Last Thursday, after classes, I attended a Career Starr Development workshop in the NV vertical campus. I felt pretty lucky because the one workshop that fit into my schedule was the one I felt I had the most conviction and need to attend, this being a workshop on public speaking. I, and the fellow attendees, were taught plenty on how to feel comfortable speaking publicly; either in small groups or in front of an audience (for all occasions). The woman teaching the course was very knowledgable, professional, and charismatic. She made you feel extremely comfortable when you entered by introducing herself and and shaking your hand immediately, exemplifying goo social skills; the first step to speaking comfortably in public. I throughly enjoyed the workshop and the experience, I now feel closer to feeling comfortable speaking publicly. She taught us the many real life applications that this skill has, most importantly for many of the attendees being the importance of it in the world of business. Before this workshop I underestimated it’s importance but she broke it down for us and now it is clear that it is more than often a deal breaker in almost all business situations thus making it a powerful tool for anybody. I am strongly considering attending another career star development session after that experience. 
Blog #2
Baruch has an array of resources that are available to all students! One that I find especially helpful is the STARR Career Development Center, which strives in preparing students to land great jobs. My friend Damian had told me about a resume workshop he was attending and insisted that I should go along with him. I always felt that my resume was lackluster and that it needed a lot of work to look better professionally. This is the main reason I decided to attend the workshop. My elders have always stressed the importance of a strong resume as it is the initial basis of judgement that an employer makes on you. The workshop turned out to be extremely adequate and beneficial. One of the main tips that was emphasized is the importance of the information that you should and should not include on your resume. We were told that employers aren’t looking to read an essay for your resume, and only want clear cut information that would be directly helpful to them in making a judgment on you. We were shown many example of great resumes and I was sure to take pictures of all of them as I knew I would want to refer to them later. Additionally, we were told about the other great services that are provided by the STARR Center such as help with cover letters and preparing for a job interview. I look forward to attending more workshops at the STARR Center as I’m not too knowledgable when it comes to the job applying process. I’m glad that my friend had recommend me to go, and I can surely recommend the STARR Center to anyone that is looking for help in the job process.
Community Service
Community service is something that I value and hold close to me. Growing up my family wasn’t the wealthiest and thus so we were eligible to apply for many programs that support low income immigrant families. These programs have helped me get to where I am today. I’ve learned to appreciate and value these programs that help young kids get a start at education because I was the product of these programs. I feel it is important to give back to your community, especially if your community set you up for success. Pay it forward, don’t end the cycle of love and support. Do whatever you can to support your community and the people who inhabit it, even if it is not much. What you think might not make a huge difference could mean the world to someone else!
Recently I had the opportunity to visit and volunteer at The Father’s Heart Ministries, a non profit church at 545 E 11th Street that provides support to the homeless and the youth. I helped prevent hunger with the soup kitchen and food pantry that they host almost every Saturday morning of the month. They usually feed about 700 people every Saturday.
When I arrived there with my friends we, and the more than 100 other volunteers, met the director of the program who spoke to us at the podium using a microphone in the dining room, we talked about our objectives for the day and then we separated into roles and groups. I wanted to help pack food downstairs so I chose my job and group accordingly. My job was to help fill grocery bags for the homeless people to take with them when they head out. I was part of a long assembly line of about 13 people that created the bags and then passed them from person to person going from the basement, where the bags started, to the entrance of the lobby where it was handed to the homeless who finished eating at the kitchen. I was at the towards the center of the line. The people at front created the bags and then put it huge containers when they had everything it needed. My job was to pick up the blue grocery bags and start passing it to the next person so they can pass it on and on up to the lobby. For 3 hours I passed grocery bags down the line, talked with my friends, met other volunteers who were apart of our well oiled machine. That day we served almost 830 people breakfast and provided them food for the future.
On a final note I want to say go with friends, it’s much more fun to volunteer and make a difference with your own friends there with you. Volunteering is also a really cool way to network and meet nice people. If you do a really good job you might get offered a job to help run the events and become a group leader (and I can confirm this is true).
