September 2017 – Page 2 – Freshman Seminar Fall 17 CFB

VSA

For student life activity I decided to attend a club, I was standing outside the VSA club room pondering weather to go in or not. I originally planned to join a fraternity but felt uneasy trying to “rush” to get in. I chose VSA because I was recommend to join by some upper classmate. However what drawn me into the room was the warm welcome from the VSA board. The members had big smiles on their faces and invited me to sit. They didn’t rush me in or pressure me, letting me know I can come in whenever I felt like I was ready. When I first sat in the room I was panicking, I didn’t know anyone in the room. But luckily the next two people who sat next to me were friends from the past. Thats when I met James a board member who came up to us and started introduction himself and the club. In VSA we learned about Vietnamese food and new phrases. We watched a tutorial created by Maggie I think….on how to make summer rolls. What came after was probably the part that everyone enjoyed. We got to make our own summer rolls. I initially doubted the food, I thought it would taste horrible. So I asked for only lettuce and noodles taking out the protein. To my surprise it was not that bad, it went well with one of the sauces they gave out. The language workshop taught us the correct pronunciation for different foods. So when we go to restaurants the waiters will look at you impressed. Besides knowing the names to foods, they also taught us greetings and manners. We practiced each phrase twice before they surprised us with a pop quiz. First group to correctly label each picture with the correct translation wins. If we didn’t have Bryant we wouldn’t have a chance of winning. Shout out to Bryant for carrying. For my first time at VSA it was a lot of fun, gettingto know new people, and your own food, and learning some Vietnamese. I plan to join future events with VSA and get to know more people.

Student Life- Latino Heritage Month

On Thursday, I attended a Latino Heritage event. I wasn’t sure what to expect, this was my first student life event, but it turned out to be a great experience. A lot of people turned out for the event. It was a good ambiance and everyone seemed to having a great time.

The game for the event was Family Feud, Latino style. Many groups participated, like USG. The topics were things like name popular Latino artists, to which I knew the answers to. Everyone was so engaged in the activity. The room was very loud. People were yelling out answers to the participating groups, who were very competitive. I don’t think I have ever been in an event like this, so participating in the game was fun. Very different from those math or physics related Jeopardy games in the past. Overall, the participating groups knew their Latino culture.

It was nice seeing people from different ethnicities so enthusiastic about Latino culture. In my group of friends alone, there were five different ethnicities. Being a Latina myself, it was a good feeling to be part of this unity in celebrating Latino heritage month. It made me think that there should be more events like this, more opportunities for people to come together as one. It really was a good ambiance. I even met new people.

After an hour or so, we had a break and we ate pizza. Then the game continued to the final rounds. This event got me interested in participating in more heritage month events. I like learning about different cultures and taking part in these kinds of activities. This event was enjoyable; it was a good break from classes, assignments, and work. My overall experience was great, and I would definitely go to another event like this.

Student Life- Latinx Heritage Month

For my first blog, I attended the Family Feud night hosted by USG for Latinx Heritage Month. I had a lot of fun with my friends Monica, Elda, Shazath, and Anthony.

We were not a part of the teams actually playing in the Latinx themed family feud games, but we participated with the audience by shouting out answers. The questions were both Hispanic and Baruch related questions like “Name famous Hispanic athletes” and “What are the types of clubs and organizations at Baruch”.

It was a very welcoming environment that made everyone feel comfortable to be there even if they were not Hispanic. The “families” were made up of various student organizations at Baruch including Lexicon and LASO. Everyone made everyone feel included and as though they were all good friends just hanging out.

I really enjoyed this experience because it allowed me to talk to different types of people and people that I don’t always see in my classes. I made a new friend at this event, too. His name is Zayn and he is a senior here at Baruch. He is studying business and plans to graduate at the end of the upcoming spring semester. If it weren’t for this event, I probably would never have met Zayn. He is in the picture that is embedded with the blog post. He’s standing next to Shazath with the peace sign.

I can definitely see myself coming back to one of these events because it was great. For example, I would definitely like to attend the Let’s Eat event on Thursday, September 28. Not only would I learn how to prepare healthy Latinx cuisine, but I will also learn how to make it on a budget. This makes it even better because life is expensive.

I really had a lot of fun and I can’t wait to attend more student life events.

