Before coming to Baruch, I was already expecting a dreadful adventure. Prior to coming here, I had to resolve some problems regarding my transcript and financial aid but the administration never picked up their phone. Every time I called, I was faced with an insane automated system that I had to go through in order to speak to a representative. Even after that was complete, the ring just kept going on for many minutes until I hung up. I thought that it was unacceptable to leave a phone number on the website but have nobody to pick up the phone. I would have to commute an hour and thirty minutes to speak to a person instead of resolving the problem in the comfort of my home. I hate automated phone systems; there should be an option to speak to a representative right away. After I entered the school however, there were not many problems I had to fix. I would hope to avoid these problems in the future to save myself from the long lines I see on the 8th floor. The subway system is also something that most Baruch students have to deal with. In my case, I have to take the bus before boarding the MTA train. Unexpected delays give me anxiety more than anything. There was a time where the I had to wait over twenty minutes for the express train to arrive, giving me my first lateness! Other than this, the only other experience I dislike is the 7:50am classes from Monday through Thursday which most people have to deal with as well; I hope this would change next semester.
Author: v.deng
Whitney Museum Madness
On Friday the 13th, our freshman block got the opportunity to visit the Whitney Museum thanks to Professor Goodale. The architecture was really simplistic and relaxing but the art was very confusing to me. What got my attention as I entered, was this gigantic elevator with huge doors. It was about four times the size of a traditional one. During my tour around the museum, I saw two paintings that intrigued me. A painting that was red and another one that was black; that’s it, only one color. I always thought of art as something that took years to learn and would be hard to reproduce but these two paintings did not appear that way. However, there were also other paintings that made use of lines and three dimensional shapes which I genuinely enjoyed. Paintings were not the only art they had on display; they also had sculptures and statues throughout the exhibition. One specific 3d art I appreciated was a bunch of stuffed bags lying on the floor. They resembled dead bodies of soldiers during war, one lying on top of another. It stood in the middle of an exhibit with tape surrounding it to make sure that nobody damages it. They gave off an aura of the past, something that we wouldn’t not get to experience ever again. Overall, I enjoyed the atmosphere and the presentation more than the actual content itself. Having the freedom as a cuny student to get in for no cost was also another benefit! I am able to freely access all the museums during my free time to learn about some quality content thanks to this. I definitely plan to revisit other museums throughout my school years.
Bloomberg! -Victor Deng
As my friends and I began to leave our English class, we were faced with a dilemma. We did not know what to do with our 5 hour break until our next class, so we browsed through the list of events that are happening at Baruch. There was a Bloomberg workshop that intrigued me since I wanted to learn more about stocks and how prices are altered. I decided to attend the workshop and luckily there were some computers left. I quickly sat down and observed the dual monitors filled with graphs and numbers. The instructor taught me how to read revenue reports, social media influence of stock prices, and how to import real time prices onto Microsoft Excel. The Bloomberg program is similar to a search engine where you enter certain commands for information about public companies. Revenue reports displayed quarterly earnings from products and the services associated with it. Apple reported 78 billion quarterly revenue as the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and about 7 billion of this revenue was due to services such as apps. I like the fact that I able to use this program to browse their reports for their revenue and the reasoning for it; this includes expansion of foreign markets and their new hardware changes. Going forward, instead of being overwhelmed by large numbers regarding how much money public companies make, I am able to read reports that justify where the money is coming from. This is imperative to my future since I am looking forward to invest in both short and long term investments when I feel ready. I also would like to pursue a career in investment banking so this workshop helped me pave a road towards that field.
Beta Alpha Psi
It was my second week at Baruch and I heard these people on the second floor chanting. “Finance, Accounting, CIS!” I was with a group of friends at the time who were mostly pursuing a major in finance so it caught our attention immediately. The president of Beta Alpha Psi approached us and taught us about their motives in training young adults like us into professionals. I was intrigued by their enthusiasm and decided to attend the general interest meeting the following day. I arrived early to secure a seat since they told me their last meeting had over 80 people. During their presentation, I learned lots of information on internships, mock interviews, and resume review. I was actually amazed about how many members in BAP had internships at big banks such as Wells Fargo, Chase, etc. The way they presented themselves were also very professional, giving me inspiration to someday develop similar traits. After the presentation was over, we were given the chance to ask BAP members any questions. I wanted to find out more about potential careers with Finance and how the salaries were in each field. Charlie, who was part of BAP directed me to another representative who told me about investment banking. He surprised me with numbers that I didn’t think was possible. I learned about front office positions who were making 130k dollar salary with 2-3 internships. What I thought was a dream suddenly become achievable. Networking was also something that I learned throughout the GIM #2. I then knew that I had to go out of my way to meet new people in order to have a successful career.