For my academic blog post i decided to go to The Rubin Museum of Art to see the current exhibition, World is Sound. When I got to the museum i already knew I liked it. There were no tourists there so the whole building was very quite. The only sound was that of meditation bowls playing throughout the museum. The sounds set a serine atmosphere while i explored all of the Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddess statues. The exhibition itself was on the very top floor. Once you arrived on the floor the sounds that were being played in the building seemed to be amplified. Designed in a sort of maze the exhibition had different sections for different forms of listening activities. These activities include walls that you can hear with your touch, a bench to lay on to hear affirmations, and my favorite is the room dedicated to the sound of om. The room of om is a sound enhancing room filled with speakers. It is meant to be a place for one to be emerged in the sound of om and even participate in the chant. It just created a space that I felt comfortable in, even when surrounded by strangers. In all the day was very relaxing and stress relieving. I walked away with a good source of knowledge. I learned in the day experience a new way to relax my mind. Knowing this is going to help me throughout my semester when i feel overwhelmed and need an outlet. The exhibition also provided a room in which one can practice meditation through the use of sound. This in particular will aid me in the long run because now i have a new way to meditate in moments of stress. In conclusion, the activity that I chose was well worth it.
Month: September 2017
Never Fail Again! the SACC
So as a premed student I have to face the thing I hate the most–which is math. Unfortunately for me, I probably should pass these math courses too, which is something I struggle greatly with. So luckily the SACC offers free lessons to help you out, so you don’t spend $40 an hour for a lesson in someone’s creepy house. Even though I’m doing ok so far in math (fingers crossed), I really wanted to ensure I was understanding everything well and getting as much practice as possible, so I attended a SACC class made specifically for my math course. One thing thats scary about college is the fact that a lot of the times you don’t have a personal relationship with your teacher, but in the SACC you are with, at most, 3 other students, so you get a personalized experience and can feel comfortable asking the stupidest of questions. The people that teach at the SACC are all students that got really good grades in the course or subject they are teaching, so you can trust them a lot more than private tutors that you pay boatloads of money for. The best part for me though, is the fact that its right in the vertical campus building! I commute from New Jersey every day and then run from work to school back to work every day, so having something so convenient is fantastic for me! And, the great part is that you can work at the SACC too!
Blog Post #1 Jacob Siri
I chose to go to the Hillel at Baruch college. The Hillel is an amazing organization where many Jews in Baruch college go to. Being Jewish, I decided to attend the Hillel after hearing how much of an amazing place it is. The Hillel was wonderful. At the Hillel we ate some food, hung out, and then learned some Torah. The Hillel organization provided pizza, which is always great. The pizza was kosher which is really helpful because I can only eat Kosher food. The Hillel opens up (on Thursdays) during lunchtime, so its an easy and accessible place to go to and get lunch. At first, when everyone got to the Hillel we all hung out and spoke to eachother. It’s a great time to get to meet new people and make some new friends. After we all finished hanging out and finished our pizza a rabbi taught us some Torah concepts. Having a rabbi there is great. The rabbi is not only there to teach us, but is also there to be a mentor and answer any questions we have, whether it’s religious based or not. The Hillel is a warm, sincere, and welcoming place. It is a great organization to have in Baruch college. The Hillel is like its own little open community for anyone who wants to attend. Having this community is so important. With everything going on in college; the classes, the teachers, the homework, and more the Hillel is a great place to turn to. It’s a great place to go to and just relax and forget about all the college stresses that are on your mind. It’s there for us to go to meet new people, learn about Jewish laws, hang out, and to have a good time. I really enjoyed my time there and look forward to going again.
Brooklyn Museum
I was late, as usual. It was chilly Saturday morning when I was making my way to the Brooklyn Museum. I was to meet up with Carl, Hibba and Sammy in front of the museum at 11 am but it was already 11:37 am and I was still on the train. Apparently, someone was fatally hit by the Q train and it was causing all sorts of delays. If there is anything I took away from that Saturday morning it was to never aim to just be on time, but to aim to be there a little earlier because no one ever knows when delays like this can happen.
My train ride to the Brooklyn Museum probably took longer then it took us to wander all five floors of the museum. My commute had put me in a pretty terrible mood for the remainder of the day so it is unfair to say that my overall thoughts and feelings for the museum were that it was quite boring. Although reflecting back at it, I wouldn’t have liked it that much even if I was in a better mood because I prefer paintings over artifacts. A reason for this is that artifacts are usually a one-sided narrative, the museum would show you artifacts like jewelry and would tell you its jewelry. There is not much else to say about the artifact. However, if a museum displays a painting, now it becomes a multi-sided narrative, because there is not one right way to interpret a painting.
This trip to the Brooklyn Museum will assist me in my first semester at Baruch College in two ways. The first being to always try to arrive early to your destination, and never just in the nick of time. The second being to never let your current mood ruin a new experience, for all you know, you might like it.
