f.ali2 – Freshman Seminar Fall 17 CRA

Whitney

I went to the Whitney Museum. It was a very enjoyable experience. I got to explore the careers of many different artists and painter. I saw the way they expressed themselves through their paintings. It was for an English project but I got to explore the interior and the beauty the museum holds. Even the elevator and staircases showcased some kind of artwork. The building was shaped in a way that allows viewers to get a whole new experience.

This opened my eyes to different career paths. I necessarily won’t be pursuing a career in art but I got to see this through the lives of people who already done that. The different painters whose work was exhibited in the museum all have different back stories that accompany their work. Some wanted to politically express their views, and painted nationalistic artwork. Others wanted to outline a problem with their society and get the message across through visual aid. Some just wanted to take their ideas and put them on a canvas. All these had a similar enough effect to make them the paintings they are today.

The Whitney Museum is famous for this. Although I didn’t gain any physical career help through examining art, I picked up the way these careers were made. These artists had a vision that they would see their dreams come true and were able to pursue it successfully. This is what I gained from my trip to the museum.

Monologue

So much stuff to do, so many responsibilities to keep
I just want to stay in bed, I just want to sleep
This is my monologue due in an hour
To write up a piece in time would be a superpower
The prompt is to write about anything, anything I want
It could be the last movie I watched, or even my favorite restaurant
I’m sitting here craving food
Looking for anything to put me in the mood
I need to dig deep to figure out what to write
Because I’m staring at a few words right now, rest of the page still white
Looking around my room for a topic to inspire me
I need some content, so I’m opening up my TV
I keep stalling for time, I really need to focus
Or else I’m just going to end up writing 2 minutes worth of bogus
I think about what I ate in the last few days
Can’t write about fish or my sandwich with mayonnaise
I try to picture if I did anything great
Recently, I’ve just been sleeping in late
I really need to think of a subject, I find my family to talk to
Damn I need to hurry up, I have 30 minutes before this is due
Oh no my battery is running low
If it dies, I won’t have a monologue for FRO
I’m really procrastinating, is this the last thing I need to complete?
It is, ok, good job I deserve a treat
I have those mini chocolates sitting in my fridge
And in my closet, I have those cookies from Pepperidge
I don’t have time to choose one, so why not both
And maybe a cup of milk too, it’s healthy for my growth
So I’m sitting there eating a mini Kit Kat bar
And I’m running out of time to submit this for freshmen seminar
To see if I missed anything, I do a quick homework review
Doing this English reading, and for math, finding revenue
Now that I did all these things, I have a clear mind
I just want to go to bed, and fully unwind
It’s been a long productive day, and I have no reason to pout
Except for the fact, I still have nothing to write about

Translanguaging

Normally I don’t go to targeted centers that help with writing. I usually just get my writing done the way I feel is best and just submit. I am always open to feedback, so I went to the translanguaging workshop at the Writing Center. Translanguaging is the use of other language resources in order to enhance writing. The first thing they did was discuss write ins. This is like the task to get us to brainstorm and think of ideas to start the workshop. Thinking of languages and how we would change the concepts we brought in was the task here. Since we were discussing translanguaging, we had to shift our ideas into different languages. I took Italian in high school so that helped me. I took 4 years of it but I never had to convey ideas between languages. Saying one thing like in Italian and relaying it to the other in English was difficult. For example talking about certain slang words have no direct translation in Italian. The paper I brought in to work on was filled with this. The challenging part was translating these ideas between the languages. I brought in a piece of classwork writing from my English class and that is what I used for the workshop. In the middle they discussed certain strategies like using people as resources to help translate languages. Not all words and ideas would have direct translations so you need to figure out close relations. Translanguaging really helped show how converting ideas between the languages can expand the writing to give it a bigger feeling.

Beta Alpha Psi

Beta Alpha Psi Icebreaker’s was a very entertaining workshop. It is a business fraternity and I know they all put emphasis in connections and brotherhood. I was unsure if I wanted to join, and went solely for the interest of seeing what it was like. I went with a couple of friends just to see what the environment is like.

There were basically several bonding getting to know people games. The first one was sharing our embarrassing stories, fun facts, and dreams and goals with each other. We had to get a skittle and based on its color we would answer a questions. Second there was a egg breaking challenge, where we had to create inventions that would stop an egg from breaking after being dropped 10 feet. We used bubble wrap and cotton balls, as did everyone and it still didn’t work. Lastly, we all wrote fun facts about ourselves on a paper, and tossed it around the room. The goal was to find whose it belonged to

You need to attend a specific amount of meetings to join. I will see if I am still interested but I really did enjoy this workshop. It showed me a new side to what Baruch has to offer in terms of social life.

This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative.