On October 15, I went to the Database Survival workshop. I sat in for the 15-20 minutes. I had used databases often in high school, so I had a basis of how they worked already. The presenter explained what kind of databases Baruch has to offer and how to access them, which is through the Newman library page.
I didn’t get a signature from her as proof of attendance though.
(Does the Library Tour count as one?)
Our FRO mentor took us to the library on September 1 and showed us where to find everything, from checking out books to checking out the study rooms. She directed us to many places, such as the quieter part of the library, and she also showed us where to print and how to print. This tour has proven to be quite helpful because I go to the library quite frequently to print and use the study rooms.
(Is this how I’m supposed to blog???)
On September 24, I went to the Club Fair. The people at the entrance asked us to swipe our cards as attendance. There were a lot of students there. There was a dance group at one end of the gym, but the crowd was too big and I could barely see anything. After making too many failed attempts to watch the performances, I walked around the gym and stopped at the handball table, for which I signed up for. After that, I got many flyers from other organizations. The representatives for each organization were pretty knowledgeable about their organization, obviously.
Today I went to a workshop called “Bearcat: The Other Google.” In this workshop I learned about Baruch’s database search engine, Bearcat. Although I had used Bearcat before, I still found the workshop interesting as the presenter went over a few functions of Bearcat that I had not known of. One of these functions is called RefWorks, which apparently helps people a lot with citations. This seems very helpful; I will definitely use it when it comes time to write a bibliography. Another part of Bearcat that I learned that is useful is the fact that Bearcat can filter searches by subject. For example, if I wanted to search about healthcare, I would filter my searches on the subject of healthcare, enabling me to get more specialized and more useful results. I have a feeling that Bearcat will be very useful to me in the future as I have a research paper to write and will most likely be using Bearcat to search databases for useful information.
I attended the workshop on 10/20, the speaker was very helpful. Although I know most of things she talked about, she made some good point on choosing the courses and about credits. The most helpful part of it is that she looked over my planned courses to take in spring and gave me some advises on them. She also told me that I can choose accounting courses which I originally think I was not able to take it. Her explannation of the language courses is also helpful. I didn’t notice that I need to take a language course to get into Business School, this saves me time. She is also very responsible, I let her review my planned course twice and she still explain everything very patiently. Her speech is also funny, not too boring, different from other workshops. She also helped us to determine what other courses are required for rest of my college life, so I can graduate. Most of my uncleared parts are explained by her, so I think the workshop was very useful and helpful. (The chair there feels so comfortable, I hope all my classes will have that kind of chair, it is just a suggestion though.)
I went to Baruch’s club fair on September 24. It was very crowded and noisy but also informative and interesting. One of the clubs that I was interested in was the Baruch VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program. It took me a while to find VITA’s table but was able to sign up to be on their email list and pick up a pamphlet once I found it. I know that volunteer experience is a must in resumes so VITA would be a good thing to join. One of the things I did not like about the club fair was how clubs were advertising things such as free drinks, cake, and so on but when I got to their table I had to do something annoying like shout “I LOVE TEA” to get a drink. This does not really present the clubs well; it definitely would not help me join. This should have been done better. Although the club fair was interesting, I think it was not of as much importance to me as it was to others since I already joined a club (Baruch Toastmasters) before I attended the club fair. However, to people who were not in a club at that point, I think the club fair should have been very important since I think that joining a club is one of the best things you can do at Baruch. It gets you involved with others, helps you learn, and even may get you a leadership position.
On September 24th 2009 at 12:00 was the annual Club Fair hosted by the office of student life. The flier claimed that 170 clubs and organizations were showcasing their club and it was easy to tell that there was indeed over 100+ clubs showcasing that day. It was fascinating to see so many clubs and organizations at Baruch from greek life to honor societies, to academic societies. It shows us that Baruch has alot to offer. I was required to showcase the club I was an officer in that day so I was not given adequate time to venture around and sign up for different clubs that day, but I could see that many clubs gave out many freebies. Some clubs gave out free pens, to CD’s, to free Thai Iced Tea. I remember some of my friends getting the Thai iced tea where they were required to say some type of phrase on camera. Unfortunately I forgot what the phrase was nut it was somewhat amusing.
There were alot of students in attendance that day, and it was really good to see most of the clubs officers showcased their respective clubs. Because of the club fair, I was able to see what Baruch had to offer and that it wasnt just a plain old commuter school where we just come to school and go home afterwards. By joining these organizations, we have the ability to network with other members and form lifelong relationships and close friends through club meetings. From the vast array of clubs that showcased at the club fair, there is no reason that students cannot get involved in any club at Baruch College since there is a club for everyone. There are academic clubs such as the Finance and Economics Society, Accounting Society to more relaxed and non academic clubs such as Handball Maniacs and Archery Club. There is a club for virtually every student on campus.
I was so surprised to be blocked at the door of elevator and not able to move for almost 30 minutes. After I got in, they started to talk about what a Baruch student need to do to grudate in four years, such as major, minor, and other requirement to declare majors. They ran out of packet so I had to go back next Monday to get the packet, but it worth it. The instructions on the packet are extremely useful. Just follow the instruction and I can graduate esaily. It also contains other information such as how to calculate gpa, and minor form. The only bad thing is that too many people are there, so I was a kind of lost. I won’t be able to follow the instruction that day at all. I think they should provide other sessions (maybe they have, but I don’t know) in order to separate the crowds. But the event was a kind of helpful, thanks to the packet. Maybe they can also provide other more informations, not only how to choose class, and everything related to courses or gpas. Well, I think it can be better.
About two weeks ago I attended the Academic Enrichment Workshop. This workshop was very useful and answered many of my questions about Baruch’s registration process and the classes I can and should register for. Now I know that the registration process is staggered with respect to seniority. I also know that I must register to take ENG 2150 next semester and pass the SIMNET as soon as possible (this is important since it is a prerequisite for a few classes that I have to take, so I should start studying for it right away). It may be because I am fairly new to Baruch but its requirements seem a bit complicated. All the tiers and separate requirements for the Zicklin School of Business sometimes confuse me. Right now I’m two Tier I classes, two Tier II classes, and one class that is required for Zicklin. Since I’ve taken AP classes as well as other pre-college classes, I did go into Baruch with several credits, which makes me wonder if I can complete my requirements earlier. I am also not sure about the requirements for a CPA track at Baruch and whether I can complete them in less than the normal five years. Although the Academic Enrichment Workshop answered many of my questions, I still have more and will have to do some research about it in order to get the questions answered.
