Author: b.tamir

For My career blog post I choose to write about an actual event I have attended this semester that actually made a difference to my development in the United States. On Friday November 3^rd I traveled to Washington DC for the entire weekend to participate in the annual IAC conference in DC. IAC (Israeli American Council) is an organization that for many years work on keeping the strong bond between Israeli Americans in the United States. I was invited to attend the conference as an Israeli student living and studying in the United States. Other than the fact that I had travel and accommodation expenses covered I did not know what to expect from the conference and the city of Washington in general. To my surprise, the conference had a phenomenal program and over the course of the weekend I have had the chance to participate in lectures by; ministers of the Israeli parliament, the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, famous Israeli journalists, and more outstanding figures from the diplomatic and business worlds. Needless to say I have interacted with remarkable individuals over meals time and was able to network with interesting and unique people. Moreover, it was indeed my first time in the country’s capital city and I have enjoyed exploring a new ground other than NYC and see the subtle changes in the urban culture between the two (not so far) cities. Between the new friends (Israeli students at CUNY schools) that I met and hang out with at the conference and the socializing and networking opportunities that I stumbled upon that weekend I can conclude that the conference was a success to me, a true event that include actual business and pleasure. A true mark in the beginning of my yet unformed career, where I have learned many new skills and became more ambitious than I was before.

On Thursday September 28^th I have attended the opening night of the “Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt” exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum as part of an extra credit assignment for my History 1001 class. The night included art history lectures by the exhibition’s curators Ed Bleiberg and Yekatrina Barbash and a lecture by Salima Ikram who is a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. The topic of the lectures and the exhibition itself was Egyptian animal mummies, animals played a big part in the religious and cultural life in ancient Egypt and for that reason many animals were mummified. Modern technology allows researchers and archeologists to examine and analyze the millions of animal mummies like never before, using CT scans and X ray we now have a better understanding of what kind of animals were mummified and why. The exhibition shows dozens of mummies from more than 30 different sites in Egypt and a variety of animals such as dogs, birds, cats and many others. As mentioned I have attended the event in order to get extra credit in my History class where we have just discussed ancient Egypt culture and leaders. I am very interested in world history and I grew up not far from the Egyptian border, also I have traveled to Egypt with my family as a kid and I felt that regardless of the fact that this was an academic assignment I will enjoy the evening and enrich my knowledge in a subject that I did not know much about and that was exactly the case. I have a broader approach to Egyptian studies thanks to Prof. Boozer and the extra credit assignment and my interest in global history is growing during my first semester in Baruch.

Bar Tamir

 

A year ago I had a very exciting idea, I am going to study my undergraduate degree in New York, It took me many months of studying for different kinds of tests and about 1000 pages that needed my signature or any other information about my life, but after a long bureaucratic journey I made it here to Baruch College. I have seen my fair share of the world and experienced many things with people from all around the globe in many different places, so I know that a place or a home is as good as the people you surround yourself with, and so in a new city with some family but no close friends I knew I needed to find a spot where I can meet new people. As an Israeli I was sure to find the Hillel center in Baruch, Hillel is a world-wide organization that deals with connecting people to Israel (my home for the past 23 years), when I got to Hillel’s room for the first time it took me about 8 seconds to start a conversation with a Israeli senior student who introduced me to the rest of the gang. The opening event was held on the 4^th floor and I have had the chance to meet many more interesting students and eat my country’s food (it was not half as good as back home), the event included speeches from staff members and explanations about future activities and plans, since that event I have attended most club hours and kept connecting with new students and staff members, I also hang out with some outside of Baruch walls where the atmosphere can be more liberated in some ways, I am now a member of the Hillel at Baruch club and will take active part in future events, it is important to say that Hillel is open for everyone regardless of their religion, so if you find interest in Israel and even if you don’t, you are welcome.