Freshman Seminar Fall 17 EMA

Today before my classes I decided to take a trip over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This was a very exciting and interesting experience for me because I had never been to the MET before. It came to my attention that as a CUNY Baruch College student I had the option to donate as much money as I was willing to give to the museum and so I decided to donate five dollars. I looked at many different sculptures, artifacts, paintings and murals most of which were very old and dated back to much earlier time periods. One of the paintings in the museum that really caught the attention of my eye was the Hercules taming the bull painting which dated back to the early 17th century created by artist “manner of Giambologna”. This is a french painting which was a very compelling piece of work.

Along with such a tremendous variety of different historical artifacts in the museum I came upon a Christmas tree which really brightened up my day and brought me into the true feelings of the holiday season. The museum wasn’t too busy and I had all the time in the world to speak to staff members working at the museum on different paintings that I really liked.  Interestingly enough I learned about some different styles of paintings, Italian renaissance was very impressive and gothic paintings of old imagery. The section of the museum that I felt was very impressive was the Carrol and Milton Petrie European Sculpture court. This part of the museum consisted of old sculptures dating back to roman times and marble sculpting which i thought was very striking and intriguing.  I even seen some students from different colleges that were drawing a few of the sculptures and I thought that was very stimulating and I would definitely try that in the future.

 

This Tuesday November 21st, I went to STARR career development Internship Seminar.  Because Tuesday was following a Friday schedule I had to go to school just for this event and was not very excited about it to be quite honest I thought it was going to be very boring.  However, I am happy that I did attend I learned a lot of new information I did not know before about internships and the benefits of getting one.  For example, the guy talked about why it is beneficial to my future to get internships now while I am still figuring out exactly what I want to do with my future.  The guy mentioned that getting internships will help get a better understanding of what working in the future will be like and finding a good environment that I would like to work in.  Also, taking internships will help gateway into what you want to do in for your career.  Another point the speaker mentioned was that by taking these internships people who look to hire you in the future will see all the experience you have are more likely to hire you because of it.  Additionally, taking an internship in a certain company can lead to an actual paying job with that company.  All in all, I am glad I went to the seminar and learned many new things and reasons why I should get internships.  After attending this seminar I have started to look for internships that I could possibly get that have to do with my intended major Journalism.  FRO really helped and opened me up to new events within the school and different opportunities that I did not know about before.  With out having to do these blogs I wouldn’t of learned about the opportunities I am missing out on (like getting an internship).

On Thursday, October 5th, 2017 my friends and I attended a Starr workshop on obtaining an internship. I picked this event along with my friends because I felt and still feel that an internship is beneficial, not only to the college exigence, but for the experience needed before entering the world and looking for a job. Furthermore, I felt that I could learn so much from interning at a company, but before I could do that I had to learn how to obtain the internship. I went to the meeting around 12:00 and signed in. We leaned so many things, including the steps to obtain an internship. One of the major things we all learned was the needed and improved resume. We were shown the format, and the update needed to make our resume look good. The objective was a necessity on our resume, as was our work experience which we learned most of us had if we looked hard enough. Next we leaned about the skills that the employers wanted. The first was leadership, than problem solving, the third was being success oriented with results, the fourth was being bale to work together in teams, and the fourth was the art of effective communication. All these skills were looked at as something each applicant needed. However, if you were good in all of these, than you would be considered as a star applicant. The last major thing we leathered before we left was some statistics. Around 68.9% of college seniors did at least one internship before they got a job. As the pre-conceived notion of having to start your internship on your junior year is wrong. Sophomore years when you internship should be started. In fact 58.9% of the students started their first internship before their junior year. This information section was something that I was looking forward to. It allowed me to learn about internships and see why they are so vital.

 

  Picking a club that I really wanted to join was a challenge for me in high school. However, in college the Baruch Investment Management Group sounded perfect for me. Finance was a world I was always interested in. I liked understanding global markets and the growth of un-liquidized money through the investment of shares. On Thursday September, 14th I visited the club at the trading floor. To join that club is hard and you have to pass the interview process. Since the applications were due on Thursday, I had a interview with Leo almost immediately after I introduced myself. He asked me about myself and my understanding of Finance. Furthermore, he explained how the club had different divisions and that each division worked with a group of people. In the end, the goal of the club is not to make money, rather to understand markets, and the investment of stocks. The interview went well (at least thats what he said) and I feel like this club will truly be a place that I will enjoy.

