Section BUW1A

On November 4th, 2009, I have attended an Academic Enrichment called, “Using & Evaluating the web for research.” This workshop was taking place in the library from 12:45 PM 1:15PM. During this workshop, we learned how to locate and use proper scholarly research sites and material. We also were informed about google Scholars, Internet Public Library, our own library research database, as well as directories. us. Also to check the validity of a website, samspade.org is the right website to get information about certain website. Also we were taught how to site and use proper and reliable websites, like domains ending with .gov, or .org. This workshop was very helpful because I thought that students need to be informed and taught about how to research by using proper and reliable websites when using the internet or worldwide web. Overall, this workshop was very informative and I would recommend to another student.

On November 3rd, 2009, I attended one of career exploration workshop, titled, “Basic Interviewing.” This workshop was to introduce us freshmen and any other students attending to interviews of corporation, employee, and various type of interview. This workshop took place in VC1-107 at 12:50 PM – 2:20PM. This was hosted by our own SACC center. We have discussed how should an individual get ready for interview, how one should do during interview, how one should finish an interview and how one should do after the interview. I also leaned that one should research and gather information about the company or the institution that the one is applying for a job and to be aware of the current events as well. This workshop also presented how to dress for an interview and the fundamentals of interviewing. Also one of the interesting thing was that they taught us how to handshake properly. Surprisingly, some people fail at handshaking so that this part of workshop was presented. This workshop was very helpful because it gave a heads-up to those inexperienced students who would apply for a job in the future.

On October 8th,2009, I attended Personal Enrichment Workshop called, “Managing Relationships in College.” It took place in VC 1-107 12:45 PM to 2 PM. Literally we learned about managing our relationships during college year. This workshop was about several relationships such as family, romance, friends and business. We had an exercise, which we were asked to meet 5 new people. We were also asked to form into a group of three people and discuss about our time and balance with our relationships with friends and family and other types of relationship as well. This workshop was very interesting because this led the participants to be more social and keep them interested and motivate us to know more of each other to network. This is also helpful because it actually targets one of the weak area of a typical college student during their college years.

This was one of the more important, if not necessary workshops that I had to attend at Baruch, since without this workshop, I can’t request for a mock interview (though honestly, I don’t think I will take advantage of this option until at least next semester). Though I had a basic idea of how to conduct myself in an interview, this workshop went over the finer details of the interview process, and particularly when it came to researching the interviewer and proper conduct throughout (and after!) the interview.

The most interesting part of this seminar was the demonstration of the handshake, simply because it stood out most in my mind, and it was very funny to see how the test subject couldn’t keep a straight face. A second interesting part was how the speaker made every go through a mock interview (it’s only then you realize how formal speaking, even to your friend, is so much more awkward than just casual speaking)

The vast majority of the workshop felt like a lecture, and I’m sure that most people there knew what proper business attire and how we SHOULD act. The lecture dragged on for far too long, and I’m sure it could’ve been wrapped up in about 2/3’s of the time it took, but all in all, it was a rather productive workshop

Long time ago I went to the Academic Enrichment Workshop, it is call “Using and Evaluation the Web for Research.” The workshop was basically a short 20 minutes lecture held in the library by the staff there. The workshop was a similar one compare to the computer workshop that the English 2100 have. It basically taught you how to use internet resources to do your research paper.

Compare to the English 2100 that talk about the data bases of the Newman library, this workshop talks about public researching. In this workshop, we use goggle in search. The workshop cover up basic technique like quote (“word”), “and”, “or”, “besides” that would help us get information in a more specific way. The workshop also cover up the usage of advantage goggle search, which help you get information that belongs to a specific group or subject.

The workshop also discuss about online resources and its credibility. The workshop talks about the difference in government website and non-government website. The workshop also talks about checking reference of the website so you don’t fall on something that is not accurate.

After going to the workshop and couple of data base workshop held by my classes, I think that goggle search is very tool to use for an introduction research but it is not the perfect tool for real resources. Personally I use goggle for the introduction and switch to school data bases when the topic get more specific. Most of the time data bases are easier for me to use because you rarely have to worry about the information was a false one. So rather then goggle I often just skip right into the data bases (the good thing about accessing to three database.) I also love to use the library because the reference book comes in handy (live right next to the library.)

