Freshman Seminar Fall 17 DFB

Beta Alpha Psi GIM

For my first freshman blog I sat in for a general interest meeting for the Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) fraternity. Attending this meeting really helped to open my eyes and realize what Baruch really has to offer. It was made clear to me that Baruch is a place where everyone around you truly wants to see you excel and succeed. Networking played a major concept to the people within the fraternity. Being in the same room with multiple successful people made me realize that is the company I desire to spend more time around. The BAP fraternity is something I truly plan on proceeding with while I continue my studies at Baruch college. To be completely honest, I originally just attended the meeting for the sake of writing this blog, however, only fifteen minutes into the meeting I truly wanted to be there for myself opposed to for just the grade. I always had dreams of working for a large company around people just as ambitious as me and when I sat in the room with all the Vice Presidents and leaders of the fraternity it gave me a small taste of the ambitious atmosphere I have been dreaming about since I was little. It may not be a stereotypical college frat but it is obviously full of great opportunity.

Finance and Economic Society Club

The event that I chose to go to was the Finance and Economic Society’s general interest meeting held today, September 7th. Being a finance major, I felt that this club would be beneficial in the long run. Post meeting, my feelings were reassured as the board members shared their experiences meeting with well known companies like J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. We learned that we can apply to different programs within the club, such as the Mentorship Program, open to freshmen and sophomores. If I’m accepted into the program it will be time consuming, but well worth the effort. During the meeting we broke off into ten groups of ten for a team building exercise. Each group was given ten pieces of raw spaghetti, a marshmallow, and a foot of tape. Our task was to make the tallest tower possible with said materials. Although my group didn’t place first, we had fun in the making, and that’s what matters most.

At the end we took a group picture of all the freshman that attended. I’m in the second row from the bottom, second to last on the right side.

Vietnamese Student Association GIM #1

I was recommended by upperclassmen at Baruch College and StonyBrook University to join Baruch VSA. Initially, I did not think that I would have much interest in the club, but the first general interest meeting changed my perspective. I went to the first general interest meeting for VSA on August 31st, 2017. To my astonishment, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. A lot of the members went up to me and my friend and greeted us. At the general interest meeting, I learned more about the club, such as its goals and services. The goal of VSA is to promote cultural awareness and increase ethnic diversity. I noticed that not everyone there was Vietnamese. We played a game, where we were to attribute an action/gesture to our names and the purpose was to get to know one another, whereas we were supposed to repeat and mimic the names and gestures of those preceding our turn. I kept forgetting the names of the people in my group and I was also vey shy when imitating their actions. However, I envied that everyone in my group was very outgoing and bold, it had inspired me to become a more open person and overcome my shyness. After the game, members of VSA gave out Bánh mì to everyone who attended. Although my friend and I had already eaten prior to coming to the meeting, several members offered Bánh mì to us, which I thought was very nice and considerate of them. During the meeting, I had a lot of fun meeting different people and learning more about the club. I really enjoyed the vibe of the club, no one was excluded and it seemed that we all had a good time. I will definitely be going to more VSA events in the near future.

Ascend General Interest Meeting

Today, 9/7/17, I attended the Ascend General Interest Meeting and it was a very memorable experience. So much food and refreshments were provided that there was so many left over. Their presentation was very intriguing and informative.  Ascend is an organization that can help us network and connect to many professionals including big corporate sponsors. I was surprised by how many students attended the meeting today yet, I  didn’t for one second feel left out or overwhelmed. All the members of the club were very welcoming and the “networking” session went surprisingly well. I got the chance to talk to all the members in the club including, many others in the room. It was like a practice test for when we really have to network with other professionals one day. I feel like I will be able to gain a lot by joining this club. Not only will they help me improve my interview and communicative skills, but they can also help build my resume. I was never a person to join any clubs but after today, I think I just might join one!

Baruch’s Loft Party

On August 31st, I attended Baruch’s Loft Party and I can say that it fit my expectations (which weren’t very high). Knowing that the event was being held at Baruch and hosted by the USG I automatically threw the idea of it being a typical college party out of the window. The amount of students who came out did surprise me. It was nice to see freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all come together for a good time. You could clearly see the diversity throughout the school and it made me realize how many new people and new opportunities Baruch has to offer. The DJ had to cater to many different music tastes so the music varied throughout the night but overall he kept everyone happy. They had games such as chess and jenga that a lot of people seemed to enjoy. Even though I wished the loft party fit more of the “college party” standards I still enjoyed meeting new people and spending time with my friends.

Convocation Day Fun – By: Chanel Cummings

On August 24th I woke up at 5pm on the morning to make sure I got to Baruch @8pm on the dot. I was tired but excited for the day ahead of me. I was going to meet all the First Year students and help them on their journey of becoming Baruch Bearcats. All the peer mentors had was stuffed in to the tiny TV room and was giving specific task to do for the first part of the day. It was busy and there was so much construction around but we all got into the 17 lex building in one piece. After the ceremony and horrid sining we had to perform all the peer mentors guided the students back out the building towards the NVC. Once again nobody’s child was injured on my watch. I headed up towards my room to meet my first year class. I was afraid that they would know I had no clue of what I was suppose to be doing but in the end it all worked out ok. My classes are pretty awesome and I cant wait to spend the rest of the semester with them.

“COLLEGE PARTY”

If “college parties” was a criteria when it came to committing to a college, I definitely would not be at Baruch. On Thursday August 31st, USG hosted a Student Loft Party on campus. Honestly I didn’t really know what to expect due to a few reasons. 1) The party was on campus 2) Professors and officials were in that same building  3) It was my first “college party” . Usually I don’t think twice about what to expect from a party because after all its just a PARTY. However judging from the various snaps of my friends at their college parties, there was no way a real college party was going on in that building with professors and college officials. I had no initial intention of going and didn’t even make a decision until 6pm that day, which happened to be when the party started. I got there at about 7:30 pm. It was an interesting mix of people. There were people playing various games , life-size chess and jenga. There was also this interesting game being played and when I asked how it was played I was told ” I don’t exactly know whats going on, but people seem hype over it.” Some people were actually having fun and dancing while some were standing the corner judging those with interesting dance moves. There were a couple of people who didn’t enjoy the djs taste in music and went up to him a coupleof times to tell him how to do his job. I think he told them not to come up there again. I overhead someone complaining and also saw them dancing to the same djs music they had a problem with few minutes ago. Unfortunately when I got there the food was gone, free food doesn’t last long at Baruch.  The party definitely had it’s moments , my favorite was watching those two Kappa boys do the shoulder shimmy.  Baruch doesn’t have the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity but those boys definitely had the Kappa moves. I danced  few times and definitely laughed hard at the people with interesting dance moves. My expectations didn’t really match the reality due to the fact that it reminded me a lot of my middle school prom. After all it was a student government event on campus and maybe

that explains why it was so calm

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