s.hamid – Freshman Seminar Fall 17 DTD

Career: Mastering the Job Interview-Basic

As a student who attends a business school, I want to be prepared well enough to get a job in a professional setting. Yes, however, I am on the pre-med track, but, getting a job from any field would require one thing: to master the job interview. I went to this workshop to see how I could make myself look impressive during a job interview.

The workshop was led by Kaitlyn Riley and she showed us a PowerPoint and gave us a packet with information on how to dress, answering questions, make a personal pitch, and other methods to use during an interview.

Kaitlyn was very informative and kept us engaged throughout the presentation. She would tell us how she did certain aspects to get ready for the interview and she also had some of us talk about our own experiences. The packet had so much helpful information, from stores to get professional attire, tips to help relieve anxiety, how the interview should flow, vocabulary to use, questions to help prepare, and finally a template to write a thank you letter after the interview.

In the workshop, we also partnered up to have a little mock interview. We started off with a firm handshake and got to know each other better. I wasn’t as nervous as I was before. There were other freshmen around me who was going through the same thing as me. They wanted to learn how to become a better interviewer. At the end of the “interview”, I left with a new friend, so it was nice.

Although I knew most of what I got from the workshop, I wish I attended this during high school. The very first interview I have ever done went by poorly because of my lack of proper professional clothing, terrible answers, and no knowledge of the company I wanted to join. This workshop really would have saved me from the horrible interview and from reliving it again in my memories.

Academic: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I visited the Metropolitan Museum the other day, mainly for the purpose of writing this blog post and obtaining extra credit for my Themes of Global History class, but I didn’t let those reasons burden me enough from enjoying the exhibits. The Met includes exhibitions from different cultures around the world; they can go as specific as Greek and Roman Art to as broad as Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Pretty much every aspect of the globe is either displayed, written, or mentioned in the Met.

The exhibition that drew the most interest to me was Arms and Armor. Going to war around the 15th and 16th centuries is incredibly different from going to war in current times. With modern technology, soldiers are fine with bulletproof vests, camouflage clothing, and round, plastic helmets. These uniforms are just like the word itself, uniform. There is no character or personality in the gear that soldiers wear. However centuries ago, armor were made from various materials and had intricate designs on them. The armor showcased were very beautiful and allowed the wearers to proudly flaunt their culture while fighting for their country. I love watching movies and TV shows that are set in this time period because I’m able to watch soldiers wearing armor in action. Not only were the armor very intriguing, the weaponry was shocking.

The arms in the medieval ages were not what I assumed them to be, just simpled musket rifles. There were weapons from all over the world. I saw Italian guns and Japanese samurai swords. The weapons from the Islamic ages had geometric designs and Arabic on them. Other weapons had gems and vivid colors on the weapons.

After finishing up the Arms and Armor exhibit, I visited Egyptian Art. I was learning about Ancient Egypt in my History class. While I was growing up, my uncle worked in Sudan and brought me a book with Egyptian figurines and statues. I always thought Egyptian sculptures were beautiful and different from anything else I’ve seen. This was the first time when I saw a sarcophagus in person. The sarcophagi were bigger than I thought they were. It is impressive how Egyptians were able to create complex sculptures and objects during their time.

Student Life: Muslim Student Association

As a new student in Baruch, I strove to make new friends. I already had a few friends from Bronx Science who currently attend Baruch, but I wanted to make more connections in this exciting, new setting. Inzamam, one of my friends from high school, is the vice president of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and he suggested I come along to meet new people and get a feel for the club. I was part of the MSA at Bronx Science, but I didn’t feel comfortable because of how close everybody already seemed to be. I felt a little hesitant when Inzamam asked me to come but I went along because I thought it could be different from high school. And yes, my instincts were correct. It was different.

Once entering the lecture room where the MSA was having the meeting, I was overwhelmed by the number of people who were attending. There were many different types of people, most of whom who practice Islam and a general few who wanted to gain knowledge about the religion.

What caught me aback was the vast number of people standing as board members.

They all introduced themselves and it turned out that it was actually a mixture of three different clubs. There was the Muslim Student Association (MSA), the Muslim Business Association (MBA), and Women In Islam (WII). The latter two clubs peaked my interest in this organization as a whole because I’ve only ever heard of the MSA.

The MSA regards the spiritual aspects of Islam, the MBA is about the professional and career aspects, and WII concerns about the women and their role in Islam. All of the board members were very fun and intriguing. They all have different majors which made me feel more comfortable, as I was a Biology major attending a Business school.

They gave out Thai food, which I’ve never had in my life so I enjoyed the meeting even more. Everyone around me was fun and friendly. I really felt included and I can see myself as an active member of the club.