Section BKM1A

I’m still not entirely sure why we had to attend and art workshop. This workshop was the most organized in the fact that i got in and out fairly quickly being that i was in the third group. The whole tour took about 15-20 minutes. I wasn’t really sure of what the relevance of the artist was to Baruch. The was very short and to the point. I’m sure the person giving the tour could have gone on for a lot longer about the paintings than she actually did. At the end i learned a little bit about what the painter liked to paint, as well as modern art’s beginnings. “Modern art isn’t so modern anymore,” she stated numerous times. She also explained that there is a huge buisness in paintings, some paintings are being auctioned off for millions every year. Which got me interested for a few minutes. By looking at the paintings she showed us and with the knowledge that some paintings are being soled for millions. I’m thinking i might have a career change in the future.

Out of all the workshops i attended this one was the most boring of all. It lasted about an hour and a half, but it seemed close to three hours because the speaker was not very entertaining. The few things that i did pick up from the speaker were very useful though. I did not know the services that were  by Baruch for both resume writing and mock interviews. Furthermore, went into a little bit of detail over what we should prepare going into an interview, even though most of it was common sense. This workshop was very useful. It gave me a good idea of what i will be dealing with in the future. The only major problem was that it was very crowded and the presentation as a whole was dry.

The Student services fair was extremely helpful. The only problem with it was that it was a little crowded and it was hard to get to each one of the stands. The premise of having a raffle at the end of the fair was a really good idea. By entering the raffle we would ahve to go to ten stands and get a whole punched at each one. To do that though, we would have to ask a question to get a whole punched. This encouraged me to go to stands that i would not have gone to otherwise. I learned a lot of things and thought of questions that I eventually needed answered in the future. There were only two drawbacks to the fair was that it was really hard to get around. The room was fairly small for the amount of people in it. Second was that I didn’t win anything in the raffle.

This was by far the longest work shop I attended. It lasted about an hour and a half. The information I felt was only worth about forty-five minutes at the most.  Everyone sat down in a chair they could find, and there was a lady that spoke the entire time about resumes and interviews. I already knew most of what she was saying about appropriate attire, how to make a resume, and how to act when being interviewed. However, she brought up some interesting points about how the interview always starts the moment you walk into the building and not before you get into the office. I learned about a website that you can acutally post your resume and your major so companies can scope you out before hand for either internships or jobs. Overall, I liked the workshop, except for the fact that it was a bit monotonous and long.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Student Services Fair. I found it both informative and exciting. This workshop had everything from financial aid, to exchange students, to a baby center.  I learned about what sports Baruch had to offer, how to apply for financial aid, sacc tutorial services, and so much more. The best part was the raffle, hundreds of people signed up for it, but only dozens stayed for it.  I had a really good feeling that I would win either the Baruch sweater or the Baruch t-shirt. My friends ended up getting both of them. They didn’t even plan on staying for the raffle until I forced them to! I realized that every work shop is extremely packed and no one can really plan the number of attendees. You will always have to get there earlier or else there is going to be student traffic.

The club fair was pretty interesting. I got there earlier with some friends and we watched the other clubs set up their booths. We received some free candy and high lighters, that was pretty cool. After the booths were set up, it became extremely packed. It was hard to get around everywhere. I could see most people browsing around and some people talking to the people behind the booths. I came to the club fair mainly to learn about some of Baruch’s clubs, but was not planning to join any this year. After I got my workshop agenda signed, I noticed there was a extremely long line leading to the club fair. I was extremely grateful I got there earlier.

The hour that I spent at the club fair was exciting. I got to learn about various clubs at Baruch including the Black Students Union and others.  A good portion of  the clubs were categorized by ethnicity and GPAs. On the flipside, there were honestly clubs for anyone: religious clubs, clubs based on majors such as accounting, music clubs and even a club based on sexuality called GLASS. There were many people that attended, mostly freshman, I assume. I recieved a variety of  posters, wristbands, and CDs (and chocolate).  At the far end of the room was a large circle with people dancing and showing off their skills. The whole thing was quite amusing. I never really ended up joining any clubs but that doesn’t mean I wont next semester.

                   Freshman Seminar is ending and my feelings toward it are bittersweet. The positive side to it is that I can sleep later, maybe even until noon.  The negative aspect of it is that it ends the chapter for what I consider the beginning of my experience here at Baruch. Throughout the sememster, the seminars were extremely helpful. Our instructor always had useful information for us. The required attendance of workshops seemed dreadful at first,  however allowed us to  interact with other freshmen. Having Robert there in class was also helpful because we could hear first hand accounts of what was like to be a freshman at Baruch.  In terms of helping with adjusting to the Baruch life as a freshman, I would give this class a 9.

The Club Fair was a  good experience. I spent most of my time walking around browsing all the clubs. Each table had a little summary of what they do. It reminded me a lot of the Club Fair at my high school. It seemed very familiar and easy to get around. All the people at the clubs seemed very friendly and inviting. Personally i didn’t join any clubs this semester but i’m thinking about it for next semester or maybe next year.