Month: October 2017

Self Defense Class

Jasmine MahabirLeave a comment

After reading the Student Life Weekly News update, I was interested in attending one of the health and wellness events Baruch had to offer, particularly the self-defense class.  I thought it would be helpful to learn some self-defense techniques considering I’m a petite female; therefore, I’m a target for most catcallers.  Also, after having the discussion about sexual harassment in class, I felt that I had to do something in order to ensure my safety or someone else’s safety anywhere I go.  I didn’t want to wait for a situation to occur and then realize that I should’ve learn how to protect myself.

I met up with my friend for 12 at Racquetball Court B and Sensei Peter Flores Jr. was very welcoming. There were only a few students who came in at the time, but he didn’t want to waste time and decided to start teaching us.  He showed us each step very slowly and demonstrated with his two assistants to make sure that we understood.  From what I remember, if someone grabs your arm, the technique is to pull and lock your elbow in, making sure your underarm isn’t exposed.  Then bring your hand up to your face as if you’re looking at your phone.  After that, you turn your hand over and grab the other person’s arm that’s holding you and you pull that person towards you so that you can give a side kick or punch.  Once we went over that and a few more people came in, we learned different leg kicks and punches.  We did them over and over, while he counted in Japanese.  One piece of information that I clearly remember is that you want to avoid disconnect with your body, because if you move a wrong muscle, you can get seriously hurt. The class was very informative and an intense workout, which is great because I haven’t exercised since the school year started. I definitely need more training in order to master the art of self-defense, but now I can say that I’m more aware of what I need to do in case I need to defend myself.

A Visit to the MOMA

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This past Friday, I visited the Museum of Modern Art with my friends. Despite living in New York, this was actually my first time going to the museum. I am someone that actually enjoys a good stroll within a museum and will not find it boring. It was particularly crowded on this day due to it being a Friday afternoon and the free tickets MOMA was giving out at this time. Fortunately, I was able to skip the line and get in free anyways due to being a CUNY student. The building and interior design of the MOMA itself is quite unique. It was definitely aesthetically pleasing and a good place to simply enjoy the scenery.

One particular piece that stood out to me was Lullaby by Louise Bourgeois, located in the Louise Bourgeois exhibit. From the description next to the artwork I learned several facts. Created in 2006, this piece resembles shapes by turning and tracing common household objects. Some objects include: scissors, a knife, and a candy dish. To be honest, it was hard for me to tell what these objects were at first. What stood out to be was that this was abstract art. I personally find abstract art to be interesting due to its’ uniqueness and simplicity. It is said that abstract art could be calming, expressing emotion, and showing tension. Best said by Bourgeois herself, “It is not an image I am seeking. It’s not an idea. It is an emotion that you want to recreate.” Upon seeing Lullaby, I was able to connect with her words. The piece was clean cut and seemed to embody a sense of serenity.

All in all, it was a great experience to do something different for a change. To take a break within my schedule and explore the MOMA. 

STARR Internship Seminar

s.subhaniLeave a comment

On Thursday, October 5, my classmates and I attended the STARR Internship Seminar. It was set up to introduce the process for obtaining internships. Michael Kalish is a part of the STARR Career Development Center at Baruch and he provided us with plentiful amounts of information regarding the purpose of STARR and the resources that come with it. I had heard of it before through the many emails from Baruch I receive, but going to this seminar gave me a better understanding of what it was. There are plenty of internships available for whichever year of college you were in. I was so surprised at how easy it was to access different internship opportunities through the websites Michael provided to us. He even used a “dummy account” to show us the step by step process of finding an internship best fit for someone. The STARR Career Development Center has a counseling center with many people so you can walk in and ask for help in person. If you want assistance about an internship you had an interest in, they will guide you in seeing if it is a good fit for you or not. If that works out, they will even give you the opportunity to have a mock interview where someone from the office will interview you the way they would at a real internship. In my opinion, I think that is one of the best features for people who are planning on starting their first internship to get a feel for what to expect out of these mock interview, and even how to answer their questions strategically. I plan on interning later on and I know I will be using all the resources offered in the office as well as the website to ensure my confidence is high before I have to go in for the real interview.

 

Blog #2- Study Abroad Fair

j.petilloLeave a comment

On Thursday, September 14th, I was able to attend the Study Abroad fair in the auxiliary gym. I’ve always wanted to study abroad and experience different cultures, different ways of life, etc. I knew that this fair would be great to attend as it would provide me with info that could assist me in eventually studying abroad. I’m interested in visiting a number of countries so I went and conversed with the spokespeople and grabbed flyers of every country(specifically the city in which the university is in) that could be a possible destination for me in the future ; there are just so many that are appealing. During the hour and a half or so i spent meandering around the gym I ended up with a number of cities/countries I could travel to such as: Zurich-Switzerland, Berlin-Germany, Galapagos Islands-Ecuador, Stockholm-Sweden, Tokyo-Japan, Amsterdam-Netherlands, Copenhagen-Denmark, Ghent-Belgium, and Madrid-Spain.

The best part about this fair and what I feel assisted me the most with learning about studying abroad was being able to speak to the foreign students of Baruch telling me about studying abroad in their respective countries to gain sort of a first hand perspective. One student in particular named “Henri De Bel” from Belgium spoke to me for an extended period of time and I was able to learn that the college system is very different in Europe- where basically you just have to show up for exams.(yay, no class!) It is also very common and easy to travel through Europe by train to visit different countries during the semester, and a great part of it is that you get to meet students originating from all over the world.

At the end of the fair, I was satisfied in hearing all the great things of studying abroad and seeing all these amazing possible destinations. I’m definitely looking forward to taking advantage of this magnificent opportunity.

American Museum of Natural History

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Located at Central Park West & 79th St, the American Museum of Natural History is easily one of the largest museums in the world. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to the Natural History Museum and my recent trip there did not disappoint me.

Over the summer I’ve started getting into wildlife documentaries, especially fish. In the Irma and Paul Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life hangs a museum treasure: a ninety-four feet long, twenty-one thousand pound fiberglass model of a blue whale. The model is based off of a blue whale found along the southern tip of South America in 1925. The big whale in the room hangs as a reminder that ocean life is rapidly decreasing because of us and it is solely up to us to protect ocean life.

Another highlight of my day was the astronomy exhibit. The lower level had the entrance to the planetarium (which, unfortunately, I didn’t get to go to) and the upper level circling the planetarium were models of our solar system and the astronomy gift shop. It was interesting to see how all the planets’ and stars’ sizes compared to each other.

The third and last highlight of my visit were the dinosaurs. Unlike other museums, the Natural History Museum is extremely child friendly, they actually encourage families to bring children along. Taking their advice, I had brought along my toddler cousin, who is obsessed with dinosaurs at the moment, to the museum that day. Although I didn’t have time to read a lot of the descriptions of each display, I did learn a lot from my cousin’s rants about each dinosaur he dragged me past.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the American Museum of Natural History. I highly recommend to everyone  to visit if they have the chance.