Author: a.shariff1

Afnan Shariff Let’s Get Starrted

I had the chance to attend the workshop by the name of, “Let’s Get Starrted: Career Building Blocks for First- and Second-Year Students: Week Four,” offered by the Starr Career Development Center. The SCDC helps Baruch students on their career path, with help on writing resumes, cover letters, choosing majors, and applying to internships. They are essentially the haven for your future. This workshop was a four part workshop and since I was not on STARR before, I had no knowledge of them, so I was able to come across this last part. It only consisted of ten freshmen trying to meet their Freshman Seminar requirement, but I was there for much more. In this workshop, the advisor explained a general overview of what SCDC was and the resources it had. She also gave us different resources around the school to utilize, such as clubs, special programs, and even advised us to talk to different faculty and students. She stressed the importance of doing these things in advance so we can successfully move forward on our career path. She also stressed the importance of LinkedIn and why we should have it, since it is a networking tool for different opportunities. Also, a big factor is to watch what you post on your social media as companies check your social media to see what you post, reflecting the kind of person you are.

 

The overall essence of this workshop was to be made aware of the different resources around Baruch to help us freshman get a head start on our future and our careers. I found it immensely helpful to have attended this workshop because it helped me realize just how many resources I had around me that I can utilize to advance my future career and benefit me in the long run. College is imperative to our career and the experience and knowledge starts here.

MoMa Afnan Shariff

For this time around, I decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art to accompany my friend Fahim for his Freshman Seminar blog post. Shameful to say, I have never been to the MoMa, even though I am a native New Yorker. Everyone I know seems to have visited there but me. Alas, I have finally found the opportunity to go. Luckily, it was free for CUNY students, so I was able to save my money for once. Walking into the first gallery, I was immediately met with a metal sculpture with a face (I was so intrigued in observing it that I actually forgot to look at the description to see what it was and who it was by.) The sculpture seemed extremely lifelike, with the face having the face of what seemed like terror, with its mouth open, giving off the appearance that it was screaming. I walked around and noticed a lot of sculptures made from different inanimate objects, appearing to be animated. It reminded me of when I read an article about Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel being displayed at the MoMA. I definitely went and saw Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. I have always seen pictures of this painting, but I have never seen it in real life, and it was truly spectacular. It made me reminisce about the time I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my cousin last summer and being able to see van Gogh’s Straw Hat Self Portrait. I was astounded by how intricate it was and it made me realize right then and there just how stunning van Gogh’s artwork truly is.

 

Walking around in this museum made me realize how much I have been missing out on. By all means am I not an art fanatic who knows everything about art, rather I appreciate what artwork I do get to see. I do not go to museums every other day, especially art museums, but I really should. Broadening my horizons is what college consists of, and by doing that, I can learn a lot of new things about my city and myself.

 

 

 

Afnan Shariff Finance and Economics Society

On September 7th, I had the chance to attend the Finance and Economics Society (FES) general interest meeting. My intended major is Finance, so this club was definitely a right fit to check out. What surprised me was the amount of people that showed up to the meeting, with the room being extremely crowded. The leader of the club, Verina, greeted us and we were given a plethora of information. We were given insight on what the club was; it consisted of finance/economics major hopefuls trying to make it into the finance world, and engaging in activities relevant to their future. This club had a variety of programs, such as an investment program and a mentorship program. The mentorship program grabbed my attention as there are mentors who take on mentees and help them with everything related to their major, providing advice, and helping them prepare for the future to come. However, it’s highly selective. The GIM moved to us conducting a team building activity, which consisted of the groups to construct the tallest tower made from spaghetti, a marshmallow and tape. Although my group failed, it opened our eyes to what the club consisted of and what would be expected of us if we work at top firms.

The members of the club were super friendly and welcoming. They made it aware that this club would require all of our time aside from school, so I knew from there that although this club and the mentorship program would be highly beneficial for me, I knew I could not give all my time to this club, due to the throes of freshman year and adjusting to the college life. It was said that we can at least attend six of their workshops to be a part of the general club, so I hope to do that. I was lucky enough to go to this GIM as I have met people who are experience what I want to be in the future and I now know who to go to for help for my major and my future.