Author: naomi.hakimi

Last week, I attended the workshop at the Sidney Mishkin Gallery where they were displaying jazz photographs taken by Milt Hinton. This was my second time visiting this gallery. The first time I visited was with my English class in which I was able to see photographs by some of the most famous and talented artists that have ever lived, such as Andy Warhol. Before arriving at the gallery to view Milt Hinton’s photographs, I knew that I would be viewing something creative and beautiful based on the photographs I saw the last time I went to that Gallery.

I was not disappointed with the photographs I saw. The workshop was a collection of candid photographs taken of notable people in the jazz world such as  Cab Calloway, Billy Taylor, Willie “The Lion” Smith, Benny Goodman, Thelonious Monk, Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Barbara Streisand in unexpected areas like bars, bus stations, and recording studios. Walking around the gallery and looking at all the photographs, I really got the essence of jazz and the world of jazz; though most of all, I got a feeling of what New York City was like in the mid 1900’s. These photographs really captured classic New York City, this was the era that I’ve always heard  about and wanted to know more about. Through  these photographs, I tried to get a feeling what life might have been like in New York City during that time and couldn’t help but compare it to New York City today. I came to the conclusion that in some ways we still kept some of the classic New York City, and that there were some similarities between the New York City I saw in the photographs and the New York City I see everyday. I knew that my children and their children will look at pictures of New York City today with the same curiosity that I have for Milt Hinton’s photographs.

-Naomi Hakimi

Hello, I’m Naomi Hakimi. Identity has always been a weird topic for me because I’m Persian-American and I’m part of a large Persian community living in Great Neck, but I got my education in the Herricks School district. Even though I identify myself more with the Great Neck crowd, my  personality was influence by both the Persians in Great Neck and the Herricks School students, so I don’t fit into either. I would describe myself as a fun-loving but quiet and nervous person. Because of that, I have many fears. My greatest fears are a fear of public speaking and a fear of animals. Dogs are so scary and I always feel like they’re about to chase me. My fear of dogs is so bad that I occasionally cross the street when I saw a dog on the same side of the street as me. Although, my greatest fear are of birds. I don’t know why I’m afraid of them, but I always have been. Thinking about their feathers and eyes gives me anxiety and sometimes nightmares. Because of my nerves, socializing is also a problem for me. It’s very difficult for me to talk to people because I can sometimes become really awkward, but my family and friends are always around to help me relax when I talk to other people. They’re always around to help me or care for me which is why they are so important to me. Luckily, I already had a few friends at Baruch when I started. My first few days at Baruch were difficult because I didn’t know what to expect. I came with the hope of making new friends and being independent, but once I arrived, everyone seemed to already be in clusters which was very intimidating. Though, I slowly began to make more and more friends and am still becoming more independent. My problems then transformed from social to educational. I am now really feeling the pressure to do well in my classes which are becoming more and more difficult. The math we are doing in precalculus are no longer simple equations, the webworks are becoming harder to do and keep up with. My english professor scares me and I have yet to figure out a topic for my term paper. I have no words for my political science class; although, I like that we have no homework in it. Organization and time-management have always been flaws of mine, which I hope I can fix in order to earn good grades. Overall, I look forward to how the rest of my time at Baruch turns out. 

I’m Naomi, I’m from Long Island and I’m Persian which I think plays a major role in who I am. Because I’m Persian, I like to spend all my time with my Persian friends from Great Neck, and we do everything together because we have such a tight community. I like to  separate my community into two types: the traditional and the modern. The traditional girl is someone who is usually born rich and  very conservative in terms of religion. They grow up wearing only the most expensive designer clothing and not taking education too seriously because they know they’re going to get married at 19 or 20 to a rich Persian man. Once they get married, there is no need for them to work so they stay at home and become housewives. The modern woman, or as my friends like to call them, “the career woman” is takes education and work very seriously. Rather than spending their lives preparing themselves for marriage, they prefer to live life. They’re usually characterized by their lack of religiousness, getting married around 30, and their high profiled jobs. Though I was not born rich or in Great Neck, so I like to think of myself as a mix. I’m not too religious, I don’t want to get married too young but not too late either, and I want a great career but I want to raise my kids as well.

My top three concerns about my freshman year are not being able to make friends, not being able to have good grades, and not being able to see the city. I didn’t really like high school because I didn’t like my grade and theres nothing in my town except for my high school. Now that I’m in college and theres an endless amount of people I can meet, I’m hoping to make great friends that I can have a fun time with. While having fun with new friends, I need to make good grades so I can get in the Zicklin School of Business. As of right now, I’m only starting to feel the pressure and stress of my classes, but I’ m nervous of what’s to come. I’m nervous that my grades won’t be good enough. Aside from that, there wasn’t much to see from where I lived in Long Island, so I’m hoping to see something new in the city.

Like Baruch, my high school was very diverse, so the only thing that will make my college experience different is if I see the city more. I think I’ll change from my freshman year at college by becoming more independent. In high school, I was so close to home and my family knew where I was and what I was doing at all times. At Baruch, I’m mostly on my own.