On November 3rd, I went to Sydney Mishkin for a Gallery Tour of Mercedes Matter’s paintings. Luckily, I got there early and was in the first group of the tour, so it was not packed. I thought Mercedes’ portraits were very interesting. Most of them were still life and abtract paitings. I am not interested art at all, so this workshop definitely was not one I would have chose to attend on my own. However, I am glad I went because the paintings were interesting to analyze. I learned a little about Mercedes life, she enjoyed traveling and painting instead of taking pictures. Her paintings were very colorful and fun to look at. This workshop definitely took me out of my comfort zone because I cannot draw or analyze art not even a little bit. This forced me to try and experience art in a new way.

I came in Sydney Mishkin expecting to see portraits of cars and how it impacted the life of people but I then learned that Mercedes Matter was a name. Mercedes based her exhibit on tables and fruits with the major use of triangles. Some of these triangles were easy to find, others blended well with the scenery, I guess to show 2 or more dimensions within the picture. I learned that she enjoyed painting what she has seen while traveling rather than taking pictures of it. Pictures offer reality while paintings reaches out to its audience and give you that  feeling as if you were in that place. The colors would determine the importance of each element on the picture; for example-if the main object were the sailboats, it would be white or any other capturing color while the buildings from the nearby land would be gray, fading. Matter’s artwork costs thousands of dollars, the price increases the more she gets written about in NY times or Wall St. Journal. I dont enjoy abstract art but I did understand what she was trying to show in her paintings except one. I dont know the title but it had many random squares of different color, I tried and still trying to analyze what it portrays but the best I can come up with (which is probably way off) is that those huge squares were meant to be raindrops, they’re big and colorful which is ironic, but sometimes happiness can be experienced in the rain.

I thought I had two workshops to finish this week because I have only blogged about 4. When I looked at my passport, however, I realize that I never blogged about teh Academic Enrichment one. Although it was a while ago I remember attending two academic enrichment workshops. On Tuesday, October 20th I attended Using and Evaluating the Web for Research. I chose this one because I wanted to improve the way I get resources for papers. I remember all teh alte nights I stayed up in high school just because my resources were poor. I remember the speaker telling us to quote the topic so the computer recognizes it as prominent. I remember being told not to drag out long sentences and to keep every detail short. This way the computer will shoot back better resources. I remember going through an overview of Google Scholar and another search engine. It met my expectations and got a couple of neat facts out of it. The other workshop attended in this category was the Sacc: Everything you need to know to pass Math. This was held on Wednesday the 21st of October and I left early. However, I remember getting study tips and the final exam practice manual. I also remember being told that the SACC center has practice finals with explanations on a CD. I think this is pretty cool and might use it during finals week. All in all, these 2 workshops were helpful because they reinforced basic methods needed to suceed in the classroom.

On Tuesday, November 3rd I attended a workshop at the Mishkin Art Gallery. The name of the exhibit was Mercedes Matter: A Retrospect. It took place at 1:00 and the category was Arts at Baruch. I got there at 12:50 and was there until 1:50. The reason for this is because the lady only took in small pockets of group at a time. Apart from the annoying wait, the workshop was a diverse experience. I never looked at art and tried to analyze it before. I always joked around and found art to be rather blah. The lady that spoke made me realize that knowing information about art can be helpful. It can help in networking situations. It was neat looking at art from a different angle. I remember the speaker pointing out how the painter painted the lady with green hair and how it symbolizes a turn from normality. I think this workshop was beneficial and truly made my appreciation for the arts increase. Who knows, I might visit the art gallery once again.

Today, I attended the career planning workshop. This was an interesting workshop that explained that the first impressions that we make on other people, stick.We should always try and make good impressions at job interviews. We also learnt that the way we dress and act shows people who we really are. If we dress in business attire, employers will take us more seriously, than if we dress in shorts and flip flops. The speaker also explained to us that we should always pay close attention to people when they are speaking. There are a lot of non-verbal ways to communicate, and we need to be aware of that. Making a good impression is always important because you never know who you will meet later on.