Section BUW1A

On October 14th I attented the The Changing Nature of Race, Power, and Ethnicity in the Era of Obama and Sotomayor workshop which turned out to be quite informative and opened my eyes to the changes going on in the world. The major idea behind the workshop was about the each different ethnic background and race and in the U.S., how we as the human population should be less ignorant to the fact that there are rising cultures in the U.S. and the once minorities may now be reaching a majority role in the U.S. there were a few panelists who talked about the major issues presented to the minorities such as the asian and african population and one speaker even showed us a powerpoint presentation proving with statistical background the rising population in the minority groups backing up the previous speakers. it was quite interesting how fast and how dramatically these former small groups have risen to rival the so called majority in the “white man”. there was then a question and answer session where many valid points were brought up on hispanics role in America. one last piece was the fact that i had finally been to the 14th floor which is pretty cool to be that high up.

On November 18^th, I attended a resume writing workshop.  Of all the workshops, I found this one to be the most informative and interesting.  Before starting to explain how to create a resume, the presenter gave us useful tips on do’s and don’ts during interviews.  During an interview, we must dress our best because the first impression is extremely important.  She then went on to discuss the different parts of the resume, such as the objectives section.  The lecturer emphasized that it is crucial to proofread our resumes numerous times in order to ensure that there are no flaws.  The reason for this, she explained, is that employers take less than a minute to view each resume and the second they spot an error, that person will no longer be considered for the position. When creating a resume, it is important to put nothing but the truth; therefore, the way we phrase words and the vocabulary plays a very important role.  For example, if one puts that he is fluent in a certain language, but is actually only conversational in that language, he will make a fool out of himself during an interview if the interviewer gives him an article in that language to translate.  Lastly, she discussed what a cover letter is and what information it consists of.  I would definitely recommend this workshop, because the information I learned will be useful to me during and after my four years at Baruch.

On November 3^rd, I attended the Mercedes Matter art exhibit in Sydney Mishkin. It was the shortest workshop I attended; it only lasted about fifteen minutes.  However, the line to get into the exhibit was extremely long. Mercedes paintings included many triangles, a table, fruits, and bright colors, specifically yellow.  It amazed me how the combination of the simplest things- fruits, a table and triangles, could result in such beautiful paintings.  Her paintings were very abstract; what one person saw was different from what another saw.  It was a puzzle to find some of the triangles and tables, because they blended in so well.  We were able to figure out where the tables in her paintings were located by looking spotting at least one leg of the table. In this workshop we learned that entrepreneurs invest in paintings because artworks such as those of Mercedes Matter are very valuable, and continue to become more and more valuable as time progresses.

Since this was the last personal enrichment workshop offered before the deadline, the room was packed, with some people being unable to be seated. It seemed to be well organized, but if only I had come more out of interest than for the sake of fulfilling an assignment.

In this session we went over the differences between what we desire in the end vs enjoying how we get to that end, as well as discerning between our goals and the goals imposed on us by others (like say parents). To that end we were handed a worksheet, though they didn’t exactly ask us to fill said worksheet out, resulting, I’m sure, in a lot of wasted ink and paper. The presentation was filled with quotes, many of which were interesting and open to debate, but the participation was so lacking, it turned from a potentially productive learning session into an exercise in boredom.

Basically, this was like a condensed information session with many relevant departments in attendence, and I can honestly say that this workshop was very helpful, though there was some unnecessary tedium involved in it.

To get a signature for this event (as well as a raffle entry) you had to visit 10 desks and get a punch card….punched? In any case, though I did have a few burning questions (how do u take an honors class if you’re not in honors, and such and such, what classes are dependent on the SIMNET and other such miscellaneous questions), I didn’t think I needed to visit ten departments. In my mind it’s a way to drum up attraction for some sections of the school that don’t usually garner that much attention. I may have spoiled myself with some desks because I went to an academic advisement session earlier in the year, but didn’t get a signature, but all in all, it was a productive usage of time.

On September 17th, I went to my first workshop. At the time I didn’t even know how to blog yet, so I guess I never got around to doing it until now. It was the Freshman reception workshop and it introduced us to the school. Once we got into the room, we were asked to give our opinion on baruch. We were then allowed to ask any questions we had about baruch. Of course, many students asked questions, as many of us were still not adjusted to college life, and needed the advice. It was an important workshop because it help us meet new people, and become comfortable with our new environment. Because of the fact that it was extremely crowded, it wasn’t a very long workshop. I like that it was short and to the point, because it gave me the opportunity to ask questions, and it didn’t bore me. I think this workshop was definatly one of the better ones, because it was one that I needed the most, and one that actually came into use.

This was a very informative workshop.  I was able to learn things that I did not know before like I could go to the advisement center and request a peer advisor without waiting on line.  I also learn about DegreeWorks and how I can use it to track what courses I have taken or need to take.  The only thing I did not like about this workshop was the icebreaker in the beginning.  I believe that it was pointless and a waste of time.  Overall, the information that I gained in this workshop will help me while at Baruch.

On October 14^th, I attended a global awareness workshop entitled “The Changing Nature of Race, Power, and Ethnicity in the Era of Obama.”  I was encouraged to attend this workshop by my history professor, Professor Fernandez. This workshop was similar to the rest of the workshops I attended because it was crowded, but the way it was conducted was very different.  In this workshop there was a panel which consisted of about five professors from the history department at Baruch.  Each professor made a powerpoint presentation discussing different aspects of race and ethnicity, For example, one professor used demographic maps in his presentation which showed where different races and ethnicities, specifically minorities, live in the United States. Questions and comments were raised by students in the crowd and the panel answered the questions and reacted to the comments.  Some of the topics talked about included whether Hispanics are as recognized as they should be.  However, I think that the biggest topic of this workshop was our reactions and thoughts about racism.  Overall, the workshop was very interesting, although it was lengthy; it ended almost an hour later than it was supposed to.

On October 15^th, I attended the library database workshop.  This workshop was held in the library and was a good review on how to take advantage of the free sources that are offered to us at Baruch.  This workshop was a review for me because about a week before I attended this workshop, I learned how to use the database to find scholarly articles, books, and editorials in my English class.  The presenter was very articulate and showed us step by step how to also search for videos and pictures.  The librarian also explained to us that we can borrow books from other schools in the CUNY system.  In addition, he emphasized on the fact that vocabulary is very important when searching for a specific article, because the vocabulary used to change with the type of article you’re looking for.  The librarian used the example of the many different ways to say steroids, such as performance enhancers, juice, and anabolic-androgenic steroids.  In other words, if you’re looking for a scientific article on steroids, you would be more likely to find what you’re looking for by typing in “anabolic-androgenic steroids” into the search engine.  Similarly, if you’re seeking an informal article you should type in “juice” since juice is the street name for steroids. Generally, this workshop was very useful, especially since the information I learned will be useful to me throughout my four years at Baruch.

This was my last seminar. I attended a art tour in the other building. I saw many painting by Mercedes. The art did not seem like art. It seemed like a mess. I guess I am not a fan of abstract paintings. The tour guide informed us about the “triangles” she paints but I did not see any. She pointed out a table which seemed like a blob of colors. None of the paintings interested me in any way. They all appeared the same. This tour was a great experience. I enjoyed it very much. I will be going to the MET to see more paintings.