Month: October 2017

For my second blog post I decided to do the student life category. To start, I went down to the 2nd floor of the Newman Vertical Campus from my history class on the 13th to see what they had to offer today to the students. When I arrive, I see that a couple of clubs have set up their tables to recruit new members for their clubs and invite people to events. One of the clubs, Team Baruch had some munchkins and cookies that were good but I did not really feel like their club was really calling me. Another table had free shirts. Another table was for the Ecuadorian club which seemed interesting because they had an event coming up where there would be ethnic food and other students celebrating their culture. While the event looked good and the club very interesting, I did not feel a connection enough to follow up with them for the future. From there, me and my friends went up to the game room where we found other students engaged in ping pong, pool and table hockey. This seemed like an ideal place to unwind with others after a stressful day or just a cool place to hang out when you have time to kill. I still would like to find a club that I am interested in and can also keep up with as the semesters gets harder. Maybe finding a club that I can connect with in school will help me look at school in a different light other than just stress.

New York City is filled with a variety of fun activities, this includes the vast options of museums. The Museum of Modern Art shows a gallery which combines both pop culture and the 20th century history. My friend Irine and I visited this museum and saw some of the most famous paintings we have heard about growing up, such as “Starry Night” which is a famous painting by Vincent Van Gogh. It was nice to see this painting up close in person since the details in the painting were more vivid and noticeable than electronic versions we have seen before. Thi museum was very interesting because not only did they have art exhibits, there was also a fashion exhibit. This exhibit was all the way on the top floor, inside this fashion exhibit we discovered old fancy dresses from the most expensive and popular brands such as Yves Laurent which dated back to the 1950’s. Overall, I liked this museum and I recommend my peers to visit it because every cuny student has one free pass to go.

On October 8th, I visited the Museum of Mathematics. This museum was not free to attend, but on Sundays it is. As you can tell from the name of the museum, it focus mainly on math. In my opinion, people who are interested in math should visit this museum; even if you’re not interested in math you can still go to see the amazing displays they have there. When I first stepped in the museum I could already see an enormous display of a spiral. That really caught my attention, but the more I looked around the more interesting it became. One of my favorite display was a display of fractals. Fractals are super hard to understand, but when you look at the patterns in them they are super amazing.  Just imagine looking at a mountain; the closer you look at the rigid edges you’ll see patterns repeating; this is an example of a fractal. Math is super interesting to me and has always been my favorite subject. Going to this museum allows you to see the true world of math instead of solving problems. I really find it amazing that such museum exist and I would definitely go back or recommend this museum to my friends.

Today, I visited the Baruch Hillel. It was a pretty cool experience because we are currently in the midst of a Jewish holiday (Sukkot). During this holiday, all Jewish people (open to everyone!) are supposed to eat in this structure known as the Sukkah. The Baruch Hillel’s Sukkah looked similar to a tent, with four walls and some tables and chairs inside to eat on. The top of the Sukkah is supposed to be covered with some sort of raw, unfinished vegetable matter. The most common roof coverings for a Sukkah are long bamboo poles, Evergreen branches, and unfinished wood. These are all acceptable elements to put on for the roof of a Sukkah. At the Sukkah, located on the eighth floor, there were a bunch of people. There was a ton of free food, and I assume that is why most of the people were there, but either way, it was cool to see. There were Jews and non Jews both inside and outside the Sukkah, participating in the college wide opportunity. It is a beautiful thing to see people of all different faiths and interests come together and enjoy something so simple. Unfortunately, I missed the food because I was stuck directing a sheep’s heart for a bio lab, but I am hoping to get food tomorrow (10/11) before our class meets.

I decided to pack a gym bag and visit the athletic center at Baruch. I explored the entire center and saw the vast array of athletic opportunities at Baruch. Mainly, I used the fitness center for a workout. It wasn’t like Equinox, but it was convenient for me to get a workout in before classes and even have the convenience to use the shower and locker room. I spoke with the advisors in the fitness center and they seemed to know what they were talking about in regards to athletics. It’s awesome to have an athletic center like this one at a school. No matter if I want to shoot around or break a sweat doing any sport, I’m glad to know I can do it at Baruch⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 

