Freshman Seminar Fall 17 DTB

I attend the Math 2207 Weekly Workshop on Saturdays from 10-12. Our tutor is Arbrahm Tai, and although he can speak a bit fast, he’s extremely helpful. Calculus is a hard subject to teach, so for those of us (me) who need to hear concepts twice to understand them, tutoring is our Mecca. My specific tutor will ask us what we need help with- which is usually what we did in class that week- and start by explaining that subject. The best part is, even if one person doesn’t understand, he’ll stop and go back to reword his explanation, whereas in class, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And even if you do understand it the first time, he’ll keep reiterating his point through the various practices problems he’ll give us— That is, if we don’t have our own problems that we need help with. He’s also really intelligent. He can make up a problem (that works out) off the top of his head. And his mental math abilities are extraordinary. In high school, I only took pre-calculus. So without the weekly tutoring, I would have been extremely lost. It’s a fast-paced course, and even with the tutoring, I don’t fully understand everything.  I hate to put anyone on the spot, but it in my opinion, my math professor really can’t teach.  Even if you ask her a question to help clarify, the question will go right over her head and her answer will make you think you asked something completely different. Math was always one of my strongest subjects, so it is shocking that I would have to go to tutoring, to not even master the subject, but to understand it.  I just had a math exam last week. I don’t think I failed it, and I don’t think I came close to failing it, but I didn’t do as well as I could have. And I am aware of that, so I am thinking of going to one on one tutoring as well as the math weekly workshop. I attended one on one tutoring last week before my exam, and the tutor wasn’t that good, which just made me appreciate Abraham more.  As I mentioned previously, the tutoring is on Saturdays, and so it is extremely difficult for me to get up early on the day that I’m supposed to sleep in, and every week I battle with myself. I give myself a bunch of reasons why I don’t need to go. “If I do the homework, I’ll understand it. I will just ask the professor next class. Maybe I’ll go to tutoring next week to catch up on what I missed.”  And even though I gave myself all those reasons, it just takes one reason to get me out of bed. All I do is remember what we learned in class that week and how utterly lost I was and, walla, I have never been out of my bed faster than that.  I felt it would be disrespectful taking a picture in tutoring, as sometimes people are insecure about going, so instead I provided a photo of Saturday’s notes.

Every week since college has started I have been attending Hillel at Baruch Collee 20 minute Monday events. These weekly events allow everyone with Jewish heritage to network and meet other people with similar backgrounds and experiences. In addition to the free kosher pizza that is given out on a weekly basis, the club engages in a discussion about the current events occurring domestically and globally, from 9/11 remembrance to Yom Kippur values. It is very convenient and generally nice to have a group of people to talk with similar values whenever I need it. Through our discussions and pizza bonding sessions, I am able to meet new people and make friends within one of the largest clubs at Baruch College. In the last 20 minute Monday we discussed the Las Vegas terror attack. We talked about the 50 plus individuals that lost their lives on Sunday night and the hundreds injured and we talked about prevention techniques by just being aware of our surroundings and paying attention to those around us. In addition, we recognized the terror attacks that happen in Israel frequently because of the religious intolerance in the Middle East. It is extremely upsetting and frightening that a terror attack can occur at any time anywhere but we must keep living life to the fullest and never let terror win. The idea behind terrorism is to cause a disturbance in people’s daily life in addition to instilling fear with everyone, by continuing in our everyday routines we are able to win over terrorism, but we must always be wary and cautious of our surroundings.  After discussing these important themes we respected the victims of the terror attack by having a moment of silence. By joining Hillel at Baruch College I am exposed to new people with similar ideologies as myself.

Upon looking for clubs I would be interested in to fulfill my first blog requirement, I came upon the UCLA Chinese Learning Program. It is a club aspires to promote the Chinese culture in preparation for a huge upcoming event called the Moon Festival. I learned that UCLA stood for united Chinese language association, and with that in mind I was expecting the club to consist of mostly Chinese people. However to my surprise there was actually a diverse mix of people of various ethnic backgrounds. The reason, I chose this club is because I never really explored my culture because I grew up in America. I thought that this club would be a great opportunity for me to reconnect with my roots, and too my surprise it did. First we all signed in and gave a brief introduction about ourselves. I really enjoyed the vibe there because the group leader really encouraged everyone to be conformable and take part in the conversation. After the introductions, they handed us paper and taught us how to make lanterns out of it. Unfortunately I had to leave right before this but I generally felt like this is a club I could see myself relate to from a social and cultural perspective.

At the Accounting Society of Baruch General Interest Meeting I learned about the requirements and standards for each member of the club. Currently I plan on majoring in accounting and I understand that getting involved in as many accounting related clubs and activities will only help me in the future. The board members of the Accounting Society explained that it’s mandatory each applicant of the Accounting Society attend the General Interest Meetings, and attend a minimum of 5 voluntary events such as a walk in support of Cancer treatments or their annual Pajama day for unfortunate children. These volunteering events at the club help show future members that even though we are here for an education and to eventually land a job it is always good to give back. Big firms in today’s day and age understand that it is morally the right thing to help the less fortunate and the Accounting Society understands that too, that is why we help those who need it. In addition the Accounting Society has extremely impressive connections to firms such as JP Morgan, EY and many others. For my future these connections can help me get internships or even jobs. The Accounting Society of Baruch can help me assimilate with the Baruch culture during my first semester with the friends I make, more importantly it will help me in the future with helping me make connections with firms and future business leaders that are members of the club too. The Accounting Society at Baruch has additional events that help the members with their future endeavors, such as the Interview Workshop that is on September twelfth. Other events such as Resume workshops will help the members with acting correctly and appropriately at interviews and other official events. The endless opportunities at the Accounting Society motivate me to join and be an active member within this club.