Student Life – Vietnamese Student Association (VSA)

For my student life activity, I attended the Vietnamese Student Association’s DIY Summer Roll/Language workshop today. I decided to check out VSA because after going to their first General Interest Meeting, I felt that I really clicked with some of the members and I really liked the atmosphere that was in the club. The other reason I wanted to join was because I’m half Vietnamese and I want to learn more about my culture and how to speak the language since I was never taught about it.

During the first GIM, I got to meet a lot of the e-board and a lot of new faces. I met someone named Jonathan and I got really close with him. We found out that we both went to the same high school and we just reminisced about our high school times. He was also to help me out with where to buy my textbooks so I’m really grateful for him saving me a few bucks.

I ate Summer Rolls a lot since I am half Viet, but I never really knew how to roll one. Tam who was leading both the DIY Summer Roll and Language Workshop taught to me in a really simple way. He also got to plug in the club’s YouTube Channel.

During the Language workshop, I got to learn how to order some of the popular food choices in a Vietnamese restaurant and how to do a simple greeting and say thank you. I was ecstatic to learn some of the phrases of my culture.

Overall my experience in the club was great. I really liked it and how they have language workshops where I can learn more phrases. I plan to come back to the next VSA event.

Me and Jonathan the Historian of the club. Sorry It’s blurry.

Finance & Economics Society

Going to Financial & Economics Society at Baruch, felt like the first day of college all over again—nerves of meeting new people, the anxiety of having a difficult course/program, and not liking the course. But I kept my nerves at bay because I already experienced the first day of college so I can handle this.

The mission statement for Financial & Economics Society is “to provide members with the knowledge, mentality, and experience necessary to succeed in their respective industries.”, and immediately I believed in their mission statement because the leaders of the club presented all the steps and programs that will help students to achieve success in their professional careers. Financial & Economics Society, FES for short, is the oldest Finance club on campus and was traded by a merger of the Finance Society and the Economic Society. They like to foster an environment that is open, as well as provide a learning experience that will help us to understand different ways to gain networking opportunities, gain knowledge on different finance techniques, and gain a support system that will help us succeed in a professional environment. After learning all of this, I realized how important this club is because it will give me experience and knowledge in the business world, which I might not get in a regular class setting. I will also get to meet new people I don’t have classes with and meet people from different levels.

After the leaders presented, we, all one hundred of us, broke into teams to do the Marshmallow Challenge, which was to create the highest tower with spaghetti and with a marshmallow on the top. The point of this challenge is to work in groups and devise a plan to accomplish a task together. Working in teams is essential in any field and this was a great way to work on our teamwork skills, as well as meet new people.

When the first Financial & Economics Society event ended, I made the decision to be fully committed to this club and to go to every event and workshop because I know it will benefit me in the long run. It will help me improve and gain new skills such as communication skills, leadership skills, time management skill, etc., which are all necessary for any situation, not just in a professional environment.

Student Life – Baruch E sports association

Today I joined the Baruch E sports association and it was extremely fun. I didn’t expect there to be so many people, so I was very surprised at how crowded it was when I walked in. I met up with a bunch of my friends at the back of the room before the executives began talking. Because it was an e sports club, everyone was able to get intimate with each other quickly. We all had something in common. We were all gamers. The executives told us that most of the club’s interactions would be online. The club had internet platforms for which we could interact and game together if we ever wanted to. They had their own separate server for discord, which is a type of online voice and text chatting platform. The club had two sections. One was for casual gamers and the other was for competitive gamers. I had actually met a junior whose name is Brian and we were able to get intimate with each other. Brian, like myself is a very competitive person and we talked the whole day. It was really fun talking to him because we both played the same game, and in the game we played similar roles. I plan on joining the division 1 team for league of legends where I can compete at the highest level. I’m really looking forward to playing with future teammates. Competition excites me to no end.

Student Life Experience-Elda Ferruku

For my first student life activity, I attended a Latino heritage club meeting on Thursday, September 7th, from 6-8 pm.

My first impression of the Latino club was very good, from the livelihood exhibited by everyone there to the massive room, I was definitely not expecting the club to be so much fun. The room was filled with about 50-60 people from many different ethnic backgrounds, and everyone was very social, funny, and friendly. The atmosphere of the club was extremely lively and enthusiastic, everyone was socializing.

At the club meeting, I watched as different groups of people like, CGC and Wise, competed at family feud. The game was hilarious and included topics like what food do you eat with your hands and what are your parents most likely to use to hit you with. Along with the incredible energy exhibited by the competing groups, the entire audience was also very involved. People in the audience could be heard screaming answers at the competing groups from down the hall.

