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I decided to go to the American Museum of Natural History with my sister for this blog post. My sister had been there before on a class trip and really enjoyed it. She really wanted to go again and take one of us along, and so I went.

I honestly wasn’t so excited about going to the American Museum of Natural History, I’m not exactly a fan of museums.. or walking, but it actually turned out to be a great experience. I think it’s because the other times I have gone, I was on class trips where we had to take notes at every display. This time, I was with my little sister and she made it fun.

My sister and I saw many exhibits, but the one we spent more time on was the dinosaur exhibit. It’s amazing to see how huge these creatures were! There were so many different types of dinosaur displays. I can only imagine how much work it takes to put together a dinosaur display in the museum ever so carefully that not a single bone should break. It’s interesting to me how much the archeologists know about the lifestyle each dinosaur carried by their remains.

Next to the dinosaur exhibit was a little hall where they sat you down to watch a video on evolution. In the video, you see how pre-historic creatures evolved to become the animals we are familiar with today, including us humans. Something that caught my attention was the different types of homo species that existed, meaning the different types of species of humans. It’s interesting to see the different versions of the homo species.

My experience at the American Museum of Natural History was great. I would recommend checking this place out, you’re bound to find something you’re interested in. I hope to visit more museums in the future.

 

Today I attended a Writing Center workshop on using sources strategically. The man who tutored us went by the name of Joshua. He seemed like a really nice person, and as a matter of fact he was. Before the workshop began, Joshua had us all introduce ourselves. I stated that although I was here at the workshop for a freshmen seminar assignment, I also looked forward to learning about how I could use sources more strategically to aid me in a critical literary analysis paper I had to write. While teaching us, Joshua was very concise and to the point. He introduced BEAM to us, which stood for Background, Exhibit, Argument, and Method respectively. These four things were types of primary and secondary sources. I never knew sources could be distinguished in ways other than primary and secondary. Joshua also helped me to realize that whether a source is primary or secondary is mainly dependent on how the writer uses the source. Afterwards, we did some practice on identifying different types of sources using BEAM. Overall, I learned quite a lot from about sources from the workshop and I do look forward to attending other ones in the future.

 

 

One of the great aspects of attending a CUNY College is that you have access to go to many museums in New York City for free. This week I went to the Museum of Modern Art because it showcases some of the most diverse art in the contemporary world.

The Museum of Modern Art has a sense of calmness and relaxation that’s feel as if you’re in a whole new world. Although it was crowded, I barely noticed the people around me because the art captured all my attention. The museum showcased some artwork I wouldn’t have thought they would even consider displaying. For instances, MoMA has a fashion exhibit, which presents 111 past clothing and accessories that have had a powerful impact during the 20^th and 21st centuries and that have made an impact in fashion today. I did not think MoMA would create an exhibit about fashion let alone clothing and accessories that were so trendy and important to pop-culture. My favorite was the clothing of Saree because it was a representation of my culture and I like how they contributed to the exhibit full of predominantly American fashion style. They even had a video showing people how to wear a Saree. Many people were surprised by the process of wearing a Saree, and one woman even said, “It must take hours to put it on!”

The Museum of Modern Art showcased some of the most diverse artists that have shaped the way we view art today. They all tell fascinating stories and displays their art with such raw and captivating emotion. One, for example, was Untitled (Chair) by Louise Bourgeois, which was a sculpture representing the artist’s feelings of isolation and loneliness she experienced in her family life. This sculpture captured my attention at first because of how small it was and how unique it was. It was a sculpture of mother and child, connected by the umbilical cord. I felt as if I can almost feel the emotions of the artist.

I would definitely go to the MoMA again because of its uncommon representation of art.

For my academic activity I attended a writing center workshop. The main focus of the workshop was to teach students how to use sources strategically. I decided to go to this workshop specifically because I have a business assignment due and this would help me with writing it.

What I liked about the workshop was how it was in small groups so you would get the help and attention you needed. We went around introducing ourselves and mentioning why we decided to attend the workshop. It was comfortable knowing everyone had somewhat of the same interest as me, their main reason for attending the workshop was also for freshmen seminar blog.

