Author: g.calle1

Visiting an Art Gallery at Baruch

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Last week, I attended a field trip to the Mishkin Gallery at Baruch College with my English 2100 class. I got a chance to actually see some really amazing photographs, all taken by the photographer Marcel Sternberger, who work was actually curated by Jacob Loewentheil after Sternberger’s death in a fatal car accident in 1952. From this visit, I was able to take a glance at photographs of very famous and well-known world figures from different perspectives due to Sternberger’s photographic style of trying to capture his models’ personality.

I learned a lot about Sternberger’s determination for getting historically famous people to agree to model for him. One important example was George Bernard Shaw, who wasn’t the least interested in having his picture taken and was very condescending towards Sternberger. After many failed attempts, Shaw finally agreed to model for him, portraying a very serious attitude throughout the entire session as he saw this as futile. Sternberger was also able to photograph two iconic figures of Spanish history, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, who were married artists. It was nice to see them being portrayed as a loving couple instead of just having them pose unemotionally in front of the camera. He was also an acquaintance of famed physicist Albert Einstein, engaging in a friendly conversation with him throughout the session and ending up with pictures of the genius Einstein as an amusing and lovable average guy.

What was really amazing to learn about Sternberger’s photographs is the amount of equipment he used- or rather the lack of equipment he used. While other photographers used super professional cameras, he relied on his Leica flagship 35mm model camera. This allowed him to have his pictures being taken at different angles and to move more freely when doing so., allowing his portraits to reflect that unique style that has been displayed for years to come.

 

 

Internships 101- Starr Career Development Center Internship Seminar

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As a new first-year college student here at Baruch College, you get bombarded almost every Tuesday and Thursday by clubs wanting to gain your interest enough that you hope to join them. Yet, there’s always that one section in the gym during club fair or that table on the second floor where people talk to you about internship opportunities- a table which is usually ignored by passing onlookers. Personally, it is something that I am interested in experiencing during my four years at Baruch. But I was still walking around clueless about how exactly I could obtain a internship and the steps that I would have to take to even just apply for one.

On October 5th, my friends and I decided to attend the Starr Career Development Center Internship Seminar at the Newman Vertical Campus, hosted by Michael Kalish. For 90 minutes, he went into very, and I mean VERY detailed information about exactly what an internship is, how they work, and the basic information about them. He also talked about the types of internships that exist, such as a paid internship and a non-paid internship and a zero-credit internship that is actually open to most freshman, something that I was not aware of. Still, Mr.Kalish even specified that no matter what type of internship you do, you have to receive some form of payment, whether it be monetary or in the form of academic credit. He even informed us to be cautious of any companies, which the exception of some non-profit organizations, who may try to take advantage of their interns by giving them meaningless tasks or trying to not pay them in some way for their services. Besides internships, Mr.Kalish even talked about the importance of resumes, which he says could be the deciding factor between you landing an internship/future job, and preparing for interviews. What surprised me to learn towards the end was the fact that Baruch offers tools to help their students and alumni obtain internships or jobs, and that Mr.Kalish’s team at SCDC even helps prepare students with mock interviews and through FOCUS. After attending this seminar, I am more confident in the various aspects of internships and knowledgable about what to do in order to obtain one, even setting a little personal goal for myself of hoping to get at least three internships by the time I graduate.

           

Latinx Heritage Month Opening Ceremony//Joining LASO?

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This past Thursday, seeing the three hour break I had as an opportunity to do some “exploring” around campus, I decided to attend the Latinx Heritage Month Opening Ceremony celebration on the second floor. While the idea of meeting new people who were also Hispanic like me, since I have come across many in the two weeks I have been at Baruch, ultimately it was the free food and beverage that further convinced me to attend. Going with my best friend, who is also Ecuadorian like me, what first caught our attention was the good Spanish music the DJ was playing. Hearing the bachata, merengue, and salsa songs made me nostalgic and refer back to the many Hispanic parties I have been to. I then saw the various clubs that were trying to grab the attention of other students. For me, those clubs were the Ecuadorian Club and LASO club, who was giving out free salami, platino, and chicken, which I gladly accepted. I also enjoyed the photo booth and dancing contest that were at the event, which made the experience more fun than I thought it would be. All in all, I am happy to say that my first Latinx Hertiage Month event was very pleasing for me. In the time I have been at Baruch as a new freshman, I have had the fortune to gain a new circle of friends from different backgrounds. Yet, I would always walk around and see some of my Asian friends with their Asian friends or my brown friends with their brown friends. I guess you could say that this Hispanic event, which aims towards bringing together other people from different Latin backgrounds together, made me feel like not as much as a stranger and where I could make my mark as a leader in the Hispanic community here at Baruch. Thus, I became intrigued by the messages and goals of both clubs, and hope to eventually become a member of at least LASO by attending their first General Interest Meeting next Thursday.