Monthly Archives: March 2013

The health fair workshop I attended with my fellow classmates was fun and informative. They explained what exactly stress is, and introduced some ways of dealing with it. My peers and I were asked to fill out a questionnaire sheet, which estimated our stress level and risk for heart attacks. After doing the questionnaire, I found out that I was a type A2 person. This implicated that I am heading in the direction to being cardiac prone. When I saw this, I disagreed greatly. Not only did I disagree with the assumption that I was ‘highly stressed’ but also with some of the personalities that it listed for my type. Fears not performing well, little sense of humor, pessimistic attitude? No, No…this was definitely not describing me. When I looked over the Type B personality list I also saw that I had many of the qualities listed. Has fun while accomplishing tasks, finds pleasure in simple activities, good sense of humor, and optimistic in general…now this was definitely my kind of list. As the workshop progressed, I realized why my situation was different. The reason that I had many personalities of Type B but was listed in type A is because I do all of the activities the mentors spoke about. They explained that in order to lessen stress, we have to do activities such as yoga, meditation and writing a journal. These are all activities I currently do which allow me to deal with all forms of stress in my life. The workshop was fun and I especially loved the video where they explained meditation and inner peace by showing a clip from the movie, Kung Fu panda. I’m glad to know that I will be successful, since the questionnaire said type A tend to be more successful, and that I am taking the right precautious to deal with stress in my life.

I have never been in a place of historical interest before. Though it sounds weird visiting Rubin museum was first of his kind in my life. The museum was all about Tibetans history and about Buddhism. Among the pieces of art in that5 storied building, the Tibetan Shrine Room attracted me most. It was such a calm place, all on a sudden I just felt like I left all my hectic life behind. The collection of souvenirs and metal statues were so eclectic. And above all, the enchanting playing slowly in the room can take anybody to a level of meditation. Each of the paintings on the wall was holding a religious message. I am thinking of visiting it once again with my friend because I did not have much time on that day.

College is one of the most stressful times of a person’s life. For a real career orientated person, getting good grades, attending classes and keeping personal life together might prove difficult. The pressure of advanced education sometimes cause health deterioration. To function effectively in college, it’s absolutely necessary for inner peace and a healthy, stress free body.

Our enrichment workshop on health and wellness pointed out some facts about stress and how we can avoid them. It also pointed out some assistance Baruch provides about relieving stress which most of us didn’t know. A key point about defeating stress is to have inner peace. Meditation is a good way to have inner piece, but as Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda says, some people achieve inner piece easily while for others, getting inner peace itself is a cause of stress.

Another easy way to relieve stress and achieve inner peace is yoga. People often think yoga as a complex form of exercise and refrain from it. In reality, yoga is a simple form of stretching and controlled breathing which can be done by almost anyone. A simple stretching of fingers or elbow and breathing slowly for a short time can effectively reduce stress within minutes. Getting a message is a good stress reliever as well as it relaxes the tensed muscles of the body. But for me, the best way to relieve stress is to have self-confidence and belief that no matter what obstacle life throws, one can overcome it.

As for me, I don’t let anything stress me out too much and I don’t leave work for the last moment. I already have inner peace and don’t need meditation for that. Although I stretch and exercise almost every morning, for me the best stress reliever is taking a hot shower or walking at night for an hour. I also drink a lot of water which helps me keep calm.

            I have an abominably bad eye for art and I never found the inner meaning that modern artists talk so much about. To me, modern art looks like a random show of color as if some 3 year old sprayed paint over a canvass. Probably for these reasons, The Sydney Mishkin Gallery is the first art gallery I ever visited in my life and if it wasn’t mandatory, I probably would never have gone there.

The only art I ever came in contact with is the drawings of the comics me and my friend created. The pictures in a comic are much more precise and the direct meaning is much more prominent than the inner meaning. When I visited the Mishkin gallery, the exhibition was on copies of Medieval Chinese paintings and  they made little sense to me. If I was there alone, most pictures wouldn’t make any sense to me but being part of the group and figuring out the hidden messages in each painting became a popular sport among the group.