We went right into discussing what are second and primary sources. It was good review what was considered a primary source and whats not under various different context. Overall I learned all primary sources can be a secondary source depending on the context. He then taught me something new, the four different types of sources. They were Background, Exhibit, Argument, and Method. We went on to see some example of a student using these four sources in her paper. Her story was interesting because it involved some of of the TV shows I grew up on.

Overall I thought the workshop was really helpful. I learned a lot on how to use sources in a paper. I recommend checking out the writing center as it was really helpful.

 

For my academic activity, I decided to visit the MOMA or Museum of Modern Art with my cousin this weekend.  I choose to visit the MOMA this weekend because it is one of my favorite museums in NYC.  This is due to a variety of reasons specifically, its unique architecture, artwork, and exhibitions.  During this trip, I was really happy to see that they had exhibits featuring work from some of my favorite artists including Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and Monet.

When visiting the Moma I always wear really comfortable clothes so that I’m not constricted when walking from one exhibit to another. I also make sure to go as early as possible, so that I can try and miss the large crowd of people often present during the weekend.  My advice to anyone who hasn’t visited the MOMA before, but is planning to, is to start with the exhibits you want to see the most and work your way down the list.  This way if you end up tired, hungry, or dissatisfied with the museum at least you saw the exhibits you wanted to see before arriving.  I also suggest grabbing something to eat before coming to the museum so that you have plenty of energy to roam the entire museum.

Something really cool about the MOMA is its wide array of unique modern artwork that isn’t often found in other museums.  Some of the paintings or sculptures are very abstract and difficult to understand, (luckily there are brief descriptions on the walls beside everything in case you can’t figure out what the painting is!) and others are less abstract.  Although it can be heavily criticized I think modern art is really inspirational and essential to the further development of art as a whole which is why I appreciate even the strangest pieces of art.

I hope my post inspires some of you to visit the MOMA, and enjoy the beautifully unique artwork it has to display.

For my community service I went to volunteer at my old job which was at a place called Boosters Club. Basically what this is its a after school program for kids in grades K-6 in which they receive help with homework. During my senior year in high school I used to work here everyday after school and I would basically help kids do math, science, and English homework. After they would finish their homework I would read a book with them for approximately 30 minutes and after that we would all play games, either board games or actual physical games such as tag, freeze tag, hide and seek, etc.

Going back there felt so good because I truly did miss those kids. I was happy to see all my favorite kids. In the pictures attached you can see me the the kid, Miguel, doing homework but having fun at the same time and a tower some of the kids built with Lego’s. I like tutoring kids because I feel like I’m making a positive change in their life by helping them do better in school and making them see homework as a fun thing and not as something that’s boring and stressful.

When I first arrived to the place they were all in a circle talking about their days and when they saw me they all yelled “Mr. Johnny is here!” and that made me feel so happy that they were excited to see me again. I honestly didn’t expect that reaction from them when I arrived.

I decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Sunday because I was in need of a place to do my blog post on. I went around some of the exhibits and most notably seen some armour and weapons from older Islamic culture, some art from preschool to grade 12 students, and some art from the gilded age. The feeling of walking from exhibit to exhibit was rather unique, like moving through different eras of history. I saw many wonderful works of art depicting struggles, victories, and even simple day to day life. Browsing the museum was a quick way to gain an appreciation for other cultures and history in a short frame of time as well as appreciate the events of the modern day. Browsing a museum is something I’d recommend everyone do at least once every 5 years to refresh their appreciation of the world around them, its history, and its cultures. However, unless you are a lover of art, I wouldn’t recommending going to the museum very often as it is likely to become boring. I probably won’t be visiting another museum myself until at least a year passes.

Personally, I appreciate listening to music more than I appreciate looking at art. However, this is not to take away from the value of witnessing and appreciating art, but rather to demonstrate that I would rather go see a live performance of music than go through a museum. There are similarities between art and music. The most simple similarity is the fact that they are both forms of art. While one makes its home in the vibrations in the air, the other makes its home in physical space. Another similarity is that they both can be historical artifacts. Yet another similarity is the fact that they are both most commonly utilized so as to create an expression of one’s innermost feelings.