 

For my third and final blog post I visited the Starr Career Development Center and had a meeting with Michael Kalish who was recommended to me by Erin. I went is to mostly clarify a lot of doubts I had regarding some majors, writing a resume and internship in general. As I am still undecided about what I want to major in (but know I want something in the business area), I first asked several questions regarding the what jobs and internships the various majors lead to. Michael was extremely helpful showing me several resources in the Baruch website that have detailed  information about this. Furthermore I also asked some more specific questions such as the difference between economics at Weissman vs economics and Zicklin. And although some of these questions were more suited to someone at academic advisement I still got a good answers and was pointed to other resources I could use to find this information he did not know. During the session I also asked some questions about internships and how to build a resume (which I have never done before). Once again I was pointed to the Starr website and got a quick rundown of everything I need to do and how to use it. I also asked some more specific questions such as when he would recommend for students to begin internships to which Michael was very helpful too. I was shown a resource on the Baruch website that displayed how to begin building a resume and what the most important elements are when it comes to finding good internships. In addition it was also recommended to be to take the focus 2 quiz as it was mentioned that a lot of students find it helpful. Although time was short (only 30 minutes), I found this session very informative and overall amazing. Michael was very friendly and helped explain a lot of the websites and resources that I otherwise would have likely been overwhelmed by if looking through alone.

 

On November ninth I attended the major and minor fair at Baruch. At first I was confused and wasn’t able to find the multipurpose room for a while. At first I thought it was at the gym so I went down stairs, but there wasn’t anything. After I left the gym I walk around the first floor. Then I saw a line near entrance so I thought it might be the room where the orientation was first held. I waited in the long line. After a long time I finally got into the multipurpose room. In that room I saw so many people talking about majors and minors. At first I only looked for computer information system table because that is the subject I want to major in. At that table I was able to learn much more about my major. At baruch there is even a cyber security class, but I won’t be able to take it very soon until I am like at junior year at Baruch. The lady at the table ask me a bunch and question as well as inform me about what the course is like and what career to pursue after taking this class. The lady handed me some papers regarding general CIS track. On this paper it has all the courses associated with CIS that is offered at Baruch. This is especially helpful for me since it’s my major. After I left the CIS table I looked around the multipurpose room. I don’t know what minor I want so looking around on this day might give me a clue on what I might want to minor. I looked into the sociology table and psychology table. I just watch as other people ask question and I listen closely to what they have to say. I was a bit interested in psychology after listening to what the man had to say awhile. This major and minor fair really help me understand more on what I need to take for my major and the different classes available for my major.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) to check out the exhibitions for my third blog post. First thing I thought was how fresh, open and big it was compared to all the other art museums I’ve been too. Second was: it was really crowded, a lot more people than I had expected, so next time I will try to find a time when MoMA’s not that busy since I prefer to look at art in tranquil.

It was really easy getting a ticket: I just walked to the counter and showed them my CUNY card. I went to the first three floors. On the first floor, I went to an exhibition with arts from an artist named Ernst. His arts were significant in how some parts seemed to stand out, which really confused me because when looking closer to the painting, you can’t really distinguish what it is that makes the painting look 3D.  The painting also had the trendy colors of black, red and white that I really liked (it matched my sweater too :))). Another exhibition that caught my attention was Agnes Martin’s work. The reason they stood out to me was because all paintings were almost white. They looked like plain white pictures, but as you get closer you see the neutral and subtle colors and hues. The paintings were very calming and when reading the explanation of her work it says it’s supposed to ”evoke the colors of the desert, and it’s stillness”. There weren’t only paintings in MoMA: some of the exhibits had cool objects and visuals. One of them played with crystals and lights, making art with the shadows on a screen. Looked really cool. I didn’t have time to visit all galleries, but I will definitely come back again with my friends when I have time.

