main hobby and I thoroughly enjoy it. I hope to possibly even make music for fun in the future if I ever actually learn how to do that correctly. The person who got me into my favorite hobby would be Ed Sheeran. He does some amazing stuff on a guitar and it inspired me to actually start playing seriously. Ever since then Its pretty much been all I’ve done in terms of hobbies. This is why I’m playing the song “The A Team” as part of my monologue today. This was the first song I completely finished on guitar and it was an extremely hard song to learn. It took me about 2 weeks of practicing probably 2 hours a day, but for some reason I just kept pushing myself to finish it. Once I completed it, it set my whole hobby in motion because the success felt great and It just made me eager to learn more. I was really proud of finishing it so I felt like it was the most appropriate song to perform since my successful completion of it led to a big part of my life today.

Working out is one of the better things I did in life.

in the past, I used to be that stereotypical Asian

life was shaped by parents following the mold of others

being good at math, check. Having Tiger parents that will beat your ass, I got that. Finishing others peoples hws, light work. Attending Saturday school, unfortunately I went.

But there was more to life than that

Sports, the great outlet for fun, it kept the boredom at bay

But If I wanted to be better at the sports I played

I needed to be faster, stronger, simply better

Speed, strength, endurance, perseverance, mentality

All is needed to push one’s limit and to better themselves

And that limit is where one’s mind allows it to be

And working out was the push I need

Working out was a great filter for emotions

Whether it be sadness, happiness, angry, frustration

But I Don’t let those negative emotions put a man down

Rather in the gym it lets me be the one in control, tranquil and focused, and it is me that uses them to benefit

My body, my mind, me

The strength, the mentality will help me shape my own life instead of following the mold crafted by the life of others

 

 

 

 

High school may have been a lot of things for me, but it definitely wasn’t simple. Almost everyone goes to high school, but not everyone understands the pressure of a specialized high school. Beginning in your freshman year, everything is about college, and I mean everything. Sophomore and junior year only increases the pressure. You have to maintain your high GPA while participating in extracurriculars, working jobs, taking AP classes, studying for SATs, etc…and then, by the time you’re a senior, almost everything is stressful. It’s all about who gets into an ivy league college and who gets the scholarship. Almost no one will admit how competitive it is; they’ll just sugarcoat it by saying that all of the students are happy and successful. But what they don’t tell you is that in order to succeed, you’ll have to compromise a lot of your time and your social life.

Clearly, I wasn’t the happiest in high school. I didn’t have the best experience there, and the workload consumed my daily life. I began to stay home everyday rather than hang out with friends in order to get my work done, and I started to see my friends less and less. I often felt alone, thinking about college so much that I didn’t take care of myself like I should have. I started to be unhappy with myself because I wanted everything to be perfect, but nothing is ever perfect. I think that the atmosphere of my high school took my perfectionist attitude and only made it worse and worse. Because of this, I started to grow frustrated and dissatisfied with myself, wondering why I wasn’t doing more, why I wasn’t better.

My constant strive for perfection wasn’t healthy. While I may have been doing better in my classes, I lost myself, and I compromised my own happiness. I didn’t realize how short high school truly was, and I failed to appreciate the good things about high school. Thankfully, those four years are now over. I am already enjoying college, and not gonna lie, I didn’t think I would. I already have a better perspective here, and I appreciate the awesome things I have at Baruch. Especially the free food at the Hillel!

Won’t you take a moment, hear what I have to say

This story is the reason that I’m standing here today

It’s the story of a man who found the strength to face his grief

It’s the story of a pauper finding wealth beyond belief.

I was standing by the ocean, I was ready to give in

Find freedom from the vicious game that I could never win

When then out of the darkness came an old man walking by

Sent here to protect me, an angel from on high

And he said can’t you see the sunrise, turning darkness into light

And when you see young children smile, it can warm a winter’s night

What a gift you get each minute, this ability to see

I know they weren’t kidding – what’s best in life comes free

You’ve seen leaves change in the autumn, you’ve seen flowers grow in spring

You’ve seen waterfalls and mountains, felt the awe that it can bring

So who’s got the time to ponder all the problems of his lot

Would you trade a million dollars for what you’ve already got? 

He came to stand beside me, as I wiped away my tears

Tears born of the torture of a thousand different fears

And he shared with me a smile, warm and bright and strong

He asked me would I share with him, what in my life was wrong

So I spoke to him of twilight, and he spoke to me of dawn

I spoke to him of winter and he promised spring would come

I asked him about faith and how I wondered what was true

He said to me, why can’t you see, we believe in you

— And he said can’t you see the sunrise, turning darkness into light

I asked him why he bothered with a man he’d never met

A stranger he wont see again and should probably forget

He was silent for a moment, when he spoke his voice was low

He said there was a time I stood by the water long ago

The tragedy that struck me, I was not yet 21,

a young man with no future though my life had just begun

You’re not the only one who thought to leave the pain behind

And he glanced at me and smiled and I realized he was blind

But he said I can hear the laughter turning darkness into light

And when my children say I love you it can warm a winter’s night

What a gift I get each minute even though I cannot see

I know they weren’t kidding, what’s best in life comes free

I’ve heard leaves crack in the autumn, I’ve heard birdsong in the spring

And I know the sound of music, felt the awe that it can bring

So who’s got the time to ponder all the problems of his lot,

I wouldn’t trade a million dollars for what I’ve already got

Would you trade a million dollars for what you’ve already got?  

