FRO Fall 2017 Section DTJ

Baruch voices was funny, emotional and certainly worthwhile. I had three favorite performances/pieces. One was the piece on Squid ward and the bubble show. I honestly thought the student was sharing his life story until the very end. I found it quite interesting how real he made the perspective of Squid ward sound. It was well crafted and the plot twist at the end was absolutely hilarious. I’ve never heard of someone describing a story from the viewpoint of a Spongebob character, and for that I give this guy’s piece a 10/10. Another comedic performance was the one about the juicy KFC chicken. It made my mouth water and crave some KFC. The imagery, language, and the students tone made this piece funny and relatable. I don’t know whether or not it was intentional, but the student had his hat tilted so far down that it was very difficult to see his face. Either way, I’m glad that he chose to do that because it made me focus more on his language and made it easier for me to picture the scene in my head, rather than focusing on his facial expressions. Lastly, the piece “Wasting Time” left me thinking about it for a while. I found this piece relatable since many of us struggle with procrastination from time to time and desire to one day take initiative and do something meaningful. I feel that this piece tied in perfectly with the current place we are in the semester, where many of us slowly become less and less motivated, but this work slightly pushed me to think about how productive I can be when I’m wasting time.

One event I attended was Baruch Voices. It was a showcase where different members of FRO classes presented the monologue they were required to write. Baruch Voices was a great experience! I really liked this event, because it brought the freshmen class together. Listening to the monologues they wrote was nice, because it also showed me I could relate to people I don’t know as well as showed me things I didn’t know about my friends. It was funny to see the stories people could come up with. I was inspired by the storytelling skills that some people had, so much so that I wrote a story when I got home that night. One of my favorite speakers was Fathia. She talked about her Nigerian culture and it was cool to learn in such a creative way. I also enjoyed Zion’s presentation. He talked about loss of individuality in today’s society and how we compartmentalize people and their ideas. It was really deep. Another monologue I enjoyed was Tiana, from our class. It was just as good as the first time I heard it, and made me empathize. Overall, I’d consider the event a success. The only thing I would recommend is having a portion similar to an open mic sort of thing, where anyone in the audience could also contribute to the show. I would also suggest refreshments because every event is better with food and drinks. In all, the event was a great contribution to my freshman experience and made me more familiar with my fellow classmates of the class of 2017.

I recently attended a workshop on the benefits of working for start-ups rather than big businesses. It was hosted by two twins who had experience in both big and small business, and vastly preferred the second. The audience was told about how when working for a big business your job tends to be very specific and thus boring, not to mention the lack of responsibility you have. However, if you work for a start-up, they will be forced to use whatever skills you have due to their limited budget. In addition to this, if you work for a start-up, chances are that you will quickly be given significant responsibility as a start-up does not possess the budget to hire a manager for a department. I initially thought that the workshop would be a waste of time, and that it was simply a way to get a blog post done. However, after attending the workshop it’s clear to me that the information I received was incredibly valuable and may be of use to me in the future. This workshop also taught me a valuable lesson, if you’re passionate about something you can make anybody around you feel a fraction of that passion. I have little to no interest in startups but due to the sheer charisma and enthusiasm of the hosts, I began to feel interested in what they had to say. By the time the workshop was over I found myself very curios about the differences between big and small business, and I even did some light research.  

• Michael Jones

The Starr Career Development Center helps all undergraduate students plan their careers.  They are there to help you plan your career when you graduate from Baruch.  I found the career center very helpful.  The staff at the career center helped me create a better resume.  They read what I had and gave me constructive criticism to make it appealing to employers, taught me how to properly format my resume and the importance of a cover letter, and gave me insightful career advice.

The Starr Center helped me create a better resume that would be appealing to future employers.  I was told what key words to use that would jump out to hiring managers.  Some words that are important to use are: managed, learned, utilized.  These words will help me to be more desirable to prospective employers.  The Starr Center also stressed the importance of networking and establishing contacts.  Networking can help with internships and future job openings.  I plan to utilize the different clubs that we have at campus and the career networking events even though I am only a freshman.

The Starr Career Development staff offered insightful career advice.  I would like to major in Finance while at Baruch College, however, I was not aware of the many career options that a person with a finance degree has available to them.  I could combine my interests outside of school to my interest in finance.  For instance, I can work in the finance department of a fashion designer or cosmetics company.  The staff person also gave me suggestions and advice in getting accepting into the Zicklin School.  I was told about possible internship options and classes while an undergraduate at Baruch College.  The Starr Career Development Center is definitely a center that I will be visiting again in the near future!

 

We all know the feeling. We get out of bed, shuffle to the shower, scarf down breakfast and get ready for our trip to school. After waiting in the dark for the bus or the train, we get in. Oh look, a seat! This rare sight brings a glimmer of hope to our otherwise dismal morning. You sit down ready to relax and nap on your way to school… and then it hits you. The smell. The stench of body odor, urine, and God knows what else that you realize is currently surrounding you. Next, the sounds. The baby screaming at the top of its lungs, the guy playing his music or video out loud without headphones. You might think something like “why me?” or, “I hate my life”. Now I know better. I know this is actually a good thing.

