Life As A Macaulay Honors Student at CCNY

In the campus of City College, we are trying to raise student activity fees. When people look at our sheets and they see a doubled price, obviously, they wouldn’t sign our sheet. My purpose is to keep the CCNY Women’s fencing team from being cut. The athletic director is planning to cut teams because of budget cuts, but at the same time, she doesn’t see any potential in our team.  She doesn’t see how hard we work or how much we’ve improved. During this season, we’ve won many awards and half of our team made it to regionals this weekend( including me! yay! After fencing, I’m hoping to blog more about my nerd-like days). We already pay for our own gear, and every time we go to a competition, we are all stuffed in one van with our equipment. One of the girls always has to sit on a toolbox, or  on the bump where the back wheel is. This weekend was a 4 hour drive to Maryland and being treated like this just ruins our atmosphere. Passing this referendum will also add to student life. Like any college, one should not expect to make friends and be a part of the school without putting effort into clubs and other student activities. If this referendum is passed, money also goes into clubs, and holding school-wide events so that everyone can get to know each other. Who would want to go to a college for 4 years and have any experiences to tell about? We want a uplifting atmosphere and a family Who doesn’t enjoy raffles and talent shows and other competitions. Like I said before, I have too much school pride to let this go! Our school has so much potential to grow large as a community, so whoever reads this and can make a change, please help! I found a new passion in fencing and my whole team was devastated when we received the news. Its like having our dreams shot down. We aren’t going to let this go without a fight! CCNY Beaver Fever!

Three days before classes started, there was orientation for three days. My first experience of Macaulay was The Outing, which was the first day of orientation. It was a dreary rainy day where I was late and wet. By the time I got to El Museo del Bario, I saw nervous faces that didn’t know what was in store for us. This was where I learned my first lesson. Do Not Be Late! Because I was late, I had to take the pastel yellow XXL T-shirt that has the cool Macaulay logo on it. I had to wear it and it was ginormous. I was envious looking at the nice shirts that the rest of my group wore. Listening to the speakers was very inspirational and I would give the next Macaulay-ers the advice to write down their advice! They are true words of wisdom that has helped me during times of confusion and to decide what I want to do with my life. My team headed out to a soup kitchen, where our magic hands were used to help those who are less fortunate than us. We ate as well and got to know each other through fun games. yayy~! Our task for the day was to put our feelings into poems and stuffs, so we headed out to central park for some more games and more inspirations from an awesome poet. Our game united us and forced us to work together while the poetry was to express our individualism. It was freeing just to know that our work was not to be graded and collected for once in our lives. When the weather started getting a little bad again, we headed into the Barnes & Nobles near our Macaulay building to brainstorm a whole poem for the group experience. [I heard that the B&N was closed down for a Century 21]. The finale was the most amazing get together. The intelligence, imagination, and uniqueness of each group and their members where showcased.

Although the day itself wasn’t so great, our personalities really brighten up the day. I think I saw a little sun break through the clouds when we were in central park ;). So now another suggestion from me. Some of the Macaulay events may seem like their is no point, but it is to draw us together as a family. I’m pretty sure that once we pass our sophomore years with no more Macaulay classes, we would miss each other. It also lets you network with the Macaulay-ers in the other schools. I admit that every time there is an event, I am reluctant to go, but I usually come out with new happy memories. So just go and make the best of it because if you go through those things just making yourself think that it is going to be miserable, it will be miserable. Enjoy and stay tuned for my next two experiences :)!

Hi my name is Grace Tsui and this is my first year as a Macaulay Honors student at the City College of New York. Whoooot, represent! I graduated from Francis Lewis High School [Class of 2010!] and came here for my fall semester of 2010. As you can see, I have a large sense of inner school pride. I like shirts and sweaters and anything that has my name or the school’s name on it. I am a biology major following the pre-med program and hoping that next semester, I can begin a path to minor in french. …still under maintenance