I always find it particularly difficult to write about my past experiences and future concerns for reasons that actually help in explaining who I am as a person. I’m a perfectionist, and although that quality has accounted for many of my successes, it has also led to many of my downfalls. So as you can imagine, the pressure of summing up 18 years of experience in a limited number of characters is difficult for me to do, but I’ll try anyway.
I grew up in Queens- the most diverse borough- where I was fortunate enough to communicate with all kinds of people. I have an older brother who (although I don’t like to admit it) has had a big impact on who I am today.
In high school, I was known to be laughing all the time. I was a jolly freshman that was always finding the bright side of every situation. I was also very into sports- If my friends couldn’t find me, the first place they would think to look would be the basketball courts.
I was a good student, but I strived to get experience outside of school. I was interested in a career in science so I reached out to researchers and I ended up writing a proposal about how I wanted to research Western honeybees with regards to colony collapse disorder. I secured a mentor at Barnard and I was a researcher for about two years.
My mentor has had a large influence in my life, I have learned a lot about myself through him. I also learned a lot about myself through my experiences, and although I was thought to be optimistic, I realized optimistic thinking does not always work when put in certain situations, sometimes I found that I would have to find the negatives, in order for me to improve the situation. Usually, I would be too complacent, and therefore, I wouldn’t want to change.
As a college student, I already carry a set of values and beliefs that I have previously thought were grounded but has been proven otherwise. I have already learned a lot during my short amount of time at Baruch, and I hope to explore more about the world around me and myself.
My concerns for my first semester of college would be how to manage my stress and time. I hope I am successful at organizing my time between my work, school, and family schedule. I hope to make mutually beneficial relationships and I hope to meet people that inspire me in every way.
I would love to travel more; to introduce my mind to new ideas and hobbies that makes my life more meaningful. I hope to become more aware of events that are occurring in different parts of the world, and wherever I end up, I hope to be a part of a change- for the better.
Thank you for reading!!!
That is so cool that you got to be a researcher for two years! What made you interested in researching Western honeybees?
Also, I have the same concerns about managing my time and stress. I’m trying to stay ahead in my work but the semester is going by so fast and it’s so easy to for things to pile up, but I think it’ll all work out fine. 😀
P.S I’m also from Queens. Queens Team is the Dream Team.
I grew up in Queens too! Personally, I felt growing up in Queens alone was a huge factor in shaping who I am today. I share the same concerns as you with time management and stress as everything seems to be piling up now. I’ve recently started to use a planner to plan out all my assignments and finish my assignments before they’re due. Hopefully we’ll all get through this together and do great.
Like you and Steven, I’m also from Queens and believe that being from Queens has had a huge impact on my life because of the sheer diversity that exists. I also agree that even with the short amount of time we’ve been at Baruch, we’ve learned a lot that we couldn’t have learned anywhere else. I also love to travel so I hope I can take advantage of our ability to study abroad as early as possible.
I did not grow up in Queens, so it’s really interesting to learn that it’s the most diverse borough! I was never good at science; what made you want a career in the sciences?
Also, I can relate to being a perfectionist academically in high school, and to the stress that comes with being a college freshman. Hopefully, our freshman year will turn out great!