LC 12

I only went to this museum because it was mandatory. The theme of Himalayan art did not excite me because I prefer history museums and modern art museums that host a variety of works. But, as soon as I walked into the museum, I felt at ease. The museum was small and cozy. There were not many people. I was able to view the displays individually and analytically, provided that there were benches to sit on in front of the pieces. I do not practice Hinduism or Buddhism, but I was able to relate the paintings to what I had learned in history classes and to my life. I practice yoga and its forms stem from Hinduism as I noticed when I looked at the paintings of the Gods. I took note of their hand gestures and their seated positions. Furthermore, in the paintings and woven pieces, there is repetition in those titled “lineage…” It is not about family, but it is about teachers and their students. Lastly, I am always amazed to see artifacts dated back as far as three hundred years ago. Before Western domination, the Eastern Empires ruled.

I was expecting a big big museum with big sculptures and alot of crazy paintings but when I arrived there with my friends, we literally passed it. I was like what!? this is a museum?! yea.. so when we went in I felt like it was really small. Nothing like I imagined. The lights in the museum gave off a nice atmosphere though and the music was relaxing. There were many floors so we went to one after another. The paintings and sculptures all looked very similar to me.. What stood out to me was this temple in the corner of the 2nd floor. It was like a shrine?! and then there were creepy music playing in the background. My friend went in there and then I crept behind him and scared him! Anyway, the floors after that were pretty much the same and then there was a floor was all jesus paintings I think. This museum was nice but I wouldn’t come again since I kind of got bored of the paintings after the 3rd floor.

I feel like my first semester at Baruch College didn’t live up to my expectations. I was expecting to meet alot of new people and experience something new but Baruch is pretty much like highschool. It’s a commuter school so basically I just went to school, and went home, the same everyday. I think my first semester at Baruch was not bad. The classes were fair, no surprises. I’m getting used to the big lecture classes. They are actually my favorite because I love taking notes. Most of the professors are kind and would take their time to talk to you. I wouldn’t do anything differently if I had a chance because I can honestly say I tried my best this semester, I might not get that 4.0 gpa but as long as I know I didn’t slack off, I’m satisfied. Since I started Baruch College, I think I definitely stopped procrastinating like I did before. I read alot more too and I might have improved a little on my writing.

In my first semester at Baruch College, it didn’t live up to my expectations. The worst part about this college was the fact that I have to commute here every single day and it just got pretty annoying to me. It just made me think about dorming next year. I think I did average for my first semester. I honestly didn’t care that much about my classes at all. I just wanted to pass this semester. I don’t care if i get a C or anything like that. Just a pass to get this semester out of the way first before I can actually focus next semester. If I could do one thing differently this semester, it would be to participate in class and actually look more attentive because I barely participated in class this semester and I would take better notes because my notes are pretty bad. The one thing I have changed since I start in Baruch was my attitude towards other people. I believe my sense of responsibility also changed. In high school, I would miss some homeworks and just don’t care about it. But here, I paid for my tuition so I have to actually work for my grade. All in all, I wasn’t too happy or too sad about this semester but I just have to work harder since I barely put any effort into this semester at all.

This was the smallest museum I’ve ever been to, but it wasn’t so bad. The dimmed lighting set the mood for the pieces of art we saw. My favorite part was the real temple that was created just a few months before we went there; it had the proper Buddhist tempo music with all the incense and statues. In the middle of the winding staircase that led up to the very top floor, there was an art piece hanging from the ceiling. It was glass but if you looked closely, you could see the very details or a whole bunch of people making one shape. We were going to take a picture of it but this creepy security woman came out of nowhere and told us no photos, so that’s that. There were tons of other small statues though, mainly Buddhas and other religious figures from India and Asia. Overall, it was a good experience although I would’ve preferred going to the MoMa or Museum of Natural History.

For the time I’ve been in Baruch, it’s exceeded my expectations by a little. A lot of my friends from high school were going to the same school so I was a little upset that it’d be the same environment. I’m glad that there were a lot of people I knew though, because that made college just a bit easier. Although I’m transferring to UB, I am a little sad to leave Baruch. Mainly because of the people I’ve met, and how I was just starting to get familiar with all the resources and buildings of Baruch College. Leaving for spring semester is going to be like starting over again, and twice as hard since it is eight hours from home, with food that definitely cannot compare to that in NYC. (The mexican grilled corn from Cafe Habana, the noodles from Pho32, the cupcakes from Crumbs, the korean food from Tofu House, and too much more to name.) I can’t just take a train a couple of stops away and get whatever it is I’m in the mood for eating. Food and friends are definitely the hardest thing to let go of this semester. And the “free” financial aid checks every semester :'( Baruch College isn’t hard to accommodate to compared to other colleges in SUNYs and privates. Living in dorms is gonna be really exciting but tough at the same time, since my Mom’s been doing my laundry since forever. I hope I can manage though, and leave college all independent and whatnot. Since I’ve started Baruch College, I’ve come to realize that there are bigger things in the world than just my life. It’s hard to keep up but going to college and getting a decent job is the only way to get myself out there, and keep up with this fast-paced society. I now realize how important it is to stay focused and mentally grow up.

The Career exploration workshop really helped me brush off some of the skills I learned previous to attending the workshop. It reminded me of things I should keep on and off my resume and the best ways to present myself as I’m applying for a job or an internship. I have never really been through a professional application process so this workshop was a great review for me and many other students as well. Workshops like this are really important and can really benefit the student body. I liked the presentation and how it gave examples of good and poor resumes. I think it showed us a great resource to help us find jobs and internships at the STARR center. I think they should continue doing these workshops because they’re a great chance to refresh what you know while learning something new that could benefit you greatly in the future.

I thought the panel discussion was fairly boring, but I enjoyed hearing Charles Li speak in person about his experiences. He was a pretty funny guy and had some pretty interesting social commentary such as his experience with the homeless man who left some sandwiches to eat chocolate cake instead. I felt though that the other members of the discussion did not contribute as much to the discussion. I really enjoyed some of the personal accounts the Charles Li elaborated on. I thought it was funny when he was describing the worms that he suffered while living in the slums. Also, I felt that his inclination to be with the audience was admirable. You could really tell that he wanted to connect and that he really wanted to show the audience what it was really like to live a life like his. I enjoyed this workshop and I hope there are similar ones in the future.

I thought that this was a very helpful workshop. I have been to interview before but nothing very professional. Just interviews for the jobs that I had in high school. I thought that this retold me the things I knew and had forgotten while also adding to my knowledge of how to act in future, more professional interviews. I loved the website she showed us as help for us to write resumes. I had always had trouble writing my resumes and I know that I will take full advantage of that sight. Also, the career center at Baruch seems like it would be incredibly helpful for things such as resumes and practicing for interviews. I think this workshop was very important and helped me find all of the things I can use within the college to help me towards a career.

I personally was not a big fan of this book. It was an inspirational story but not my type of book. It was nice to hear from the author though. It gave me a new perspective and insight to the book. I have never before met the author of a book I have read. I enjoyed listening to him and how important he made his readers seem to him. I was not aware of how insightful of a man he was and I’m glad he came to talk to us. I really enjoyed how he talked about wanting to be part of the audience instead of just talking to us. He seemed like a very intelligent person and made me want to go back to the book so that I could look deeper into it and try to understand him more. I think it was a great idea for Baruch to invite him to talk to us.