I attended a general interest meeting for Beta Alpha Psi on Thursday on September 7. Since it was my second week at Baruch College, I wanted to get involve and see where I fit in this school. So a bunch of my friends were going to go to the general interest meeting for Beta Alpha Psi and I decided to tag along. So I attended the general interest meeting and learned that in a nutshell, Beta Alpha Psi is a fraternity that represents brotherhood and professionalism. I was very intrigued from the presentation. Members of the fraternity were explaining how their organization is filled with successful members that are in high positions at companies, such as Deloitte, J.P Morgan, Chase, etc. They explained how they offer a great networking opportunity, as well as extensive workshops that help build professionalism. One of there main goals in their organization is to provide students with the tools to get the corporate job they have always dreamed about as well as giving them the fun experience that college has to offer. The potential opportunities definitely seemed enticing to me. Imagine working for some of the major companies, it is certainly an exciting thought. With everything that Beta Alpha Psi brings to the table, they have some requirements that I must meet to even be considered a valid applicant for their organization. To be a serious candidate for Beta Alpha Is, I would have to submit my high school transcript, attend other Beta Alpha Si events, and also complete an application before a certain due date. I still have to attend other club meetings and figure out which organization best suits me, but Beta Alpha Psi definitely left an impression on me, and over the next fews day I will seriously consider be a possible new member.

To fulfill my first blog requirement, I decided to join a club. However, I stumbled upon Beta Alphi Psi. I decided to learn more about this honor society after gaining knowledge that it is a professional business honor society. At first, I just needed something to write about for my blog but now it has become something more than that. When talking to someone at the BAP table, I learned that this honor society can benefit me in numerous ways. It provides opportunities for me to network with professionals in the accounting industry. Which is what I am planning on majoring in. BAP will also encourage to get me out of my comfort zone, something I truly need to work on knowing that I am going into a field that expects this. Not only will BAP help me in my future, but it will also help me now during my college years. It has made me excited to hopefully become involved and even join more clubs. Commuting back and forth everyday leaves me with little time to spend on campus. I have become so busy with my new schedule that I did not think to join any clubs or an honor society. This will urge me to spend more time on campus rather than at home. With joining BAP I know I will be able to get that real college feel. Hopefully I will be able to find time and be able to commit to it because I know it is something I can take a lot from.  I am glad that I was assigned this blog because without it I would not have been able to learn about Beta Alphi Psi. I want to be ready for my future and I have no doubt that BAP can help me prepare for it.

New things are scary. A simple phrase that touches on a not so simple subject. Its a paradox in many ways, using such simple words to describe such complex and broad idea; and in many ways the paradoxical nature of the phrase truly explains the essence of the idea trying to be conveyed. Yes new things are scary, but there also supposed to be fun, and it was this paradox- the juxtaposition of fear in relation to excitement, was all that was filling my mind as i walked in to Baruch on my first day of classes, my first day of college. I was scared, i was excited, i didn’t know what to expect. But what i quickly learned was that theres a home for everyone in Baruch; and for me that came in the form of Hilelel. At this club i found people with the same background as me with many of the same hopes, beliefs, and life style. It was a simple meeting, they told us that the adjustment period might not be easy, and at times we will need help. But no matter what we have the resources, whether it be Hillel or otherwise to help us pursue not only a successful college career but hopefully a successful life. In now way do i mean to be defined or restrained by one club, especially a club that does not necessarily encompass Baruch wide diversity, but i believe it will serve as a spring board for me to reach new heights in Baruch. I will definitely attend more meetings. As they’ve helped me feel comfortable in my new environment and most importantly they serve some really good pizza

On Thursday I went to the chit chat club’s GIM. Chit chat club’s ideology is to make a club where anyone can join and make friends regardless that person’s background. I went with a friend and met 2 new people while i was there. There was about 20-30 people in the GIM. The first thing everyone went for was the Chinese food which included fried rice, egg rolls, fried chicken wings, and soda. After the food, we started playing an icebreaker where it was like telephone but through acting. This was interesting because even though we didn’t know each other we had to cooperate with each other to get the right answer. The topic was jobs, so we had to act out the job to the best of our abilities and the last person had to guess what the job was based on what he/she saw. Some of the jobs we did were ninja, lawyer, and trucker. In the end we all introduced ourselves stating our majors and our year at Baruch. This club is really interesting because it’s a cool way to meet new people and to learn new things. I think Thursdays are a “speak your mind day” where you can talk about anything without having to worry about backlash which is really cool because some people just need to speak their minds and not hold back and this a perfect way to do this. The goal of this club is to bring people together and i think they plan to meet/party with every club at the end of the semester. This club is really cool and i think i will go back there and try to connect with more people.