Category: Blog

Consider this a bit of a warning, juxtaposed with a ‘those were the days’ kind of piece. Kids, in the summer of 2008 I began my first semester of college at St. John’s University. It was awesome. I lived in the residence halls my first year and a half, went to Europe for the length of my 4^th semester and joined a fraternity the following year. I kept my grades in good shape until my tomfoolery got the best of me.  My grades began to decline while the good times increased; with my eyes nowhere near the prize I inevitably lost sight of the main goal, which was graduating with the credentials and honors needed to make me stand out in the job market.  Although I made up for lost time in epic fashion I still fell short of my ultimate goal and consider my time as an undergrad, albeit an experience of a lifetime, an academic failure, due to a lack effort and a skewed set of priorities which led to an imbalance of fun over work. Don’t get me wrong; I still graduated, I still had fun, still went to a great school and made lasting connections, had memorable experience and learned a lot. Some may call me a perfectionist, but I feel like I could have done better. This sentiment haunts me every time I apply for job, look at my degree or reminisce about the times where my pen and paper should have been busier than my party schedule.

I started out strong my first two years at St. John’s. After my first four semesters I had a 3.2 GPA and had a few academic organization memberships under my belt, not to mention the study abroad trip of a lifetime which sent me to three different European cities over a span of four months.  The following year, my junior year I joined a fraternity on campus, Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc. for all the right reasons (no sarcasm intended). I learned about my culture and historical background on an unprecedented scale and felt a new sense of pride in my Puerto Rican roots.  The catch, however was that once I finished my pledging process I stopped caring about my grades for that semester, the cardinal sin of being a neophyte, a.k.a. a new member of a fraternity or sorority.  As my ‘neo summer’ began, my stellar academic record’s golden age was coming to an end, and little did I know would enter a dark age which took several semesters, summer courses and CLEP exams to correct.

In the Spring of 2011 I let procrastination spill over into finals’ week, which is like a soldier going into battle unarmed. I was on an academic suicide mission all due to my own thirst for good times via wild parties, a thirst all fueled by my irresponsibility.  I failed three courses in the Spring of 2011, bringing my GPA down to a 2.8. I was devastated and disappointed in myself. I could have passed every course I had failed with a C at the very least. I knew I was harder working and more intelligent than to have three Fs show up on my grade report, but then again “Your grades are not given, they are earned,” said every teacher ever. I had never failed a course before in my life.

The following semester the pressure was on the redeem myself. It was my senior year, I was behind in credits and I was in danger of losing my partial scholarship. I balked epically at the chance, but had just enough success to barely keep me going.

I got caught up in the party life, this time worse than before. I was Jay Gatsby of St. John’s, focused on the vanity and the craziness that would not matter after I was finished with my undergraduate career. My grades, however, mattered very much and were declining at an ever more rapid rate. I passed 9 credits worth of CLEP exams to make up for the three classes I had failed the previous semester. The catch (there’s always a catch) was that I had to withdraw from all of my  classes in order to not completely ruin my GPA, except for one class that I had not fell completely behind in.

The stage was set in what I hoped would still be my last semester as a Johnnie before I graduated. After two semesters of crazy nights and horrible grades I took it upon myself to try and right my wrongs.  I took on 27 credits in one semester. That’s right, 27. I took 6 classes, amounting to 18 credits, plus 9 credits of CLEP exams. I was not easy and although I tried I fell slightly short, failing a class and earning 24 credits instead.  I toned down the good times in West Egg, although my shenanigan-ridden shindigs still went on from time to time.  I had 4 credits left before I graduated, enough to be able to walk across the stage with my class at the May 2012 commencement.

I felt like I didn’t deserve it. Any of it. All the praise I got that day, my family coming out to see me on campus, my sophomore and junior friends hugging me and saying “Congratulations!!” felt like a total sham.  Call me a perfectionist, but I felt like my commencement was ruined by no one else but the man in the mirror. I was determined to make that change and finish up strong.

The following semester I registered late and had no choice but to take 2 classes with professors that I was not on very good terms with; one professor I had not worked meshed well with and would often skip class and come in unprepared during my Spring 2011 semester, and the other professor was the only professor whose class I had failed during my 27 credit crusade. I had to juggle morning classes 3 times a week in Queens, a part-time job at Union Square in Manhattan and being part of a band complete with gigs all over the city, all the while living at the very top of The Bronx.

It was the best semester I ever had, save for my time Europe.  I came into the Fall 2012 semester deeply embarrassed that I was what the kids nowadays call a ‘super senior.’ I was surprised to find out that many 2012ers like myself had gone the ‘whole nine,’ semester-wise and I was not alone in my plight to finish a bit past the 4 year expectation.  I loved my classes. I studied diligently and really immersed myself in my coursework. I finished my final semester with an A- and a B+, the latter grade coming from the class I had failed the semester before.

I am now proud to say that I officially graduated with the class of January 2013. It wasn’t easy and wasn’t perfect, but I did what I had to do and got the job done.

A few lessons can be learned from my experience. I had many moments of self reflection, challenges galore as well as good times, ultimately forming a novel’s worth of memories and experiences to cherish. Here are some lessons that I learned in college, in a few short phrases:

“All work and no play make Jack dull boy, but no work and all play might make Jack fail out of school.”

“Life is what you make it; you get out what you put in.”

“Balance is the key to life.”