Today’s society defines a model student
Straight A’s, social, and prudent
But, this isn’t always the case
Sometimes we leave class with a confused face
Yet, we still strive for that A-plus
And always try to catch that morning bus
With no sleep, we walk into class
Only with the hope and prayer that we’ll pass
With the professor talking for two hours straight with no end
The only thing I see is my unconscious friend
Everyone just wants to jump forward to graduate
But, if we can even get through a class is a big debate
One teacher tells us attendance isn’t a grade
But, if we don’t come, they throw shade
Then they tell us it’s for our sake
But it only causes a bigger headache
The powerpoint looks nice, but what do I learn?
Hopefully, it’ll be enough to help me get the degree I need to earn
The end result is to have a good career
But, this is already looks like it’s going to be a tough year
I hope the extra coffee will help me stay awake
Until we are saved with a long holiday break

I have been thinking about you and its crazy
AND ITS MATH CLASS AND IAM THINKING IF X CAN EVER BE HAPPY WITHOUT Y
AND IF Y CAN STOP LOOKING FOR ITS x
and iam thinking about this grade
and its english class
AND IAM THINKING IF I AND U CAN EVER GO TOGETHER IN THE ALPHABET
AND IAM THINKIGN ABOUT YOU IN BIO CLASS
AND IAM THINKING WHAT IF THE TITANIC PLATES COULD STOP SHIFTING
WHAT IF EVERYTHING COULD STOP FOR A SECOND
WHAT IF TEACHERS STOPPED TREATING US AS MEAT GIVING US QUALITY BY GRADES
THIS IS CRAZY BUT IAM THINKING ABOUT THINKING ABOUT YO IN THE SUMMER
AND THIS PHILOSOPHY HAS PUT ALL THE IFS AND THEN AND GET ME THINKING
WHAT IF I DO BAD OR GOOD THEN WHAT
WHAT IS REALLY THE END GOAL
WITH THINKING LIKE THIS THEN THERE IS NO WONDER WHY OCD AND DEPRESSION ARE ON THE RISE
WE ARGUE ABOUT GUN CONTROL AND HOW GUNS KILL PEOPLE
BUT SCHOOL KILLS MORE SOLES EVERY DAY THAN ANY GUN EVER DID
ITS QUITE FUNNY HOW PHONES CHANGED FROM PHONES TO SMARTPHONE
BUT YET STILL SCHOOL DOESNOT BOTHER TO CARE.

This is my little story about patience. I was selected into Summer Youth Employment Program, which called SYEP this year. I chose library as my workplace. There was a program in the library called Free Summer Meals. This program provided free lunch for the children at the ages from 0 to 18. My supervisor sent me to provide food for the children. I was always patience to say what we have today and ask the children what they wanted today. In addition, I bent my waist to let the children listen clearly. One day, my supervisor talked to me before the program began. He said I was too patience and the menu was almost the same every day, you didn’t need to bend your waist to ask them. If they wanted the meal, they could choose in ten seconds and they didn’t need so much time. I was shocked at it. Was I very patient? He asked a question given four choices. If you saw a person that wanted to jump on the train and the train was coming what would you do? A: Let the person jump. B: Advise the person to wait for a train to pass. C: Persuade the person to stop jumping. D: Ask for help. I chose C since I thought life was important and we should cherish our life. However, he thought I was very patient. I didn’t know I was very patient. On the other hand, I just thought I did what I needed to do. Patience was important in our life and it could let you toward success.

As Linda Grayson has said, “There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” I feel the same way as she does, but my friend would prefer bubble tea than chocolate. My friend is kind of unpredictable. She always describes herself physically dry and mentally high. She knows that I’m afraid of rodents, but keeps texting me the pictures of her golden hamster regardless of my fears. Although my unpleasant impression of rodents has not yet resolved, I’m getting used to seeing her pet without any resistance. She’s deeply into Sherlock and claims to be his wife. I guarantee that she doesn’t know she can be beaten by Sherlock’s fans. Our ideas are often on different channels. Her ideas would randomly pop up anytime and anywhere. I’m still considered about my major, while she’s already thinking about her retirement plan. She recommends me to think about it as early as I can since she feels so energetic from it. I’m nearly shocked and wondering if I have made a friend who is more than 45-year-old. Not only did her personalities make her seem special, but also brought me surprise that I wonder what this “obstacle” will endow me as we move on and grow up together.