As someone who has had to witness things like this every day, it really bothered me for a long time. I don’t wear headphones on the train because I think it’s too early for music and I like to get to experience what’s going on around me. Now, who in their right mind wants to experience what’s going on in the train? Well, I do! I say that because getting to be a part of these everyday annoyances has really helped me to realize something. Because that homeless person who smells bad on the train car hasn’t had the opportunity to take a shower in a while. I can take one every day. That screaming baby, when it’s not screaming I’m sure it’s very cute and makes a lot of people very happy. Besides, babies scream and we can’t stop that. That man who is blasting his music probably had an even worse morning than me and he’s just trying to get through it. And then I take a minute to look and see all these different people, the diversity of culture, religion, ethnicity, and it makes me think how maybe this isn’t so bad. Where else in the world can I experience this conglomerate of sounds, smells, and people? I should be grateful for what I have and for what I’m able to be a part of every day. I should be grateful for the experience of taking public transportation.

Since the beginning of time, society has had it’s fair share of problems. Some of which include economic despair, disease, natural disasters, and political leaders. But there is  something that has managed to plague all society, and has resided within us since the day we were born, slowly eating away what makes us who we are. This dreaded plague is known as social anxiety. It affects everyone, and can arise in a variety of ways. I’ve struggled with this plague throughout most of my life, and I am finally winning the battle. Finding a cure for this horrible disease within your own life is the only way to truly be free.

To my knowledge, I feel as if everyone faces some sort of huge challenge that arises in their life. But I didn’t expect my challenge to arise so soon in my life. It’s nothing serious, but it does affect my everyday life. I have the opportunity to go to college with no cost. This is something that I wouldn’t have if my family had decided to stay in Mexico. My parents came to the US when I was one and a half years old, which was 16 years ago. 16 years of calling this country my home and 16 years of not seeing where I am truly from. I would tell you more about my country but I lack the first hand experience of actually being there. The only information I have are the stories that my mom and dad talk about almost everyday. Right now there is tension between immigrants and the president of the US. Even though it’s seen in a negative light, I think this tension is great because of the fact that I can see the numerous support that people are willing to give. In some ways it has the power to bring us together as a country of immigrants. So instead of seeing my status as a challenge, I will be see it as an opportunity.

*Beep *Beep

My alarm wakes me up at 7:00am. Why did I set my alarm for 7 in the morning if my first class isn’t until 10:45? Oh yeah I still have to write a monologue for first year seminar, and finish studying for that Sociology midterm. I really shouldn’t have wasted my time last night binge watching old Louis C.K stand up routines on youtube. I swear that I remember telling myself back in highschool that in college I’ll start taking my academics seriously. Well I’m halfway through my first semester in college, and nothing has changed. I still wait till the last minute to do assignments, and don’t put the effort into studying for exams. I keep telling myself that I’ll do my homework early, and actually study for exams, hopefully one day I actually will listen to myself. They weren’t joking when they said college will be a lot tougher than high school. It feels like I just graduated last week. I really miss being able to pass all my classes, and still have time to play a sport, but that time is sadly over. I’m not going to beat myself up over my performance this semester, because this is just the beginning, and there’s always next semester.

I am obsessed with the future, and I’ve been that way as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I was terrified by the concept of permanent damage. The idea that a single mistake could render my body slightly less useful until the end of my days petrified me. there was a brief period during my childhood in which I was too scared to play in the playground because I didn’t want to fall down and permanently damage my legs, I also remember doing regular vision tests to make sure my eyes were in pristine condition. but despite all those eye tests, I still need glasses, and despite being as careful as I could, a few months back I had to have a surgery on my ankle, despite all my fear I’m still damaged. Fear doesn’t prevent bad things from happening, if anything it just makes the good things less memorable. Being so consumed by fear of what the future might hold, made me see everything as a threat, and that in turn made the present just as terrible as I was afraid the future might be. All my time worrying about the future didn’t do me any good, because anytime that I think about the future I’m ignoring the present. Ignoring all the wonderful things around me and instead choosing to focus on things that might go wrong. Everyday I try to catch myself whenever I start thinking about the future because as boring as the present might seem, it’s real, and any thoughts I might have about the future aren’t. I think at least for me, focusing on the present is the key to a happy life.

Just like many of you I have grown up playing many different sports. From little league baseball to high school football. But no sport was more challenging and fun than Track and Field. I started running track my freshman year at Xavier High School. The main reason that I had joined was the fact that my brother had done it for four years before me and said I should give it a try. So I ended up trying it and it was one of the best decisions of my life. I jumped into training after my Freshman football season and took it from there. Day in and day out I went to school, practiced, and then studied at night. This routine was strenuous at the time, but I soon came to realize that I had some of the best times of my life during these days. Some of my greatest relationships were forged with the guys training right beside me all those difficult days. There is an unparalleled bond you make when you undergo the same trials and tribulations as the man next to you. You build a mutual respect for one another through your efforts to reach the same goal, which was to drop the best time that you possibly could. An unique condition that Track and field has is how it’s an individual sport just as much as it is a team sport. The point of the sport is to be the best athlete you can possibly make yourself, while at the same time trying to bring your teammates up as well. Without Track and Field I wouldn’t be the person I am today and I wouldn’t have all those fond memories that I will hold onto for the rest of my life.