LC 22

To be honest I did not remember we even had this workshop or what it was about until I read others’ blog posts. Learning about meditation really didn’t do much for me. It’s not like it was anything new that was discovered, so things like this tend to fly over my head.

I really have nothing to say about the enrichment workshop so I guess I will talk about how this first semester went for me.

Overall this whole college experience for me has been okay thus far. In the beginning I was super excited to just try out everything and possibly “reinvent” myself. But that didn’t really work out when I realized I wasn’t putting in much effort or time into anything that I did.

This confused cat basically sums up how I feel about this semester at Baruch and probably a lot of other people too. I don’t know what I’m doing or have been doing anymore…

I still look forward to the future though despite being my lost self.

The Workshop was interesting to say the least. I didn’t like the video, but I do like the idea of meditation for at leat 3 minutes at the beginning of the day. Meditation has always been said to be a great tool for focus, serenity, and tranquility. Although, I don’t necessarily believe that those kids in Staten Island were able to reap the full benefits of meditation, I do think that it would benefit many students if implemented correctly.

All that withstanding, I still thought the workshop was boring, and was annoyed to have to waste my break watching a video and listen to a woman drone on about her program. Maybe If I only had to stay for a little while the I would have been more satisfied with the experience,but alas no. While I was trying to relax and enjoy the movie there was a lot going on and watching a movie about other people learning to focus does not make you want to focus at all.

The worshop for me was sort of like this first semester of college, where I was annoyed distracted and just wanted to go back home. It’s like watching people do something that you cant do because youre paying attention or trying to. Having to participate in the workshop and experiencing this semester all reminded me of one thing : High School Never Ends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jrxI_euTX4A

Basically College thus far.

The New York Times Project to me was just a waste of valuable time. Instead of sleeping or doing an assignment for another class I was forced to work with people and read an article and then contribute a summary. Although, there are merits to working wthin groups, teh fact that I had to summarize an article just felt tedious. That is not to say that I did not like the articles that people chose, because some of the information presented was really interesting. Also, through the project we sort of got to see what our classmates considere important for the news to tell you. All in all I would not be interested in doing a project similar and for the future if a group project is required , there should be a part that definitely needs every member of the group to interact and work together as opposed to just everyone doing an article individually and throwing it on the same page.

I personally thought the semester-long freshman seminar was very helpful in understanding, or navigating through, my first semester of college a little better, and also in understanding and becoming closer to the LC in general. I would have enjoyed the freshman seminar a lot more if said seminar did not take place at 9:30 AM (it was my earliest class this semester, and I’m not at all a morning person). Overall, I think the freshman seminar helped me learn a few things about myself, my peers, and Baruch college itself, that I otherwise might not have learned.

There are, however, a few aspects of the seminar that I would like to have added to or changed. For instance, much of the information covered during some of the freshman seminar sessions were things we could have figured out on our own, just by looking through the school website. There might have been more of a focus on information which we really could not have found, or would have had difficulty finding, on our own, through the resources that had already been made readily available to us all.

The enrichment workshop itself was quite interesting and informative. I think it was important in that it enabled us all to learn, or embellished our knowledge of, the importance of personal involvement in the community through community service, and the importance of interpersonal interactions within the larger community.

The roller coaster pictured above serves as a fairly accurate, if rather cliched, metaphor for my experience throughout the semester, in that the semester had its ups and downs. The plummet at the end of the roller coaster would symbolize the end of the semester when all the academic work caught up to me, which was just very unfortunate. There were, however, high points throughout the semester, and in general there was a certain level to which just starting my first semester as a college student was both thrilling, or exciting, and a bit scary in some ways.

Overall, the semester in general was a good experience which I hope to have learned and grown from in many ways.

The NYTimes project was interesting in that, due to it, I read certain types of articles that I would normally have not come across, or thought to peruse. Exploring my group’s topic (activities) through the forum of the NYTimes was an illuminating experience, as I discovered activities which I hadn’t been aware of, whether in my own city or at a global level. I wrote the article summary about activities on a global level, and this was surprising fun to do. I looked into international news in a way that I would not usually do -not to read about world crisis’ or international relations or the global market, but to explore culture and activities through news articles.

The New York Times project enabled me to read more about recent articles that I normally would not look at. The topic my group and I chose to write about was fashion. I found many interesting articles and chose one talking about beauty pageants for young girls in France. The French government is looking to make the pageants illegal, charging fines for anyone helping a young girl participate. I found the differences between American culture and French culture truly surprising. Here in America we see shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras that serves as entertainment for a portion of American audiences. It is far from illegal here, but the French Parliament makes a good argument. Beauty pageants may cause self esteem, issues in these young children and try to mold them into a very strict definition of beauty. The topic of fashion was interesting because it is something we as college students are introduced to everyday. Many of us need to keep up with the latest trends and buy the latest handbags, making fashion important to us. It is advertised wherever we go, and learning about it in other places was pretty fascinating.

