Author: Jin K Ye

So here we are, approaching our last session of Freshman Seminar and I just have to wonder what I took out of it. Upon entering Baruch, the honors classes are given tons of resources and support that I am certainly grateful for. The Community Service Project was the first assignment in which I contacted our librarian, Stephen Francour for research assistance. He showed me how to use the school database more effectively and provided me with useful suggestions on researching information on my not-for-profit organization. The Writing Center has improved a few of my papers and has helped me to clarify my thoughts and ideas in my writing. The STARR center at Baruch also has very interesting programs and workshops that I am interested in taking advantage of. I have not yet joined a club officially, but I have looked at a few; I am, however, looking for to the Business Case Study group that the honors college is starting.

I will definitely utilize all resources mentioned above, and more, to ensure my success at Baruch in the coming years. I expect much more research and many more papers in my remaining years at Baruch, so the library databases and the writing center will come in handy. Despite study resources however, there will be two people who will always be in my mind whenever I need help. Mr. Medina and Maria have been around when I needed them so far and I am ecstatic to have their guidance throughout my college career.

The community service project has reminded me of something that I had forgotten from the horrendous mountains of schoolwork I have been getting for the past five years of my life: responsibility. We are going to be the the next leaders  in our communities, and thus, be role models for the people around us. As honors students, we are expected to be aware and active in our communities. To ensure morality and virtue is victorious against selfishness and capitalism. And also, to teach others what we have learned from this experience.

In the next three years, I will be be defined by what I do outside of schoolwork. I will be the head of whatever club I decide to join. I will have a job or an internship to develop my career path. I will be organizing the national AIDs walk events. I will be signing my John Hancock on the Occupy Wall Street demands (that should have been written already). My opportunities are endless and so are the possibilities for my future. For now, I will dream big and maintain total confidence that I will get to where I need and want to go.

As of right now, I feel as if I have minimal to no role in the Baruch community. School spirit could be a little stronger. The lack of people in costumes during Halloween kind of shot the spirit of Baruch for me. Yes, I do enjoy the loud music playing every Thursday on the second floor. However, I feel that there is a need for stronger school-wide events, in contrast with small group commitments, as seen by the many sorority and fraternity logos everybody carries around. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the school and I commend our Bearcat mascot for walking around randomly, but I do want to see more school spirit.

Based on the Baruch Scholars community, however, I feel a little more in place. The idea of the learning community at first seemed a bit of an elementary school thing, but I have to admit that I like it. It becomes a bit like a family since we see each other frequently and at the end of the day, we always know who we can turn to if we need anything related to school. Everyone says that being a Baruch Scholar is working hard in college, but I see it more as a live blog of our college life. My friends are always telling me to work hard, and I am always reminding them to take a breather and relax. If your in college, you know that you have to work hard, so a Baruch Scholar is just like any other student. The difference is that we are able to share the opportunity together.

I agree with what all the adults say about all the smart kids in our school (Although, when they keep repeating it, it becomes pretty irritating). Many of us have been “honor” students for our entire educational careers and we’re all used to being handed good grades. We have always been surrounded by so many intelligent and fortunate people and given so much opportunity that we forget that there is an actual world out there. Being a Baruch Scholar brings us back to reality. All our education since our birth finally has a reason and a meaning. With college, we are only beginning our true lives where the Baruch Scholars are expected to take the place of leaders in the real world. So, there is no better way to start than going back and giving back to the source of our great education and opportunities through volunteering at local not-for-profit organizations.

Welcome to my amazing blog of Freshman Seminar journal entries!

My name is Jin Ye. I was born in New York and grew up in Flushing, Queens. I am a first generation Chinese-American. I attended P.S. 20 for elementary school and I.S. 237 for middle school, which housed many wanna-be ghetto people. As a result, I have a mix of a largely Buddhist lifestyle (although I am Atheist) and bits of ability in dealing with people who annoyingly think that they are so cool.

I consider myself to be very nonchalant and tolerant of others. Because of this, I am never easily angered. If people annoy me I tend to shrug it off as human nature. Of course, I do not look down on human being, because I am one myself and I can assure you that I do have good friends. I am not sure what I am trying to get across here actually.

I intend on majoring in Business Administration and management. I feel that I have an innate sense of business, which I inherited from my father. He ran his own little store in China and came to America in the hopes of taking part in the larger business world in New York. Unfortunately, the language barrier prevented that from happening.

My hopes as a college student is mainly in part to gain the leadership experience and communication skills I need to succeed in the world. So far, much of what my professors have told me in regard to this is to follow current events and be able to talk about what is in the news. As of now, college has not hit me entirely yet, but I expect it to challenge me.

For now, I do know much of what the future will hold, but I am certain that I will enjoy the coming years in Baruch!