Tag: student life

 

A few weeks ago, I decided to go to the STARR Development Center “Internship Seminar.” I am constantly receiving emails from the center about different workshops and this one in particular sparked my interest. One of the main reasons I came to Baruch College, was because of its reputation with connections and internships, but I never really knew how obtain one. So, when I saw this seminar I really wanted to go to learn more about it. The instructor was super nice and informative. He showed us a bunch of really cool resources that we can use to find internships. He also made it very clear that getting an internship is all on us, we have to go out and get it, one is not just going to placed onto our laps. He showed us how to navigate the different online centers and how it’s really all at the touch of our fingers. He also discussed resumes, which is essential to have in order to even apply for internships. As a freshman, many of us have concerns with our resumes and how we may not have much to put on them. He talked about how the years go on you learn to cut out the less important information and achievements from High School because firms and companies aren’t really going to care about what you did in High School. This made me a little nervous though because my current resume is completely different from what is expected. However, he reassured us that there are so many resources and one on one opportunities to meet with someone to help fixed your resume. I actually went to one of these and the lady was extremely helpful and made me feel more confident in what to do. This seminar made me start to think about future internships and made me want to start preparing and applying as soon as possible because the more experience the better.

 

A club I had heard much about coming into Baruch was the Investment Management Group. This is an elite club that manages real money and some of the most interesting people I have met so far have been part of this group. An individual I had met in Psychology had interned at Morgan Stanley which was something I was highly interested in. He recommended that I go to the Investment Management Group General Interest Meeting, which was very informative and made my interest grow even more for the club.

This club provides financial knowledge and opportunities for students at Baruch that are talented, driven, and willing to work hard. I feel that this fits the model for me. I find finance and business more and more intriguing. They spoke about the kinds of stocks and funds they invest in, the different sectors that the fund composes of. They cater to the students that want something like that for themselves.

An important aspect of the Investment Management Group is that they provide workshops for students to develop their careers and grow. It is highly selective and the leader of the club mentioned that out of three hundred applicants only seven or eight people were accepted into the club. I have submitted my resume and I am waiting to hear back to see if I’ll make it to round two. An important goal of the club is to replicate the way a real investment bank would work, therefore the rigorous process of being in the club has been replicated the same way as well. I think this is important as it gives students a taste of what may lie ahead in their future. I believe the Investment Management will provide an opportunity for me to learn about the finance world and truly assist me in my career as I go further along the path.

 

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.

  The Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) at Baruch College is an organization dedicated to promoting the rich Vietnamese heritage through social and cultural events both on and off campus.

Starting off the club’s fifth year on campus, VSA held its first general interest meeting on August 31st. Through a series of icebreakers, games and (of course) food the club’s true nature is obvious. Even if you’re a shy and clueless freshman like me, the moment you walk into the room you’ll know VSA isn’t just a club, it’s a family that loves to come together to celebrate Vietnamese culture and have a good time.

VSA’s second event of the school year was a bake sale located in the second floor lobby of the NVC. Members welcomed back students with whoopie pies, brownies and Vietnamese iced coffee.

Third event of the year was a DIY summer rolls and language workshop. People were first taught how to make summer rolls through an instructional and humorous video filmed by the club, then everyone’s skills were put to the test. Once everyone enjoyed their creations, people were taught basic phrases one might need at a Vietnamese restaurant, such as greetings, thank you and common food dishes. Afterwards, an activity worksheet about the phrases was passed out. First group to finish received Baked by Melissa cupcakes.

After the third event, I stayed behind mainly because I had time to spare before my next class but I don’t regret it at all. I had a lot of one-on-on time with returning members. They gave me really useful advice about almost everything on how to survive Baruch from academics to the other students. Joining VSA is a really great opportunity for anyone to make new friends and make the most out of their time at Baruch College.

If anyone is interested, VSA’s second interest meeting is on Thursday September 14th during club hours in room 9-135. And no, you don’t have to be Vietnamese to join.

Upon arrival to Baruch I didn’t know what clubs to join, the first day of freshmen orientation Baruch allowed us to walk around to see if any clubs would peak our interest. I saw many clubs that caught my attention, however the first week passed and I realized I missed many of the clubs first general interest meeting. The second week came around and then I realized I didn’t know where my clubs met (lol). I was eating lunch one day when someone was passing out a flyer for the club F.U.S.I.O.N, I thought to myself “oh wow this club has a cool name” so I decided to swing by to see what it was about. It turned out to be the Filipinos Uniting Students In Other Nations, I decided to stay since, the members were friendly. Plus I ate some free food and didn’t want to be “that guy”.

We played icebreaker games such as bang where small groups of people would split off and form a circle with one leader in the middle. The leader would say a random person’s name and that person must duck making the people either side of that person point their handguns at one another and scream bang. Whoever screams bang first wins. This fun icebreaker allowed us to know the names of the people in my circle allowing a fun interactions with many new freshmen as well as upperclassmen in my group.