A friend figured out that watching a painting up close and then watching it from far back creates a different image of the painting. More revelation can be found out when one observes the painting from distance. There was a painting of a Beduin riding his horse is the desert. Honestly. the picture baffled us all as we couldn’t figure out the difference between his torso, his horse and his limbs. However, after scrutinizing it over 10 minutes and having a heated debate  we came to the conclusion that the man is actually wearing a cloak which is flapping in the wind making him look like an illusion. I think the artist drew the picture in such a way to confuse viewers and later on muse over the answer they came up with.

Overall, the visit was fun. I’m not interested in art any more than I was before but the one hour I spent there with my friends was a good one, finding hidden clues in paintings and debating whose point is the more accurate (As Leanna said “I like this game”). After all, it’s still better than sitting in the library and staring blankly at the notes.

The art piece that I chose is called “Cave Painting” by Isca Greenfield-Sanders. The piece is basically a an image from the inside of a cave which is completely black and has four men who you can make out because the light reflecting into the cave draws out their shadows. I gravitated towards this piece because it reminded me of Plato’s “Analogy of the Cave.” The Analogy of the Cave is a story of a group of prisoners who live in a cave where they are chained by their necks and feet to only face a wall. Behind them is a fire and behind the fire is a wall. On top of this wall are statues that are being controlled by another group of people behind them. These statues are casting shadows on the wall of the cave and the group of prisoners who see them try to make sense of what is going on in the images. One of the prisoners though is released and gets to go out and discover the real world, everything outside the cave. The Analogy of the Cave is interpreted to be the lesson that one’s knowledge is based on the world around them and it is part of their responsibility to venture outside and discover the greater and unknown aspects of the world.

I wake up; it’s Monday, is it really Monday?

What happened to the weekend, wasn’t it just Friday?

It’ll flashback to me later

In a city that never sleeps, I seem to be always sleeping

Not that because I’m from Jersey, I have some Brooklyn in me too

I’ve been all over the world

But nothing is like New York

The city that always has me asking what happened

Forget it, let me go to school

I swear I see the same damn bird flying high as I get off that 6 train heading to school

Here I am, Baruch thousands of people walking around

Some of them looking like Edward Scissorhands dressed them up this morning

Many look nice though

Sitting down, just got something to eat

This girl is eyeing me like a kid doesn’t exist

Girl, I know you want this donut

Everybody free donuts on me

Schools done, it went alright,

Finally back to the dorms

Chilling good with the homies

I wake up, it’s Monday again

Wait, what happened?

Since I performed my monologue in class today, I will also post it.  Hopefully everyone else does too!  Here is my monologue that I wrote about a year ago…

Hi Everyone!!!!  As you all know, I am Joanna… First thing that I can tell you about me is that I get so annoyed when I am called Joanne.  You pronounce my name with the na sound at the end.  Therefore when people are trying to remember my name I usually tell them it rhymes with banana.  Anyways, I’m a 19 year old (turning 20 on November 30) Junior who’s majoring in Graphic Communication and I love it.  Besides that I’m a half Salvadorian and half Dominican girl with crazy curly hair that represents my life.  Fun fact… I changed my laugh because my old was so embarrassing.  (True Story:: Once my friends and I went out for dinner to celebrate the end of finals.  I began laughing and a friend who didn’t know my laugh, really thought I was dying.)  I am told by close friends that I am the sweetest person with the cutest personality they know.  If this is true, I don’t know but I can admit that I am determined to be positive and happy even if I’m not.  I try to have a smile on my face even if things are going wrong and if things go wrong, as they sometimes do (I feel like that line is part of a song) then I will just deal with it.  I also tend to smile for no reason whatsoever.

My top 3 concerns for this semester is…

1. Time-Managing – I am teaching two FRO classes as a peer mentor, I’m working in the Office of Student Life, I have 5 classes (2 of which I have to dedicate hours outside of class time) from Monday to Saturday,  I am in a sorority and even though I became inactive I still try to be around when I have time,  I don’t want to kill my social life, and I have a family that asks me to go to family events like every weekend.  My concern is trying to NOT stress myself out.
2. My freshmen students – Not only you guys, but my past, present, and future freshmen seminar students.  I want each and everyone of my students to have a good semester…. I want them to get good grades and to pass freshmen seminar.  But I also want all my students to have fond memories of Baruch College.  I want everyone to find a niche here in school or a friend to hang out with, attend USG parties, get active in clubs, become leaders, gain more confidence, find your passion, and graduate with a good G.P.A…. and get an AWESOME job.  My concern, I guess, is that they don’t try to make the most of their first semester which in all honestly is beyond my control.
3. I guess my last concern for this semester is finding an internship for next semester or researching which country to study abroad for the summer.  Even though its only plans, every day is one day less and I feel like I’m running out of time.