Blog #2
On Thursday, I went to the Vietnamese Club. At first I did not know where any of the clubs were at, so I just keep walking past rooms. I heard a noisy room with a lot of laughter, so I went in. It turned out to be the United Sikh Club and they were doing a presentation on the religion. Everyone was really friendly. There was coffee and cookies being served as well. After, my friend messaged me to go to the ninth floor to the Vietnamese Club. I walked up numerous floors to finally find the room. When I walked in I saw a group of people in the middle of a game. Everyone was split into groups playing games together. It was really fun, because everyone was so involved. It was really inviting. When the games were over, we got Vietnamese sandwiches. I got a chicken one and it had picked carrots and cilantro in it. I was pretty good. Then some people volunteered to get pied in the face. They put whipped cream on plates and some people got plates of them and pied the volunteers. It was entertaining. I would definitely go again next week, but I would also like to also visit other clubs in the future.
Academic Blog Post #2
On Wednesday, October 11, I was hanging out with my friend Roni when I remembered that I had a blog due on Friday, October 13. Because of this, I said to him, “Wanna go to a museum with me?” He responded back by suggesting to go to the Museum of Sex. Curious and always kind of wanted to go, I said “Sure. Lets go!”
Not going to lie, it was definitely an interesting experience. The second you walk into the place you’re immediately greeted by a gift shop of sex toys. So many different kinds of stuff, from vibrators to some kinky stuff to books on the best sex positions, this place was definitely one to keep you wondering on what the actual museum was like. After purchasing our, overly priced, tickets, we began our adventure in the history of sex. Extremely strange items and facts were displayed within this museum, there was even a little theatre where a porn film was being showed. Honestly, not exactly what I felt like watching at 4o’clock on a Wednesday with my guy friend right next to me. Needless to say, we left the theatre pretty quickly. As we kept exploring, we viewed some interesting things like the first ever condom, vagina moldings of famous porn stars, a chastity belt, a penis gourd, a boob bouncy house, and much more but the most interesting of all was this beta virtual reality exhibit.
We were lucky enough to come on a day where the VR was free! When reading the pamphlet, I slowly began to feel a little nervous about doing the VR. When told, we were each put into separate rooms where, for me, a man was waiting in the room who was supposed to guide me through this experience. He began to strap into, what seemed like some sort of suit. Once I was strapped in he put my VR goggles on and placed me into this platform and told me when I can follow the pink lights. As I followed the lights, I was on some sort of stage where a pole was right in the middle and the first thing I see are female strippers sliding down the pole and going below the floor. All of a sudden I was being touched by someone I didn’t know. I began to feel a feather on my neck and someone spanking me like 2 times and on top of that the suit I was in started vibrating down there… I was definitely surprised yet very entertained. After the VR, Roni and I left, both of us with weird expressions on our faces. Overall it was a very interesting experience, but I wouldn’t say I’d go again… once was enough.
Blogs #2
On Thursdays, I normally start at 2:30 PM so going to clubs is always tough because I usually want to stay home. However my friend told me about a club called KCCC which stands for Korean Campus Crusades for Christ. My pastor and the people in my church say KCCC is a good club with great people and that I should go and they somehow convinced me to go. I had interest in going, yet my laziness had stopped me from going before. However this Thursday, I had decided to go and see what the club was like. I met someone I haven’t seen in 2 years named Josh Woo. We caught up and after a few minutes of talking, it was time to go in and get ready for club activities. Because the club is a Christian fellowship club, we did praise and service. It was great to see people with the same interest as me and that those people are people that I’ve known for so many years. My friend Sam led praise which I’ve only seen one other time and he played well. He played the songs O Praise the Name, It is Well, O come to the Altar, and How Great A King. It was a very different setting from what I am normally used to for praise but it was a welcoming sight.
Modern “Art”
I’ve never really been super into art to be honest, but I thought why not go
to a museum? I mean, I love the arts, but not specifically art. Or so I thought.