And my personal favorite:

“Redemption is sweet.” – RSM

The Paradox of Society

by Rubén Sebastián Muñiz

Society is a living contradiction. One’s entire life is nothing but a repetition of things one has seen from your first memories until your last breath.  On the one side there is order, conformity, hierarchy, all based on this quote: “If you play by the rules, you’ll go far in life,” – Every teacher ever. On the flipside of that, there is the urge to be different, the thirst for freedom, the quest to break free from the shackles of this superstructure formed over the base of human relationships.  The paradox of society is simply this: one has to mix and match allegiances, personal preference and priorities into one’s words and actions in order to create a unique mix of highs and lows, yes’s and no’s, stops and go’s that signify that a person truly is who he or she says she is. You have to fit in, but be different at the same time. In a way, high school never really ends.

There are two sides to every person. One can say good and evil, but I disagree with using those terms since every person has the potential to be either. All people really want from any situation is good. No one wants bad from any situation.  I see society today as most people see it: politics. Politics can mean anything involving negotiation, opinion, and power. There are two sides of a person, a side that is cautious and a side that is adventurous. Usually one is not as cautious as one is adventurous. Most people fall more to the cautious side or to the adventurous side depending on one’s actions as well as the opinions others have of that person, as well as the power that each opinion holds over the others’ opinions.

For example, for all we know as the general public, actor and TV personality Russell Brand could come home from his TV show’s filming to a lovely home with a white picket fence, 2.5 children and a pregnant wife in a sundress cooking him and the family a nice, wholesome meal.  BUT, we all know that this is not the case, because of his actions documented by media outlets and in his roles in film as well as the people’s opinion about him based on the former.  This forms a cycle in which public opinion is created and re-created. Media, people, media, people, media, people. This is not exclusive to celebrities either, especially not in today’s world where one can literally become a celebrity overnight via the internet and everyone has a smartphone.

I digress. Well, not really. How well one does in society, to me at least, is no more than the opinion of the people about one’s actions based on the media and in turn how the people react to the media about one’s actions, forming a cycle which is gauged by the opinion that the general public has on each person involved in forming the opinion of the general public. Confused? Even if you’re not, I kind of am after writing all of that, so I’ll use an example more so for myself:

www.RottenTomatoes.com is a site which compiles all the ratings of other critics on the internet about recently released films. The way the site works is kinda like the way society works; a percentage from 0 to 100 is calculated for each film on the site depending on how well or not so well the film was received by critics who published reviews of each film online.  Keep in mind that not everyone knows about Rotten Tomatoes. People who are not on the internet, for example, may see an ad for said film on TV and may want to go see it despite a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. People who don’t watch much TV may hear about the film through their favorite radio station on a commercial break with a favorable quote from a renowned critic in the ad, and then the radio listener may go see the film.  There are people who will go on Rotten Tomatoes and see the 20% rating and will hear a much more favorable review from their best friend, and then will go see the film anyway.  Or people may just wait until it comes out on live stream with Netflix. The point here is that the media and the general public influence and create one another through the exchange of ideas and opinions, and that each opinion is weighted differently from one person to another.

The media can be anything. For real, anything. The word media is just plural for medium; the way there is a middle man in a financial transaction, the media is anything used as a ‘middle man’ for communication. Hence, when my major was journalism coming into college, the industry of reporting the news, it fell under the field of communications.  The most accepted forms of the term media are publications; newspapers, magazines, and blogs, like this one. Media could also be a debit card, which carries information about one’s finances. Media could be a flash drive holding information like a PowerPoint presentation for work, or an illegally downloaded album from your favorite artist or musician.  Back in ancient times, media was found on walls, like hieroglyphics, or on messengers sent from emperor to emperor, king to king, etc. in forms of engraved stones or knots on a rope.

The most basic form of media is word of mouth.  Even first graders, for example, have conversations about one another, about their teachers, their older brother or sister, etc. The opinion of a first grader on the people in his or her life works the same way as an 80 year old: opinions form based on what one thinks and what the people in their lives think.  Society is a conglomerate of thoughts.

The problem here is that society naturally becomes a war of opinions from different groups of people. If Bob fits in with Group A more than Group B, than Group A may label Bob as someone from Group B, even though Bob really is a Group A kind of guy. Bob may even cross paths with Steve, who’s in Group C. Groups A and B don’t know too much about Group C so by reflex, A and B call Group C incompetent. Then Group C shoots back at Group A and B –see what I mean? Society is just a war of opinions, bro.

One of my favorite bands, Incubus, has a song with the lyrics “I guess it’s true when they say high school never ends.” Word to Incubus. If you ever thought you can escape high school, “Ya dead wrong,” – Notorious B.I.G. In terms of keeping up with The Jones’, trying to win over the approval and interest of others, and trying to find one’s own identity, ‘high school’ will never end.

So while you’re in ‘high school,’ you might as well go to the dance, and bring a date if you’re sweet enough of a talker to have one. Wear your favorite sneakers, not because they are cool to everyone else, but because they are cool to you.  Don’t worry about the jerks that try and push you around in ‘high school,’ because they usually get sent to ‘detention.’ Fit in. You need to. But I suggest that you fit in the way you want to instead of the way everyone else wants you to. That way, just like everyone else you fit in but are different at the same time. The difference is that if you fit in the way you want, you will actually be happy, unlike the posers. Don’t be a poser. Be you. – Rubes