Freshman Seminar Fall 17 DTG

Back when I attended elementary school in the Bronx every year my teacher would organize a trip to the Museum of Natural History. I could remember myself excited to go every time, not to see the exhibits provided at the museum but because the trip got me out of school from working mundane schoolwork. In addition, I was able bring my Gameboy color or Nintendo DS and play on the bus ride since schools trips allowed me to do so. Other than what I listed I found the trip to the museum boring, just another attempt of the adults tried to make history interesting. The only exhibit that caught my eye was the ocean exhibit since the way they arranged the exhibit made it feel as though I was underwater surrounded with seas animals and a massive model whale hanging on the ceiling.

Now it has been almost 8 years since my last visit until October 6, 2017. I decided to visit the museum to satisfy the conditions to post this blog for my freshmen seminar class, after all the information I learned about history since those past 8 years in middle school, high school, and currently in at Baruch I have new perspective when looking at those exhibits. Unlike in elementary I had the freedom to walk around the museum and explore. In each exhibit I looked at there wasn’t one thing I didn’t have some understanding on from African culture, human origins, Hall of meteorites, Northwest Coast Indians, etc. Another difference from then and now was I looking at those exhibits, those pieces of history I felt excited. To know that each of those exhibits played a significant role in forming the world we live in at the present. I found it somewhat inspiration to see such pieces in person unlike reading about them in textbooks, then I wonder what could happen today and years forward that’ll become an exhibit in this museum. Then I stopped looking at a model of the planet Earth to reflect on myself over the past years to measure how much I have grown since my visits as a child in understanding my history, my morals, my experiences, and my choices. Then thought how I was still growing, maturing, and experiences that await me in the future. I have no idea what will happen in 10,25, or 50 years from now, how the world we live in will change, but I and everyone on this planet has a part in creating that future. Whether big or small of an impact its the combination of those impacts that makes history. If I manage to live at an old age and that museum is still around I might go back and measure my growth again, my history.

 

On September 21st, I went to the Museum of Natural History. I looked at several exhibits such as the Hall of Biodiversity, the Ocean Life Exhibit, the dinosaur exhibits, and more. I saw the history of people from around the world; I saw fossils of extinct animals; I learned about the history of the universe; My favorite exhibit was the marine life section. The room was filled with sculptures of marine animals such as seals, walruses, and even a life-size whale. Each sculpture had labels that discussed the history of the animal, its effect on the environment, and how humans have affected them. Going to the museum helped me realize that New York City offers so many experiences for everyone. So many resources and events are given to us and don’t even require much money to enjoy. Many people believe that the only way to have fun in the city is to spend excessive amounts of money, go clubbing, or partying. While museums might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it just shows how there are other interesting things all around the city. Going to the museum was also a great place to learn outside of the school. Being able to learn about things that you want to learn and not be restricted by a classroom guideline also helped me go through my first semester. Learning about so many new subjects in a new environment such as philosophy, anthropology, calculus, etc. can be stressful at times and can also be boring. Being forced to stick to a strict curriculum about subjects I don’t particularly care about is not exactly interesting. Being able to choose what I want to learn helped me deal with the stress. I would recommend others to go the Museum of Natural History to learn about the world.

This past week I attended the MOMA with some of my old friends from high school. Although I was a bit out of my element, it was cool seeing the many art pieces that the museum had to offer, but I felt that at times when I was actually trying to be serious and observe some of the things my friends would make jokes that would cause me to laugh and probably disturb the other people that were in there. It was so cool to be able to see more modern art, it wasn’t like the Brooklyn Museum so much because in that one it was SUPER quiet. We weren’t allowed to touch anything and I felt scared to even cough. although I’m not saying that in the Moma we were allowed to yell but there was a certain type of freedom. It was cool to see old art as well, there was a gallery collection from the 1880s to the 1950s one of them being Van Gogh’s starry night! I’m not too sure if it was the real one but it was crazy because I remember always learning and reading about it in elementary school. For some reason my art teacher at that time loved talking about that specific art piece and explained how it was based off of van Gogh’s observations, memories, thoughts and emotions on not only his life but what he sees in the world’s natural state (Don’t know why I’m able to still remember that). So to be able to see that in real life got me super excited and that’s being inside a museum! It really taught me to appreciate things that we learn not only in school but just things that people really enjoy and who knows maybe some part of you would like it too. I’m not an art fanatic now, but I now know a little bit as to why some people are very serious about this work.

I went to the Museum of Natural History. The museum is a pretty spectacular place. The museum is a huge place with a lot of floors and even multiple buildings. Considering that each floor was completely filled exhibits, it was difficult to go around and see everything. Yet, everything that I saw was pretty remarkable. The historical artifacts were very interesting to look at. Both, the animal and human exhibits looked very much lifelike; so that made those exhibits very cool to see. The animals were set up to appear in their natural habitats, which was incredible and gave each exhibit a unique feel. The dinosaur area was phenomenal. There were many different fossils to look at, and the display of the Tyrannosaurus Rex was an amazing sight. Seeing the Tyrannosaurus Rex was my favorite and coolest part of the day. On my way to the museum I kept on thinking if the actual museum and the museum in the movie, ‘The Night At The Museum’ would look similar, because the movie takes place in the Museum Of Natural History.  ‘The Night At The Museum’ was a great movie and put a certain curiosity in me to go out and see what the actual museum looks like. The museum scenes in the movie do not look exactly like the actual museum, but there were many exhibits that I saw that were in the movie, like the Tyrannosaurus. The museum is a little far from where I live, so it did take me some time to get there. However, it was an amazing experience and I would recommend everyone to go check it out. The museum does a great job of bringing the exhibits to life and it makes for a very engaging time there. I would say to try and allot as much time as you can in order to see the most exhibits as possible.

Last week or two weeks ago, I went to the club fair. There isn’t much fun to do at the school, but I decided to check out if any clubs were worth my time. There were many clubs, but none really caught my eye. I could see myself joining the Wall Street Club when I’m a junior, but don’t want to join any now. All the clubs are very serious and I feel like I would make the dopest clubs. My first idea would be the Party Club. Every 3rd Friday of a month, we would do a pay to enter party from 10-2am at the Baruch College gym. With the original funds and those we get from each party, we would be able to sustain for at least a semester. I feel that that would be the next level club where a lot of people would sign up.