Category: Uncategorized

Yesterday, the 3rd of October, I attended a workshop on public accounting hosted by Grant Thornton. I was pretty stoked to find out that an event like this was being held this week because I’m an accounting major and I’m interested in pursuing a career in this field. I figured this would be a great opportunity for me to learn about a couple aspects about the field.

When I came to the meeting, I was amazed to find that the majority of people in attendance were juniors and seniors, well as far as I was aware. I was also surprised to find out that Grant Thornton’s not an individual person, but it’s actually a public accounting firm. A number of professionals from the firm came to present that day and they all so happened to be Baruch alumni themselves too!

The meeting started off with free pizza and soda, which I was relieved to figure because I forgot to pack lunch and didn’t have much money on me. Afterwards, the professionals from Grant Thornton gave their presentation. It provided us with information about the kind of positions there are in a public accounting firm as well as specific timelines for different kinds of business evaluations.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the professionals from Grant Thornton had us complete an activity that would give an idea of what it’s like to work as an accountant. We were given a sheet that had a variety of numbers and had instructions on what we were supposed to find using them. The activity mostly involved the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operation of numbers. But even with basic functions like those, the task was quite a challenge! While this activity might just have nearly gotten my brain cells fried, I had a pretty good time doing the calculations and filling in my results on that chart. Had I the opportunity to complete the task at my own pace, I probably would’ve done a better job at completing the thing.

Overall, this workshop on public accounting has truly been a pleasant experience for me. After the way I found enjoyment in the hands on experience from the task given to us, I’m feeling optimistic about my current decision to major in accounting.

-Francis Secoquian

On September 14, the study abroad fair came around and we decided to go take a look around. Study abroad is very important to me for my college experience so I was very much looking forward to going to this fair. I had been looking into studying in a different country for a while, talking to a few people including mentors who have experienced it and staff members who are involved in the process. I was still not sure about it all which is why this fair was something I had planned on going to for a while.

While there, we all learned quite a bit from those speaking about their study abroad experiences to the countries we are interested in and even the ones we hadn’t considered before. it was amazing to see how many different places were available to us, and how enriching it is to be a part of the program and study in a whole different country and learn the ins and outs of a completely different culture. Personally, I am interested in studying in South Korea and when I went to the table, the girls there had just come back from their semester abroad and they were gushing about how amazing it was. I was quickly reeled in and my desire to do this was only intensified.

All in all, I think it was a very fun event to go to and it helped men to solidify my interest in studying abroad. It was nice to see how just how many people were interested in it as well; I’ve even met people who would like to travel to the same places as me and its nice to think about actually doing the whole study abroad thing in the future. It also made me see that I have so many choices as to where to go and how to pay for it. I will definitely follow up on this and get more information but this was a good start!

~Charisse B

On October 3rd, I attended the Interview Prep Workshop with Target Corporation. There were three workers in the front of the room and each took turns explaining parts of the interview process and advice they wanted to share. I came into the workshop thinking I would get nothing out of it. On the contrary, I left feeling more confident knowing how to prepare for an interview and the “do’s and dont’s”. I knew the obvious questions I would be asked during an interview such as “what are your strengths and weaknesses, tell me about yourself, etc”. However, I realized that I should be prepared to also answer questions along the lines of “what motivates you, what problems have you encountered and how did you fix the problems,” and so on. The three individuals were all very kind and helpful answering any and all questions from “what should I do with my hands when I sit down” to “what is the appropriate way to end an interview.” They took the time to fully answer your questions and concerns and really made you feel reassured and positive about the interview process. A few key pieces of advice I took away from the workshop is to have a list of past situations that illustrate your leadership, be brief and to the point, do not talk too low or too fast, tell your stories with enthusiasm, and always end on a high note. Overall the workshop was helpful and a great transition to start looking for a job/internship.

Pamela Botkhin

I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art for the first time on September 30 with my sister, and I was amazed at how big it was and the large variety of exhibitions they had. The first sight I visited was the Egyptian Arts as that was the first exhibition in front of me after I paid for my ticket and entered. I liked seeing the artworks and sculptures of Ancient Egypt as I learned a lot about them in art history so, I was able to make connections to these artworks to the ones we studied in class. My most favorite piece  was the tombs because I heard so much about them in the past, but never actually got to see them in person so, seeing them in person was cool. From Egyptian Arts, I visited the Chinese Arts, South Asian Arts, Medieval Arts, Korean Arts, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, and Musical Instruments. It was amazing looking at all the jewelry, ceramics, paintings, and the sculptures (especially the really huge ones). I enjoyed seeing all the arts, but my most favorite was the Astor Chinese Garden Court. I loved seeing the Chinese-style buildings since, I don’t see it very often in New York; the amount of detail and effort the creators put in was evident in the pieces of art. The scenery inside the Court was beautiful, almost like it was out of a book; I really loved it. I would definitely go back so that I could check out the other parts of the museum I didn’t get to visit, and spend more time looking at the works of arts.