I graduated a catholic high school in June of 2009 and now its September 2011.  The difference from each experience is that I’m older, wiser, and closer to the “real world.”  I have more control of my life and make more mistakes but the lessons I learn from them are more useful.
I am beginning my third year here at Baruch College and I am definitely not the same girl who entered Mason Hall for Convocation in 2009.  I knew I was going to change but I didn’t expect how much.  When I began in Fall 2009, I was really naive.  Two years of Baruch College made me into a mature adult.  I went through a lot, pledging a sorority, becoming a student leader, getting As and Bs, failing classes, realizing that business was not for me, finding out that my passion was in the arts, and trying to find out who I am which honestly… I’m still trying to figure out.

Below is my self-portrait… It’s actually a photo I found on google.  Almost everything is true except that I have brown eyes instead of blue eyes. 

I can’t imagine what it would be like attending college for 4years.  I don’t know where I’ll be and how I’ll do.  I just can’t wait to graduate already.  Few weeks ago I was on the 7 train.  The station lost power and there were no subway after 74^th street.  There were still 50 somewhat blocks left to go.  The whole block was crowded with people and it seemed like it would take a few hours to get on the shuttle.  I heard a cop say it was only a 30 minute walk to Main Street, so I decided to walk.  As I was walking I felt that there was no end to the walk and wondered if I would even make it to Flushing.  My phone wouldn’t turn on so I couldn’t call anyone and I didn’t have a watch so I couldn’t tell how long I was walking.  I felt annoyed, angry, and upset.  I felt as if this was all because of school.  If only I didn’t have to go to school I wouldn’t be in this situation.  Yes, I decided to walk and not take the shuttle.  There were no buses.  I walked and walked.  I crossed the bridge and finally arrived at Main Street.  I got on my bus and realized I was attacked by a pigeon or some bird.  I found bird excrements on my bag.  Ewwwwwwww.  This just made my night even better.  On the bus I tried turning on my phone.  This just made me more furious because it turned on stayed on.  Before, while I was walking, it would turn on and when I tried to make a phone call it would turn off.  That day I wished I never attended college.  If only I didn’t, I wouldn’t have bird poop on me, my parents wouldn’t have worried, and I wouldn’t have been so annoyed.  I felt as if college was to blame for.

I would say my biggest challenge with school right now is time management. I’m finding it hard to juggle between life here at school, home, and work.

Freshman year hasn’t been too hard as far as the work load goes but it’s hard to find a consistency with completing assignments. Currently, I’m taking five classes this semester, Music 1003, Math 2207, English 2100, Anthropology 1001, and History 1003. None of the classes have work that is too overwhelming. And for the most part all of the professors are pretty decent. Once they issue an assignment I’ll write down its due date and tell myself that it needs to get done.  Usually putting it off until the weekend to start working on it because I feel I work better at home. But it’s failed to be proven true. Once I get home, I’m instantly being hit with favors from my parents or brothers and sister. Whether it is tasks around the house or driving to pick someone up from work, there’s always something that needs to be done that needs my assistance. If it’s not helping someone out then it’s working as a cashier at a supermarket for eight hours out of the day. Within the span of three days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I work an average of twenty four hours. It’s come to be a lot to handle. But I can’t cut back from one to focus on the other. If I stopped working as much then I won’t be able to have the money needed to transport back and forth to school. And if I decide to work more and put school on hold then I’ll be messing myself up in the long run.

Spring break coming up might just be exactly what I need. This half way mark is pivotal in being the make or break point for the rest of the semester. I’ll have to time away from both school and work to just relax and reorganize everything. Hopefully I can pan things out to work for me successfully in the future. We’ll see.