Month: October 2017

On my daily commute from Penn Station to Baruch I always pass by FIT, a college that specializes in fashion, I never paid to much attention to it until I realized there was a museum. I decided to walk in there and knock out a freshmen blog for attending an NYC museum. Little did I know that I would be only guy there and that I would be surrounded by middle aged women.

Although, boring the exhibits displayed were very informative, it discussed the relations nature has with textiles. For example, during the Renaissance period flowers were commonly found on dresses this was mainly attributed to exotic flowers that were flourishing in Europe-boring. However, there was a section I found interesting, Charles Darwin’s son draws a comparison of dresses to natural selection and how it changes throughout the years, the good ones stay and bad ones go producing new dresses every year.

The exhibition didn’t only focus on fashion but, also textiles, FIT students developed a textile called “AlgiKnit” a biodegradable product that can knitted like yarn. It didn’t go into full detail about how long material would last until it would degrade but, biodegradable clothes a interesting concept.

I also didn’t realize how much inspiration people take from nature and apply it into clothing. For example the latest swimsuits such as Fastskin II developed by Speedo was inspired by sharkskin. The surface design of the suit held similarities to the surface of a shark’s skin which allows reduced drag, allowing swimmers to PR and cut through water. Another, similar cloth is the “Black Magic suit” a recently developed suit which imitates the way water rolls off of leaves and duck feathers.

Before, visiting this museum I always thought that fashion was considered wearing weird outfits and calling it “fashion” . But, the development of cloth is really interesting and I realized its what Nike does with drifit, adidas  does with ultraboost, and what under armour does with its sweat wick fabric.

The Rubin Museum of Art is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The museum specializes in artwork from the Himalayas and its surrounding neighbors, like India. Their mission is to promote understanding, stimulate learning, and to spark personal connections to the culture and ideas of Himalayan Asia.

I had to go to the Rubin Museum of Art for a homework assignment I had to do for my art history class. I am not the type of person who chooses to go to museums and usually would never go unless it is required of me to. I was not expecting to enjoy myself at all as I am not a big fan of museums, much less for ones specializing in art.

When I got to museum, I was surprised that it was so small. When I think about museums, I think of huge building with massive amounts of rooms and high ceilings. The Rubin Museum of Art, however, threw me off. If anything, it looks like a regular building you can find anywhere in that neighborhood. The museum has a total of five floors, each with its own different exhibit on each floor. People can have the option of being lazy and taking the elevators, or they can walk up the big, winding spiral staircase located conveniently at the center of the building. I chose to use the stairs.

Museums always have special exhibits going on, and The Rubin was the same. Right now, there is a special exhibit going on focusing on sounds. It is called “The World is Sound” and it was a pretty cool experience. There were parts where I had to touch the wall in order to hear what was playing over the speaker. I found it interesting how none of the different displays were overlapping and disrupting each other. It was as if each display was in their own little room. The sounds played ranged from religious mantras to sounds found in the nature to traditional instruments used in the Buddhist and Hindu culture. Out of my entire experience there, I’d say the sound exhibit was my favorite. You should definitely check the exhibit out before it closes in January.

     On Saturday I made a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I am not a talented painter nor a sculptor, but I absolutely love art. Although, I found the Met to be more than a collection of art; it was a way to learn about history by analyzing the historical context of the art or exhibit. There were more than just paintings, but accessories, musical instruments, clothing, and architecture from all over the world! Honestly, I cannot even think of the right words to express my excitement. For those who know me personally, they know that I was experiencing heaven on earth — I am a history nerd.

One part of the exhibit that I remember well was the lesson on how the Egyptian and the Roman cultures had an influence each other economically, artistically, and culturally. I also learned the influences these two major powers had on the Mediterranean region during the prosperous growth of inter regional trade while the existence of Egyptian Pharaohs and the Roman Empire were on the rise. Talking about trade, conquests, and agriculture reminded me of my history class way back in 6th grade. We had to build a massive project on key parts of the Roman Empire and the elements that the area was composed upon (Colosseum, roads, mile markers, material, aqueducts, etc…) It was nice to be able to expand my knowledge about a topic that was covered when I was in grade school.

There was obviously so much more to the Museum, but I did not have enough time to cover every inch of it that I wanted to. It’s very disappointing, but on the bright side I now have an excuse to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art often. If I had not completed this enrichment workshop, I highly doubt that I would have made the time to explore the different museums that I have access to. There are many other museums to explore and learn from which I intend to make use of while I have my student discount. In regards to my first semester, it broadened my horizon on what New York City has to offer that can enrich my learning experience!

About two weeks ago,  I went to Baruch’s Study Abroad Fair. I was extremely excited to go and learn more about some of the possible countries that I could be considered a foreign student at. As soon as I entered the gym, I was bombarded by students to learn more about their country and university. To my surprise, the students who were talking about the schools were native to that area. They were studying abroad here at Baruch and giving their perspective on their home school. I thought that it was so cool to hear from actual students of those universities, rather than students at Baruch who have just attended for a semester. They gave insight on what they regularly did, and the majority talked about how they loved to travel within Europe. It is much cheaper to explore different countries while in Europe since they are all connected in the union, rather than travelling back and forth between there and the United States. I learned about how cheap their social life is, and how inexpensive food is compared to here, although nothing can beat the price of a dollar pizza. I thought it was very interesting how some of the colleges still offered courses in English to help foreign students adjust. Their methods for education were very intriguing as well, as their grades are composed of just the midterm and the final. They also offer re-sits, which is an opportunity to retake an exam if they fail. The student doesn’t need to retake the course, just the test. This makes sense in that the student just needs to study harder in order to pass/get a higher grade, yet without retaking the course, everything has to be self-taught. I look forward to studying abroad next year, although I still am not 100% sure on where I want to go.