Author Archives: austin.yang

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Small talk workshop (with very little small talk) READ MEHHHHH

Posted on December 9, 2011 by austin.yang

For out third required workshop for freshman otientation, i went with Timmy, Matt, and Vincent to the second small talk workshop held on December 6th. Since most of us wanted to enter the business world, we figured that learning some small talk skills from a professional would be a good experience. However, the problem with this was that the guy running the workshop wasnt a professional in small talk. Im pretty sure that he said he was an intern, which was a bad sign from the start. (That, and his acne, which made me think that he just started doing this as a job, and his low, semi stuttering voice and how he stumbled over the simplest sentences….but enough of that, lets move on.)  Unsurprisingly (not sure thats a word, but whatever), our fears were confirmed when we were only 10 minutes into the workshop. I was expecting a suave, businessman with a tenor voice to be explaining to us how small talk worked . I would have even been satisfied with a powerpoint presentation (And i simply HATE powerpoint presentations, so you know how bad this thing was.) Instead, i got an intern that obviously didnt know what he was doing. He kept looking at notes to remind himself what he was supposed to be saying, and left most of the talking to us. He would ask an example of what small talk was. Once someone raised there hand and gave a good answer, he would just pause, and wait for someone else to raise their hand. After 30 seconds of akward silence, someone else would, and give the exact same answer worded a bit differently. This process would repeat, and after a while i realized that almost 15 minutes had passed with akward stop and go questions, which the intern obviously wasnt familiar with. (Now im not the best public speaker or discussion leader, but this kind of behavior shows me that this guy has never led a workshop before. Seriously, did he even plan out what he wanted to do in this thing? There were sooooooooooooooooo manyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy akward pauses when he checked his notes on what to do next. I think I couldve led the workshop better in all honesty.) The rest of the people there realized this too. When the workshop started, there were about 20 of us students. When we finally got to our first group activity, 3 or 4 of them simply left with their bags, and never came back. I cant say i blame them. Slowly, more and more people trickled out, coming up with excuses like “i feel sick”  (BS!!! you look fine!!!) or ” i have a 1:20 class” (yea right, i dont think there even is a 1:20 class, but good for them to have the courage to stand up and walk out)”. Eventualy, there was only 10 of us left. Me and my friends, a senior mentor and his mentee who were obligated to sit it out, and a few people that seemed to care a bit more than the average person, or were just too polite to leave.  There was one kid who took matters in his own hands and moved the discussion along. (Thank god for him. Otherwise, i think we still would have been stuck on “what is small talk?” by nightfall. Im tell you, that kid is going places in life. I admire his leadership skills.) However bad the intern was at giving this workshop, i believe he sensed that we wanted to go, and let us out about 20 minutes early. Before he ended it, he asked us if “there was anything we would recommend to improve future workshops.”  Looking around the room, i could tell that most of us were thinking “maybe actually give us a real workshop?!?!?!” but were too polite to say it. Once girl spoke up, saying that there should be a follow up workshop about business small talk. (Good initiative girl, if it werent for you, we’d still be sitting there well past the ending time, avoiding eye contact with each other and wishing we were somewhere else.) I can honestly say that that was the worst workshop that i had ever been to. Also, the only thing that i learned was that you should make a public speaker do these workshops in the future, not interns.

Well, i have taken up enough of your precious time ranting about this workshop, so ill end it here. If you have to do a workshop in the future, i wish you the best of luck in finding one led by a good speaker. If you are Shirley or Amy, please give me an A+ in the class. If you someone that works at baruch, and can make decisions in who does what workshop, please NO MORE INTERNS.

I sincerely thank you for your time.

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Post #4 Community Service

Posted on December 9, 2011 by austin.yang

Ive done my fair share of community service in high school. I was helping my community, meeting new people, and generally doing a good deed. However, id be lying if i said it wasnt a bit tedious at times, expecially since i wasnt getting paid for all those hours of work. I thought that college would be all about studying for finals and catching up on essays, and not doing more community service. BUT, since it was a requirement, i found that it was surprisingly easy to go and do a little bit more, since a) i was used to it, and knew how everything worked, and b) it was only for a few hours. On November 25th, i went with Vincent to P.S. 20 to help at a daycare. It was vincent who had worked at the place before, not me. So, i was once again entering new territory. However, i had worked with young children before, so the i easily got back in the routine. If you think of daycare as playing games and doing arts and crafts with the kids instead of a job, youll find that the experience is enjoyable, and even very emotional when you finish your service. The kids were energetic and happy, as most young children are. Since it was cold, there was the added bonus of staying inside. We simply watched over the kids as they played in the gym, and sometimes joined in in games like kickball. Since there was a senior councilor there, we never had to make any hard decisions, so in a way it was sort of like taking care of a younger sibling. We went there sometime around noon, and stayed and helped until the kid’s parents came to pick them up. It was overall a fun experience, and i made a lot of new friends. I am of the opinion that daycare is the best kind of community service, because you dont view it as a job, but as an extracurriculat activity. If anyone needs to do community service, or simply likes to help their community, i would strongly recommend daycare. Like i said before, you are not only doing a good deed, you are also setting an example for the next generation, and showing them that it is good to be responsible in society.

 

(We couldnt take any pictures as proof because you arent allowed to when working with young kids.)