What really caught my attention about the club was that not everyone there was Filipino there was a blend of people of all cultures which was what FUSION was all about, uniting people of all nations. The club participates in many school activities such as making plays, dancing, singing, and overall immersing in Filipino culture. Overall, the club meeting was a great experience, meeting new people, learning more about a different culture, and eating some free food. What turned out to be me accidentally stumbling upon a club may turn out to me being a new member.

 Over the last week or so, I have received many emails from the UNICEF club at Baruch about the club itself and invitations to the general meetings. The first meeting was Thursday during club hours so a group of my friends attended the meeting. When we walked in they were handing out free pizza, so that was a plus. The meeting began and the head members introduced themselves and each gave a brief synopsis of what their positions are in the club. They stated how important it was to get other involved. Honestly, I had no idea what UNICEF even was until the meeting. They showed a video about the organization the are apart of and how it is much bigger than just their club, it is a worldwide organization that aims to children all over the world. The PSA video was actually extremely sad and really portrayed just how important the club’s role is to the lives of so many individuals. They discussed the different fundraisers they would have this year like a holiday trick or treat event, snowflake ball, relay for life, and other events that would help raise money, awareness, and to influence others to become members. They also said they would have events, like picnics and holiday parties, for members so each one of us could really get to know each other. They stressed the importance of the club being like a family and coming together. They talked about getting involved with other clubs in effort to fundraise for UNICEF which essentially will help get members involved with other clubs around campus. Also at the meeting, we played ice breaker games and I got to meet some new people which was cool. We all had to find at least three things we had in common which was pretty hard because it was such a diverse group of people. Some of the kids in my group were juniors and seniors and it was interesting to hear some of their experiences in the club and even at Baruch. Overall, I will definitely consider going to the next meeting, I think I could really find interest in this club.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is an organization that helps defend the rights of children. Its headquarters is located right here in New York City and it works in 190 countries around the world. I attended Baruch’s UNICEF club this past Thursday to learn more about what the organization does and how students at Baruch can be involved as well. There were two main committees: fundraising and raising awareness, and marketing and communications. The heads of the club showed us pictures from the past years of students being involved in different events for fundraising. It was nice to see leadership playing a key role in these events and seeing how genuinely happy people were to help. I plan on staying with the club throughout the semester and future years because I have done community service in high school as well and enjoyed coming together with other people to help an important cause. I’m especially looking forward to the Halloween fundraiser, which is known to be a hit in Baruch according to the heads of the club. Trick-or-treat boxes will be handed out to those in the club to raise money for the organization prior to the main event.

I did my own research to see what else UNICEF has done over the years. I found out that they came up with Millennium Development Goals with missions to accomplish, and some even have been accomplished in certain countries. Even though challenges arise, the organization still strives to save children in regions that are more difficult to help than others. Major celebrities have even contributed to UNICEF, most notably David Beckham. He created “7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund,” which is his commitment to save children from dangers in their life by protecting their rights. I found this inspiring since it’s important for celebrities to use their platform to raise awareness for problems as big as this. The more attention UNICEF brings, the better it will be for children in need. 

 

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.

I had first learned of The Ticker on orientation day way back in June and I didn’t think much of it and dismissed it. I wasn’t particularly interested in writing for a student newspaper or being part of the staff – too much work. However, as summer passed so did my goals. I was reflecting on the fact that I’m not a good writer and it takes me a long time to formulate words. In high school I was writing one of the many essays required and I remember sitting at the computer for 2 hours with nothing written down. Who does that? No one. So I decided I had to get over myself and conquer this weakness. Hence I joined The Ticker. After I’m approved to write an article I have a few days to research, write, and proofread it so the idea is to practice writing so many different articles that eventually I have to become somewhat decent at researching and writing in a timely fashion.
I wrote an article for the Business section of The Ticker, Issue 1 called “Alternative Energy Sources Threaten Oil Industry’s Future Profits.” It was a really interesting experience. I basically talked about how climate change and the uprising trend of sustainability affects the Oil Industry and suggested some possible solutions the Oil Industry will have to take in order to survive in the future. The effect of the Paris Climate Agreement is strong therefore the use of oil is decreasing as many other countries around the world are taking the initiative to use alternative energy sources. I have written a second article for the Business Section, Issue 2 (which will be on stands this Monday) on the Student Debt Crisis and the negative affect it is having on millennials.
My viewpoint of The Ticker has changed from orientation day. I have seen a glimpse of the work The Ticker does and by no means is it easy. After the writers submit the articles it goes through a process of editing and review. It must also be fact checked and and organized under the section, all while planning for the next issue. It is an ongoing process. Overall, I am learning the do’s and don’ts of writing for a student newspaper which is proving to be very enjoyable and rewarding. I’m learning to write quickly and accurately while keeping up to date with the news. It’s a win win. I plan to write more for The Ticker and I look forward to seeing where it takes me.