After about three rounds of this game, we had an intermission during which we ate pizza provided to us by the club. After that short break, there was a final elimination round, between the two losing teams from before. This also exhibited the same lively upbeat energy as the previous rounds.

Overall, I would say that this club was a lot of fun and a great way to spend a Thursday night. I had an incredible time and am really glad that I attended this club and got to experience it. I for sure plan on going to more of the Latino Heritage club meetings, and hopefully next time I’ll be in one of the competing groups for Family Feud.

Academic Blog Post #1

Hi all! As part of the freshmen seminar class, I’m required to post my experiences in several enrichment workshops. This will be the first of three. Here it is.

I chose to do the option of attending an exhibition at a museum. The museum of my selection was the American Folk Museum of Art. Admission to this museum is completely free. When I entered, I thought that this museum was really small, but it turned out to be the gift store. How funny! Eventually, I was greeted to several quilts. They were not ordinary quilts, but they were quilts made for war. In addition to this, these quilts were all made exclusively by men. These quilts had several geometric patterns that made them stood out. The exhibit also had a redcoat (uniform worn by infantry) which was used extensively by the British Empire. All in all, this was a pleasant experience. Although the collection of the museum is somewhat limited, the exhibit itself made up for its size. I generally get bored by museums, but this one proved to be an exception.

This event contributed to my first semester in Baruch by teaching me not to judge something before experiencing it. Before I even planned this visit, I was contemplating doing another academic enriching activity, but I decided to give it a go. It turned out to be great! Instead of having a mindset that something might be boring, I should try to check it out before I make assumptions. At first, when I got assigned my classes at Baruch, I thought that my classes would be hard, but they are less difficult than what I have imagined. People sometimes assume that things are something, but when it is time to encounter them they turn out to be something completely different than what you would have ever expected.

Moral of the story is, do not assume anything as a given because it will be a given that you are mistaken.

Student Life – BAS

I attended the Baruch Accounting Society’s first General Interest Meeting. As of now, I don’t intend to major in accounting (finance), but many of my friends do and so I decided to tag along. Given that accounting happens to be a related field, I figured that it couldn’t hurt. Besides, there’d probably be food there at the very least. The members began their presentation with a description of the club and its history. Right off the bat, I was surprised to hear that the Society has been around since 1968, making it one of Baruch’s oldest clubs. That kind of longevity is very impressive seeing as how it is the result of the efforts of many generations of Baruch students and because it is a testament to the club’s value. They then discussed membership requirements, which include attending a certain amount of meetings and events, and volunteering a few times from what I recall. That seems to be the standard for many of Baruch’s clubs. A membership fee, however, was not one of them, which was relieving to hear. The members went on to discuss in further detail the opportunities that membership provides. For myself, their most attractive talking point was their massive amount of events, ranging from meetings to informational sessions, many of which involve speakers, recruiters, and other professionals coming in to interact with students. Such individuals certainly have a lot of knowledge and insight from their experiences in their respective fields that they can offer us. The Society also organizes a Semi-Annual Networking Luncheon for the purpose of networking and forging relationships with other students and professionals alike. I honestly came for the food, but that was before I knew a single tidbit about the Accounting Society. I left very impressed and satisfied for having been there. I am now strongly considering joining.

Student Life- Club Activity

I honestly don’t know the club’s name since my friend dragged me in late , however, it was informative nonetheless. The club taught how to ready for jobs such as prepping resumes to what attire is appropriate. The particular group I was in was describing in detail how to network and what to do after receiving a business card. Before I arrived, they were explaining what goes on a resume, what format to use, and the contents within. I was briefed this when I entered the room to catch-up, and it was explained clearly. It really showed that the club was passionate on teaching new business major students the ins and outs, especially when our group leader took the time to answer each question thoroughly. A club like this has a catch – there will be an interview to officially join. Before to be considered for an interview, new members must attend one general interest meetings and two events. We were told that today was considered an event and we were almost done with the bare minimum. They also emphasized on the community the club has. It was supposed to be close-knit, and explained they had meetings on Fridays in general so, after club activity, everyone could go out for dinner. This swayed my judgement into joining instead of dipping after I finished my sandwich. I plan to use this club as a resource to further my career since they have informative advice regards to job-seeking and they even reviewed resumes if you decide to bring your own in. I’m sure they will do more than just resumes, and I hope to attend the other events and connect with the members. Overall, I had a good impression of this club and will bring my own resume in when I get the chance.