On November 9th, I attended the major and minor fair hosted by the Center for Academic Advisement and Orientations. I thought that the fair would be pointless since I already know my intended major but my first year seminar teacher, Erin Kaplan, managed to convince to go-insisting that I can always learn something new. Anyway (apparently the word is anyway, anyways is a slang), in the end I decided to go. I discovered so many majors that I did not even know were offered at Baruch-since it’s dubbed a business school- and that there was also a create your own major pathway. An important thing I noted was that majors  are offered through different schools, each having its own entry requirement; the Zicklin School of Business, particularly, has many pre-business courses. The major I am interested in: actuarial science is offered through the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, which doesn’t have as much requirements, so there’s no need for me to worry (or so I think anyway). I did not hesitate to visit the Department of Mathematics (I am tired of explaining this but the fact that actuarial science has the word science in it, does not mean it’s a life or physical science), I wanted to know the specific prerequisites of my major and the possible tracks I can take to ensure I graduate on time. I discussed taking mathematics courses offered during Winter and Summer sessions and was warned that courses during these breaks may be difficult since there’s much content to cover in a very short time-span but if I really want to, I certainly can. Assuring me that I was at the right place, I was relieved when I found out the actuarial science program here and the courses it includes are designed specially to help pass all five of the preliminary actuarial exams; Baruch has a really great curriculum, recognized by the Society of Actuaries. While I was at the desk, I also explored the financial mathematics major since one does not need an actuarial science degree to be an actuary-something else I learned while there. Afterwards, I decided to take a walk around to get familiar with the minors offered; the Law and Policy minor seemed quite interesting. I could definitely use it as a backup and learn outside of academics. The fair was a great opportunity for exposure to career paths and I am really glad I attended.

For my final blog post, I decided to head down to the STARR Career Center in the 2nd floor. I felt as though it was something I needed to explore more because I myself have issues regarding what my major will be, and what I will do the future as a career. Walking down the hallway outside the center, there were numerous bulletin boards about what STARR Career Center was all about, how they can help Baruch students, as well as different resources for us to use. Some bulletin boards also had different charts on how to choose a major and what would be the best path for someone who is not completely sure of what they want to do. There were also pictures of previous students who found the center helpful, giving the impression that it could be an effective way to narrow down my choices.

I intended to go in for a walk-in appointment, however that was not possible today due to the Thanksgiving break coming up. I did talk to a woman there that sat up front, who was very nice to me. She explained their hours, and what they offer in the center. She also gave me a little paper that had the hours for that week as well as what to bring when making an actual appointment, like a resume. In a room, I noticed a career counselor already talking to a student, and I could hear bits of their conversation which seemed very thorough in terms of helping the student. I thanked her for her help, and walked out. On the way out I noticed some paper holder things (I’m blanking on the name) that were organized based on different things a student may need help with. One was labeled holding papers that said how to choose a major, another had different resources online that we could use, and the paper I took was from the holder that had papers on what majors Baruch has. Although I wasn’t able to talk to an actual counselor, I felt like me exploring at the center still aided me in knowing how many resources I have at hand and how easily accessible they are. I will definitely be going back to the STARR Career Center, as I think it can help me a lot in decisions regarding my future. 

As a freshman, throughout this semester I have been advised to explore Baruch and the resources and activities it has to offer. I have heard of various resources such as the Writing Center, the SACC Tutoring Center and the Starr Career Development Center. I have found many clubs and activities to explore and I have even attended a few events and enjoyed them. However, I am a person that likes to plan ahead and I know that college is about enjoying yourself but I thought that staying focused on a career goal is more important. It is too often that I hear from people who have graduated college that can go on and on about the fun they had in college but yet they struggle to find a career that they actually enjoy. I recently took the Focus 2 Assessment, an assessment that suggests career options based on your skills, interest, personality and values. After taking this assessment, I discovered that I have so much more to explore and learn about myself while here at Baruch. The assessment gave me so many options of careers that I thought I wouldn’t be interested in. I know that I want to own my own business, but I do not know what kind of business I want to own or what kind of service it would provide. However, after taking the assessment, options such as a clinical psychologist was a suggested career and I was very surprised. I began to compare the results of my interests assessment with my values assessment and noticed that maybe a business in the medical field would be enjoyable as well as lucrative. I want to be able to help others and becoming a clinical psychologist can help people in so many ways. On my skills assessment I was suggested careers not only in business but in the entertainment sector such as a casting director. In high school  if someone would have suggested that I become a casting director I would laugh in their face. However, after taking the assessment I notice that income is not the only thing to consider when picking a career. It is important to be open-minded, because you never know where life might lead you. I was excited to see that although I am interested in business which is a pretty conventional career that consists of organization and numerical data, but I can be creative and branch out to different areas. Creating my own casting company would not only help aspiring entertainers, but the gross income is over $90,000. I would get paid to notice the talent in others. After taking the assessment, I am really excited about planning my career goals and options. I am glad I that took it because now I have a new outlook on pursuing a career after college, I have an endless amount of options.