I visited the Met Shop because I was curious what they had, but the prices were too much; a keychain and a bookmark was around $12 each. I also visited the Met Shop where they were selling pieces of art and I saw a vase for around $300. However, the store did have many nice souvenirs that were cool: cards, books, post-its, pens, magnets, maps, etc.

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 .       -Suzy Qiu

On September 18th, I attended “Explore JP Morgan Chase & Co” at Baruch College. Going to this event without knowing anything about the corporate world was quite intimidating. However, talking to current employees at this firm, I was relieved that they were people just like me. Each employee was sincere and passionate in what they do.

My goals and aspirations for the future would be to be my own business owner/proprietor. However, for my goals to be realistic, I have to enter the corporate world and build the necessary capital. Understanding the corporate world is the next step in achieving my goals.

Although I was not offered a position because I was a freshman, I will continue to attend events to surround myself with ambitious people hungry for positions in the firm. The drive to succeed motivates me. Just because I got denied, this does not stop my ability to network with current employees to get informed about future available positions.

-Stephen Zhong

I was able to visit the New York Hall of Science on Friday (Free from 2-5). The line was long but it was worth the wait once I got inside. They had a variety of activities, mostly catered to small children, but it was still interesting to see. They had a virtual reality room where people can interact with the screen with just a hand movement. The large screen, sound effects, and the lighting made it as if I was in the ocean. It showed me how advanced technology has gotten. The angry birds section was the most popular. The game came to life with pillow sized birds and large blocks. The goal was to build our own fortress that we later had to knock down with the slingshot. The line was also very long but it was a fun activity for my friend and I. In addition to real life angry birds, they also had iPads where children could play the game on the app. The upper levels were more educational. I learned more about gravity, the insects that were there, and other science related topics. There was also an arm wrestling machine that was the highlight of my day. There were two machines that had a metal arm that we had to beat. Each player sat at one machine. The strength of the pull depended on your opponent on the opposite side. Many of the players cheated by either having others helping them or puttingtheir entire body weight on the metal hand. It was a humorous sight to see for the large crowd that gathered around.

At the end of the day, I stopped by the gift shop to check out what they had. The prices were absurd! However, they were good souvenirs (such as water bottles, toys, snow globe, hats, pens, etc) for children to remember their trip to the Hall of Science.

Overall, my trip was exciting and it was a nice way to spend a Friday afternoon. I realized that exploring museums and other places that I can go for free with my student ID is a productive thing to do in my spare time!

-Sharon Cheung

On September 14, some of my friends and I attended the study abroad fair because we all were interested in going out of the country for a semester. It was a nice opportunity to explore all the options we have. Since I am considering majoring in International Business, I wanted to gain experience of studying in at least one other country so I can be comfortable with my major. The study abroad fair helped me understand the application process and cleared up my confusion.

One thing I was concerned about was my financial aid. I wasn’t sure if I would receive any and I didn’t want to spend too much money to study abroad. I learned that Baruch covers the tuition fee and all we have to pay is the living costs, which can also be expensive. However, we can apply for scholarships for up to thousands of dollars. We can use this money to cover our living and food costs, which is very beneficial.

I personally don’t know which country I want to go to yet. I’m confused between a country in Europe or Sydney, Australia. The fair helped me learn about each country and its advantages. For example, London has a great program for my intended major and covers full tuition. There are also many colleges in one country and students have the opportunity to apply to most. So, if I don’t gain admission into one, I might have the chance to get admitted into another one. I also got to know about the personal experiences of previous study abroad students, which gives a little insight on how it’s like to be an international student.

There are also many benefits of being a study abroad student at Baruch because it’s a CUNY school. Reason being, Baruch doesn’t have a study abroad program in all the countries in the world. So, if you want to go to a country that Baruch doesn’t have, you can go to that country through any of the other CUNY schools that provide it. For example, if Baruch doesn’t have a program in Austria, but Queens College does, a student can apply through Queens College and study in Austria. I think this is a great opportunity because not all colleges have this advantage. The study abroad fair taught me many things and persuaded me to try it out, which I hope to at least once in my college experience.

~ Sudipa Datta

I went to a writing workshop for reading strategically under the academic category for my second blog. I thought this workshop would be helpful because there is a lot of reading to do in all my classes, and sometimes it can be hard to manage, so I signed up for it on the writing center website. At the workshop, I learned how to read for a purpose whether it’s to summarize the passage as a goal, or to look for evidence for a certain claim. With the purpose in mind, there are different strategies that can be employed to do some efficient reading such as scanning, skimming, and skipping around the article. There will be times when you don’t have to read the whole thing to achieve the purpose. Another strategy I learned was that you can learn about what you are reading before reading it by looking at the title, cover, author, publisher, date of publication, and reviews. This will give you an idea of what to expect when reading; there can be certain a bias the author has that is good to keep in mind. Overall, the workshop was really informative and concise; you get fed a lot of useful info in a short amount time.

-Jessica Zheng (FRO BRB)

Hello class!

As I explained in my email, we had a bit of a mix up and was assigned the wrong site. This site is our correct section and all future blog posts should be posted here.

Thanks again and happy blogging!

-Lea 🙂