Section LC07

I visited the temple during an event celebrating Narasimha, the deity with the face of a lion. There was very loud music and chanting with enough incense burning that the air around the ballroom floor was hazy. A large shrine was on stage, consisting of a deity decorated with many flowers. When people entered the ballroom they would kneel or lay down in praise, and many people were dancing in place or stepping from side to side with the chanting. The event itself was of all ages, many kids were their with their parents, running around and enjoying themselves.

I am already freaking out about finals. I have two of the hardest finals on the same week and a papper. I am scared about what is to come in the next two weeks. I am not really sure about what subject I should study first. I hope I can finish all the things I need to do before it is too late. The biology practical is next wednesday and I really need to study for that. I forgot everything we learned before midterms. I need to start studying from tonight.

My club is doing a toy drive, which is pretty cool. This is my first time doing something like this. We are collecting toys for children who cannot afford them. We already have about fifty toys for ages between 2 months to 14 years old. We are still in the process of collecting toys. We want to reach a specific amount of goal so if anybody wants to help out just bring a toy and drop it off in room 3-227.

Its all coming to an end, but its just the beginning! The next four years seem a long endeavor by ourselves for which we needed great confidence and it would not have been possible without Freshmen Seminar. Freshmen seminar prepared me for the next 4 years at baruch as i was informed about what baruch is all about. My peer mentor, Katerra and peer adviser Gia were a great help and mentors to learn from. All the sessions we had seemed less by the end of the day as we had bonded together as a family. I can certainly say that sessions which were designed to be every other week were not enough. As the LC came close, there was still some distance between the adviser and the students.  Anyway, it was still a great experience and it has definitely enhanced my academic career. Sessions such as communication skills, career planning, adjusting to baruch were a great help and i believe no one could have done a better job in helping us than our peer and mentor.  Hopefully we all will keep in touch and share our experiences later on and how we have grown as individual to be successful baruch students.

Attending mediation workshop was an accident. Looking for another workshop, i landed up in the wrong room where this workshop was taking place. I hadn’t realized it until good 20 minutes into the workshop. The workshop was a bit interesting but no help at all. We were divided into groups and given a scenario to be acted out in which we had to pick a mediator, a person who has a problem and one person associated with the problem. The scenarios consisted of, unfair grading by a professor, too much work load by a professor, cheating in classroom, unable to meet deadlines. Although we did only went over all the skits, the purpose of the workshop was still questionable. I feel the reason for the workshop was to teach how to deal with problems without dealing them in a hostile manor. it is indeed better to speak to a 3rd person and seek advice rather than taking the matter into you own hands and approaching it with anger. one must also make an attempt to work out a way reaching a compromise  in which both parties are at comfort. This is what i got from the workshop as it was unclear. It would have been better if the workshop was longer and more clear in its goals.

My freshman seminar experience is something that I’ll look back on at the end of my college career and have good feelings about.  The classes we had were helpful and informative, and it really did help to get information and perspectives from someone who was in the same position we are currently in, and that kind of advice is definitely the best of all.  Our teachers were very nice and helpful, and always willing to help and provide guidance/assistance no matter what the issue or complication.  I generally believe that the experience as it is now is just fine, and will continue on to be as helpful for me as it will be for future freshmen coming into Baruch.

The internship & goal setting workshop was very informative and helpful. It was led by one of the female faculty associated with the STARR career program. It was a power point run presentation in which she managed to incorporate interactive responses. We discussed what an internship is and how it is essential to boost up our academic career to prepare us for the job market. We went of some of the skills needed, such as communication, teamwork, and few computer related skills. In order to apply for an internship, one must create a profile on STARR search system online. We must also create a resume stating all our qualifications, job & volunteer experiences as well. (It is required to attend the resume workshop before you seek any resume related help from STARR) Where internships are mostly for Sophomores & Juniors, there are leadership programs for freshmen. Leadership programs are great opportunity for freshmen as it is led by organization which are supported by business firms. Students get an advantage form these programs as employers seek students prepared for leadership roles. It is sort of like a chain where employers seek interns from leadership programs and then extend job offers to the interns whose work and progress they have already seen rather than hiring new employees. The workshop was a great experience as it has now informed me and prepared me for what i should do to obtain internships which will only benefit me in the future.

The Freshmen Seminar class overall, was a good experience. Even though we weren’t able to meet weekly, the class was able to make the transition from high school to college much easier. Without the seminar, I probably wouldn’t know the basis and proper ways of getting to know the school and other various helpful advices such as time management. From the bottom of my heart, I thank Katerra and Gia for all the time and effort they put in the class; although we only met once every two weeks, you guys still did a great job. Thank you for always giving us advice and telling us how it was like for you two. I wish you two the best of luck and hope that we bump into each other in Baruch. An experience like this as well as having the LC will seriously be something I’ll never forget =)

This workshop, like the Freshmen Intership & Goal Setting workshop, was very well organized and prepared unlike the other workshops I’ve attended. What I thought was very nice about this was that there were three speakers talking about Sonia Motomayor, each giving a different representation and viewpoint on her position in politics and the way she is presented in the media. Although I wasn’t able to stay for the last hour, I must say that I enjoyed this workshop more than I did on some of the other workshops. Very informative and thought-provoking. This workshop was good.

This workshop was about how to manage stress and how to deal with problems such as cheating, dissatisfaction with grades, and etc. We were given a short lecture on various tips on how to approach the situation and was put into groups to present a mock situation. Overall the workshop was okay. It was great to develop teamwork among my peers and just have fun laughing though.