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My First Semester

Posted on December 2, 2011 by austin.yang

Its that time of the year again where young children get all excited over the presents to come, and blizzards dump 2 feet of snow in the streets and make commuting a living hell. Also, its just about time when my first semester at baruch is about to end. Overall, it was a good experience, and one that was satisfying, if a bit hectic. Im pretty sure i did decent in all of my classes, although since the grading system is very different from high school, i guess i wont know for sure until i see them posted. The college experience is good, and i think i finally got used to it. The workload was a bit challenging at first, and sometimes it would seem as if i spent as much time remembering what i had to do as actually DOING it. But, thats over now, and looking back, there isnt anything that i would really change. The only thing that bothers me is the registration process for next semester. I was lucky in the fact that i got to register earlier than most freshman, and was able to pick a schedule that suited me well. I know some people had difficulties in finding open classes, and were nearly forced into becoming part time students. I feel that the college should pay more attention to freshman’s needs, and make sure this doesnt happen in the future. One thing that made the transition difficult at first was the fact that nobody seemed to care if you somehow messud up your schedule or grades. I guess the school advisors cant really watch over the thousands of students, but a bit mroe guidance for freshman would come in handy. Anyway, now that everyone has gotten their schedules in, we are starting to realize that all of us have different classes. Just as you make new freinds and get used to a routine, it gets shuffled around all over again and you find yourself struggling to get your bearings. Oh well, thats college for you, and we are all adults now, so i guess ill just have to deal with it. Thats basically all i have to say. Happy holidays, and good luck to everyone.

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Da Monolog.

Posted on October 11, 2011 by austin.yang

I really dont know what to talk about. When talking to friends, i find i can go on and on about random stuff. However, when put in front of people and ordered to speak, i find that my mind goes blank. Well, we were encouraged as a class to say something about Baruch, so here goes. There is nothing really bad about the school. However, there is one thing that just *#$%&@ me off. The lack of windows. Thats right. WINDOWS. Not something that you usually notice when in school (or any building in general) because you are too busy looking through them, and not at them. However, when sitting in a 30 student class with the teacher going off topic, or making you write pages and pages of notes that you’ll probably never look at, most human beings would naturally turn towards the nearest window to clear their heads and stare at the funny looking squirrel for a few seconds. One day, when there was a break in the note taking, I glanced around looking for that window, so i could refresh and brace myself for the next wave of notes, when i noticed that the only thing in the walls was the door to freedom (which was shut tight at the time). When i stopped to think about it, every classroom that I had seen in Baruch was completely windowless. Thats probably why I have been feeling boxed in and twitchy these last few weeks. It is because of the lack of WINDOWS, not my increased sugar consumption. Now, I KNOW most of the rooms arent adjacent to an outside wall, but that doesnt make me feel any better when I am halfway into class and have a sudden urge to look at something other than the teacher. So, the next time Baruch has a surplus in its budget, maybe they should put some paintings up in the classrooms or something, instead of trying to repair the escalators that probably still wont work afterwards. This is my monologue. I thank you for listening, or at least being polite enough to pretend to do so.

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Like a fish out of Water

Posted on September 23, 2011 by austin.yang

Have you ever had that feeling that your supposed to know someone’s name, but you feel like you’re meeting them for the first time? Since starting college at Baruch, I’ve had this experience on several occasions. This never used to happen in high school. Everyone knew each other, even if they werent close friends. I could walk down the hallway and know something about everyone I encountered. Not true in Baruch. I never really realized how much bigger Baruch’s student population is compared to my high school until I walked in on my first day. It left me with an almost breathless feeling, partly because I didnt see anyone I knew, but mostly because I was unfamiliar with the building, and was kind of lost. I am not a shy person, but im not overly outgoing either. Making new friends isnt too hard for me, but it seemed like everybody already knew each other. Those that came to Baruch with me from my high school were nowhere in sight, and the people that I met in Orientation werent showing up either. I felt like I had been pulled from my comfort zone, and tossed into a new world.

It was a few days before I settled in to the new routine. After a while, I noticed that college had in many ways a better social climate than high school. Even though many people didnt know each other, they are still friendly, and once everybody’s schedules were settled, you find that many of the freshman have the same classes, and have time in between to socialize. I met a lot of cool people, and am having a good time getting to know them. Also, the classes themselves are more interesting, since the basics have been covered in high school. You can also see that everyone is actually trying, because while high school felt like an obligation, everyone knows that what we learn in college will determine out future careers. College is making me do more for myself, since now there isnt an annoying guidance counsellor or teacher pressuring me to get my work done. Everything is on me now. I feel myself becoming a more responsible person, because the stakes are higher. One  of my biggest concerns is that a bad test or missed presentation will ruin my GPA for an entire semester. Another concern of mine is the wide range of classes to choose from. Once all the required courses are done, everyone will be picking different schedules, and taking different classes. In high school, if you were struggling, or missed a homework, there were always friends to help you out. Now, im wondering if there will be anyone to help me if I mess up.

Well, ther is no point in worrying about all this now. So far, everything is going smoothly, and I am hoping it will stay that way. I am not very good at ending essays or blogs, but i guess a decent conclusion would be that overall, Baruch seems a great place to spend four years, and that I am looking forward to the new experiences.

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