We all tend to have our own preconceived notions as to what art is or what it may be, and that goes for anything, but when I walked into The Museum of Modern Art, I was right.
But I was also wrong.
I mean, of course they had the usual paintings and whatnot. The famous “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh (and I took pictures of it), but then there were the spiders.
There were literal giant sculptures of spiders, one in the center of the room, and one suspended on the wall. Right next to a life size helicopter, and adjacent to a scale model of the building itself.
They have theaters and stores, photography and design. And an entire floor dedicated to fashion, the most commonly seen form of art.
And honestly the most beautiful thing in the entire museum to me, was actually sitting outside of it. A 50 ft tall sculpture of a rose, that I could not take my eyes off of. It just captivated me.
Just yesterday in my History 1003 class, my professor was telling us about how people view art. Asking us whether or not certain things qualify as art, and for some things (like a can with the ‘artist’s’ poop in it) I was quick to say no. But after coming here, and seeing this…I don’t really know what art is. It all depends on you and how you see it. I guess that’s why people like art, and I guess I never really understood that.
BSU ROOM 4-120
On Thursday September 21 12:30, I walked into the LGBT club meeting first. I was excited to meet other people like me. But it was a bit underwhelming though. There wasn’t a lot of people there and the people there seemed to all know each other so I was a bit left out. They did try to include me in some of their activities but I wasn’t really interested seeing as I really wanted to go to the BSU General Interest Meeting.
So Walking into the room 4-120, I feel the energy already. People like me. People who sound like me. People who look like me. And i’m happy. I smell the food reminding me of the good old days when Jerk chicken and rice used to be on my mind all the time.
Then we started talking about the issue of Kevin Hart cheating again on his pregnant wife. We all definitely had vastly different opinions. But it just had a calming effect on me seeing people like me argue about current events yet they are still able to sit together and eat. I usually say i go to club events for the food but there’s just something inspiring about having people who have a common ground or people with similar interests come together and just have fun. This is why club hours are one of the best things about Baruch. If you have been missing out on it, you should join.
Student Life – Study Abroad
I went to the Study Abroud info session with Shanjana and Kayleen yesterday. We learned about all the different Study Abroad opportunities that are provided at Baruch and databases for those provided outside of Baruch. For as long as I remember I’ve wanted to travel the world and see all the different places. And when I learned about study abroad programs I was so excited because these programs would let me go to different countries to study the culture and language while living it every single day. I learned about the CLS (Critical Language Scholarship) program which is includes intensive labguage and cultural experiences. CLS only offers 14 languages, focusing mostly on critical foreign languages. I also learned about Boren Awards which is a scholarship for students who want to learn languages that are not commonly taught in the United States and the fields they study must be critical to the U.S. National Security. Students can staudy abroad in most countries excluding countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Boren scholarships are for students who are open to being immersed in a culture for at least two semesters. After completing this program, students are required to complete a year working for the United States government. This proves to be really easy because once you’ve completed this program you’re prioritized when government agencies search for new hires. I learned a lot from this session and it has made me want to study abroad even more than before.
Blog Post #2
On Thursday, October 12, I attended a couple club meetings. First, I went to the West Indian Culture club’s general interesting meeting. Here, we all introduced ourselves and what country we are from or represent to get a feel for everyone’s heritage. I joined the club to get more in touch with Jamaican culture, because my mom is from Jamaica. We played a game where we tested our knowledge of Caribbean culture. To my surprise, I got almost all of the questions wrong. But the high point was that there was free food which was 50 percent of the reason why I went. Then, I went to Black Student Union for a meeting. I got there a little late because I split up my time between that and West Indian Culture club. When I arrived at BSU, we were having a discussion about what it means to be black. Some interesting points that were made were that race is a social construct, but it is also biological. I found this discussion quite interesting. Also, we discussed whether people should date outside their own race. This seemed to be a hot topic because there was a lot of yelling and arguing. I enjoyed this part the most.