I believe clubs and organizations are pathways to meet new people and share our diverse opinions and cultures to become an active bearcat. I found myself into colors and photos so Photography club at Baruch is obviously one of my favorite clubs. I went to their General Interest Meeting which is not their first GIM on 10th October. My first impression on Baruch was that the photography club is the smallest club I’ve ever seen. There are officially 5 members in the club which is a good thing for me as small groups can benefit us in a way that we can interact with each other effectively in small discussion-based conversations. The members there are also friendly and helpful. I learn that this club is definitely not like the boring lecture, teaching us details about cameras, focal lengths, ISO but the club targets mainly on how to see the world in different perspectives

and make sure you capture the photos which reflect your heart and feelings. I felt warm and engaged even though I went only one of their GIMs ever since I started school at Baruch. On this weekend, we have a Open House New York which opens the doors of the most important buildings, offering an extraordinary opportunity to experience New York and its astonishing designs and architecture. I’m definitely going there and we will be taking photographs as well as enjoying the art and infrastructure of what the Open house is offering there. I am so excited to be a part of the photography club at Baruch, seeking the knowledge about a particular art and meeting new people who share the same obsession as me.

On October 1oth, I decided to go visit the Writing Center. As you can all tell by my face I was super excited to go. I have a five page essay due this Monday and decided it would be a good idea to get some professional eyes on my work, until I realized I havent started it. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the kind lady that helped me, but she really helpful and gave me an idea of how to present my ideas and in what order of sequence I should do it in. Instead of dreading this paper, I am looking forward to starting it. Okay thats not true, but I have much more positive feelings towards this essay. If I have any future problems with essays, primary source responses or really anything that has to do with writing, I will for sure consider going back to the amazing Writing Center that Baruch College has to offer. Anyone that has doubts about going, just go. I promise no one will bite you there (hopefully). Just go and see what the professionals can help you with, if you don’t like it, which is highly unlikely, just don’t go again.

On the 7th September, I went to my first General interest meeting at UNICEF. UNICEF at Baruch is a club that has the purpose of helping students and children in need. They do so by organising events to raise funds as well as panel sessions that educate other fellow peers about the how many children are discriminated or ignored due to poverty. I thought that it would be very meaningful to help those children and play my part in the society and hence joined the club. At the first meeting, they introduced themselves, who the president was, what they do and how do they do that. I found it kind of interesting that they organise so many events yearly and that this money would be donated to the UNICEF organisation right after the event ends. It shows that our participation in contributing would go straight to the organisation that does the sending of relief packages etc to children around the world. At the first meeting, we also played some icebreaker games to talk and find new friends I guess. Next week on the 17 October, they would be having a bake sale and the money would go to the organisation and on the 24 Oct they will be having a Halloween bash. Having all these cute events I do hope they can raise enough money for the children in need. Here attached is just a photo taken at UNICEF GIM. 

As pictured above, you can probably guess that these images were taken at the Museum of Modern Art most commonly referred to as the MoMA. Last week, Saima and I decided to go on an adventure at the MoMA. We discovered that the MoMa has a collection of 200,000 pieces of abstract, modern and contemporary art. There were many interesting paintings by famous artists like Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and even the famous painting of “The Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh. “The Starry Night” was one of my favorite paintings. It was surreal for me to see the authentic painting in real life because when I used to be in elementary school there was always a poster of this painting on the walls and to finally be able to see the original thing is quite amazing. It takes me back to my childhood and being in the art class. It is very nostalgic! My favorite section of the museum was the “ITEMS: IS FASHION MODERN?”. In that section, the best artwork in my opinion was A-POC Queen Textile by Issey Miyake and Fujiwara Dai in 1997. Miyake and Dai’s artwork was supposed to show a system in which clothing was being self-produced by mass production and conventional textile production. It was very fun and interesting to explore all the art galleries and exhibits in the museum with Saima. We were even able to capture some artsy photos. Overall, a very nice experience and one of my favorite museums I’ve been to. I would a 100% recommend the MoMa to anyone.

For my second blog post I joined the bap club. Its a club that consist mainly of students with majors in business related areas such as finance, accounts and economics. My first day experience at the club meeting was a ice breaking day, where we played various games that allowed us to find out a few interesting things about each other. We then started to discuss about the goals and aims of the club, one of which was creating linkages and opportunities for our members so as to help them achieve their individual goals in their respected areas of study. One of the main reasons why I joined this club was that they shared my values and goals and that I think they would provide a useful network for me as I progress in my career which would be beneficial and create new opportunities. Also the atmosphere during the club meetings is one of excitement at the thought of being surrounded by equally enthusiastic people who have the same interests and goals as you which allows the sharing of knowledge and experiences especially from the older members of the club. I also hope to inspire other new members of the club when I become a senior member of the club as the current ones do.