Freshman Seminar Blog Post
This past week was full of many exciting events held by the Baruch faculty and I had a lot of fun, everyone was enthusiastic and very welcoming to us freshman and of course other students as well. One event that I wasn’t even expecting was Latin Heritage month, all I saw near the student life center was a DJ and many flags and automatically I knew something was going on. At first I thought it was just another club fair because I saw the Ticker as well as the Caribbean culture club, but then my friends and I saw the photo booth and we immediately saw the Latin Heritage month Sign under the pictures. When the music started playing so did the party, we first went to attend the Model United Nations club meeting because I was really interested in joining, as soon as that was finished we went back to the student life area. My friend tried to teach me the Bachata even though I refused at first because I didn’t want anyone to see me butchering the dance, but I thought what the heck who cares. Funny enough other people joined for a little bit but then the student life hosts were starting a game called mar/tierra meaning sea/water and then students would have to jump side to side with each side corresponding to each word and it was really funny seeing some of the upperclassmen taking the game really seriously . They played the game a couple of times and it was absolutely hilarious to watch, they also had a station where they were giving out free books which was really kind and helpful. We then headed to the game room which was really cool although I learned that I am terrible at fouseball and no one should ever let me play the game again. Overall the event was great and I can’t wait to attend more.
Anime Asylum experience (First Year Seminar)
Hello everyone, I like to express my experience attending the general meeting for the Anime Asylum club on September 7 from 12:40 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. It’s very comforting to be surrounded by people who share a common interest/likeness as me in which we can have conversations about and in the future watch together, that is anime. In high school I would often part take in heated debates regarding plots, characters, cannon, and possible outcomes of some anime shows such as Dragon Ball Z Super, One Piece, Naurto, Pokemon, etc. with friends and it was really fun that would relieve some stress on upcoming exams. I found the Anime Asylum through browsing the clubs Baruch had to offer on their website to see if there was any clubs I would be interested in joining. I didn’t sign up for it up till the club fair in late August during the Freshmen orientation. My hope in joining this club is to form friends and have conversations through anime as I did in high school. In my first general meeting in Anime Asylum on September 7 I was able to meet members of the club as we all introduce ourselves. Stating our names, favorite anime, and what major we’re pursuing. We also saw saw some clips of Nichijou off of Youtube and chowed on some pizza while listening to anime music near the end of the meeting. I was able to have a few conversations with some members involving anime we have been watching recently. Can’t wait to get to know more of the members in this club. As I continue my journey in Baruch I hope to form friendships that’ll walk with me in this journey and perhaps beyond it as well. I will be updated in future meetings through their facebook page and email. Hope you all have fun in whatever clubs you have joined.
Peace.
Blog post
For my enrichment workshop I attended one of the Latino heritage month events. The event was during the day in front of the student life offices. It was just everyone dancing to the Latino music and everyone enjoying themselves. I really enjoyed being there and especially the music.
DSP Baruch
There are many clubs and organizations for students to join here at Baruch College. One of these many groups is Delta Sigma Pi, a “Professional Business Fraternity”. At first, I was uncertain about my visit to this fraternity because, frankly, I was not sure what to expect from it. The decision to show up was very spontaneous. After settling in, I started to meet the other members of the club, members from all classes, freshman, and upper classes. The organizers and other new members were very welcoming and friendly. My uncertainty and insecurity quickly started to go away as I got to know members of my smaller group. I learned what the organization was built on, to provide professional advice to jumpstart our careers throughout our years of college.
The first things we went through were resume tips. What to do and not do while creating a resume. I had learned to jam it with as much information as possible, whilst being concise and not putting in unnecessary details. I took some tips from the club leaders and plan to use them in the future.
Another thing I really appreciated about the fraternity was the atmosphere and the knowledge that I had, even more, support in terms of my professional and social life at Baruch than what is offered by other departments and offices at the college. Knowing that I had more people who I can receive advice and tips from only brought me more relief as coming to a new school as a freshman can be slightly stressful. I am glad to have made new friends who I can learn from and spend time with and I plan to stay involved by going to meetings and events organized by the club.
DSP GANG
As soon as I became an official student at Baruch College, it presented multiple opportunities and responsibilities. I have to say, the first couple of days was chaotic, however I became accustomed to the Baruch life. I observed many different fraternities and the one that stood out the the most was Delta Sigma Pi. There were no incentives that made DSP special, however I learned that the members in DSP were people I’ve met before in the past.
I am still unsure whether rushing a frat is advised, however I consider myself an opportunist and I would like to take advantage of this to make new friends.
Writing Center Workshop
9/12/17
Timur Tashmukhamedov
Today, there was a Baruch Writing Center workshop held during my English class. Carin from the Writing Center came and showed us the significance of comparing and contrasting. She began by showing us a Venn diagram, the quintessential compare and contrast tool. After that, she handed us a pair of ads from the famous sportswear brand, Nike. One of the ads was targeted towards women and one towards men. The one targeted towards women portrayed a woman’s gluteal area and had a piece of text next to it talking about why it is okay for women to have a big butt. The one targeted towards men portrayed NBA star Kobe Bryant and had the simple slogan of “Prepare For Combat” next to him, with “Nikebasketball.com” written underneath the slogan and a short quote by Bryant in the bottom right corner of the ad. We were told to fill in a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two ads and then we shared what we wrote. Next, Carin handed out an ad by Dove body care products. This ad portrayed 6 women dressed in white underwear and said something along the lines of “For women with real curves”. This time we had to compare and contrast the Dove ad with the women’s Nike ad, again using the Venn diagram. At the end of the session, we discussed how creating those Venn diagrams and finding the similarities and differences in such seemingly simple advertisements could help us develop a thesis statement for an essay about the ads. We came up with ideas for essays about women being objectified and women’s body image issues. This workshop was very helpful because it opened up my mind and made me realize how easy it is to find something to write about and come up with a thesis statement about something. I look forward to working with the Writing Center again in the future, perhaps to help me complete some of the assignments for my current courses.