The Enrichment workshop was really interesting. The topic that it was about was “Values and Benefits of Service”. We watched a long video about a man telling us about how important it is to be involved in servicing of your community or of schools. Servicing your community and schools is very important so that you can learn more about it and help to give back to them for all that they do for you. Love and giving is very important in that they make you a better person. When you give, you come to appreciate what you have more and you are happier as a person. Servicing can be directed to the people by interacting with them and can also be in the backstage where no one sees what you are doing for them. In my perspective, I think that it is better to interact with the people that you are helping and see the lifestyles that they live and how simple yet happy their lives are.

I chose a wave to represent my freshman semester. A wave starts off as really small, slowly grows until it gets to its peak and then crashes at the end. It ties into my overall feeling of the semester because I started off as just another freshman doing all that I need to do without many exams or much work to do. As it went on, more and more work started piling up on me because I did not manage my time correctly; this part represents the peak of the wave before it crashes. I realized that time management is a very important characteristic that I need to work on because we all know that everyone has free time but the problem is that not everyone utilizes that free time correctly or effectively. I had a lot of free time and breaks during this semester so it basically came down to me utilizing that time for my benefit and study. If I decide to get a job for next semester, I will have a lot less time so if I do not spend it the right way and get my work done during that time, I am going to be in a big hole.  I have not associated much with any of the clubs this semester and I am not too happy about that. I think that I need to roam around the building and browse on the websites and see what I am interested in and maybe get involved and maybe even climb to the top and become one of the instructors of the groups that I am interested in. The crash of the wake represents the end of my semester when I start to get used to all the work and managing my time correctly. It comes a lot easier when I use up all my free time in doing work for school and studying so that I am learning more and getting everything done.

I’m glad we chose the topic of fashion for our project because no matter what major I take, I’ll always be into fashion like any other girl. It was interesting reading about new styles and trends and getting more knowledge about the fashion industry. I thought the beauty pageant article was very interesting because it shows that something that could be just for fun can seriously influence a child in a negative way. This project was a good idea because it got us to read about some current events and also some things going on at Baruch that we may not have known about before.

As a student hoping to pursue fashion after leaving Baruch, understanding the developments in the market and the opportunities for individuals entering the fashion world was an interesting experience. Although I plan on entering the fashion industry on the business side, it is reassuring to know that there are increased opportunities for up and coming designers which could therefore spread to other positions in the fashion world.

I am an avid music listener and my favorite songs constantly change as I have many band phases where I love that band or a particular song (besides for songs that will always stay with me no matter what). Songs are listed in random order, for example song #6 could be better for me than song #1.

10. Yellow Submarine- By The Beatles. I love this song for its easy to sing along lyrics and also because Ringo Starr sings it. Ringo is a Beatle who rarely gets to sing. Additionally, it has a catchy tune. This song is one of the songs that will stay with me no matter what.

9. The Inner Light- By The Beatles. I love this song because George Harrison utilizes his knowledge of Indian Music and turns it into a spectacular song. The sitar in this song is magnificent.

8. Blue Sky- The Allman Brothers Band. I love this song because it has a massive 4 minute sexy guitar solo. The solo is split by Dickey Betts and Duane Allman. Duane Allman is one of my favorite guitarists and this particular song inspired me to get better at my guitar playing. This song is also one of the songs that will stay with me no matter what.

7. Beautiful Dreamer- Roy Orbison. I heard this song on a commercial and when I heard it, I’m like “I know this song!!!!!!!” I knew this song from my childhood years, but I don’t remember what exactly. After doing my research, I found out that it was written in the 19th century by a man named Stephen Foster. The only available version I could find was by Roy Orbison, and I immediately fell in love with it. This song also made me get into Roy Orbison. It is a beautiful song and it will stay with me no matter what.

6. Bleeker Street- Simon & Garfunkel. I heard this song on Mad Men. I heard it and I said that’s Simon & Garfunkel. I shazamed it and found out it was Bleeker Street. I listen to it when I stop at Bleeker Street on the 6 train. This song has one of those tunes that is specific to me, like it works with my brain wiring and stuff.

5. Baba O’Riley- The Who. I love this song because I knew it before I got into The Who. This unleashed me into the world of The Who and into music in general. Also this song has an unbelievably rebellious violin solo, it uses the violin in no other way that a typical violinist will use the violin. Easily my favorite part of the song or maybe the synthesizer in the beginning, I’m still deciding.

4. Band On The Run- Wings. I love this song because it is Paul McCartney after The Beatles. It has parts where the melody just suddenly changes, which I love. Also I went to his concert at The Barclays Center on June 10th, 2013 with my girlfriend to be. So I have an emotional connection with the song as well. It will stay with me no matter what.

3. A Teenager In Love- The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The song originally by Dion and The Belmonts. I heard it by the Chili’s and I fell in love with it because of that 50’s feel and ANY teenager can relate to this song. Also one of the songs that will be one of my favorites forever.

2. Sloop John B. – The Beach Boys. This song was on the album that I got into The Beach Boys with and helped expand my musical database. It has a catchy tune and will always be with me. I love the hell out of it.

1. Layla- Derek and The Dominos. I love this song for its story behind it and for its 4- minute piano solo which is one of the greatest things in existence. The story behind it is that Eric Clapton fell in love with his best friends wife, Patty Boyd Harrison. He wrote the album for her to explain his love for her. He named the album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.” Layla meaning Patty. In the song he just professes his love for her in a desperate voice. I feel bad for him when I listen to it.