I went to the Linkedin Workshop today 11/27 from 12:30-2:30 at the Newman Vertical Campus room 3-215. I found this workshop through the Baruch Student Life website. I was really interested in going to this workshop because I knew very little of Linkedin and wanted to know more about it. All i knew before hand was that it’s a profile where employers look and determine if they should hire you or not. This workshop was an explanation of Linkedin and how to improve your Linkedin profile. So the first things they talked about is the purpose of Linkedin. I learned that Linkedin is kind of like a social media site that helps people network professionally. This site lets you find business, peers and clients. So the first thing they talked about on how to improve your Linkedin account is to update your profile and take a good picture. Post a professional picture with you smiling with no colored background. The picture is important because it shows what kind of person you can be. The next way to improve your Linkedin profile is to make your own custom URL. The main purpose of this is to make yourself easier to find. Next tip for a better Linkedin account is to ask for recommendations. They compared it like a restaurant. No one would go to a restaurant with no reviews at all. People would go to restaurants that have many reviews and good ones. So they encouraged us to ask colleagues, supervisors, generally anyone you worked with for recommendations. They can go a long way even if it’s just one. Another way to use Linkedin to it’s best advantage is to not only follow people you know, but follow people you don’t know and join groups. This is all about networking and part of that is meeting new people that you can help and that can help you. Lastly, they said to stay active on Linkedin. For example, post your own content. Overall this experience was a good one for me. I never really used Linkedin before but now, I am probably going to give it a shot. Going forward, I learned that Linkedin is a great way to find jobs through networking and learned some few tips on how to make my profile a standout one. With these tips that I learned from the workshop, I will use them to the best of my ability.
Category: Student Life
Baruch Voices
I went to Baruch Voices on November 2nd during club hours with a couple of friends from my first year block, Ben and JJ. One of the challenges we came across was finding where the Multipurpose Room was, all we knew was that it was on the first floor. We eventually found the room (coincidently the same room our orientation was held) and immediately took a picture with the Baruch Voices sign before the performances began since it was a nice background. We took our seats and sat back to enjoy the monologues that were to be given. I would like to give credit to all the performers who were able to stand up in front of everyone (most who were strangers to them) since I wouldn’t have the confidence to do so. The monologues ranged from topics like the food around us to the commute. It would’ve been awesome to see Rascience (the winner from our first year block) perform his monologue because it had my whole class laughing. To sum up all the performances I got to see, I was surprised to see that each of the students’ experiences at Baruch so far was unique even though it’s only been two months. Also, these were the best of the best since only one out of twenty (maybe more) monologues were chosen, so it was entertaining throughout. Similar to my first blog at MOMA, I said that creative expression isn’t my favorite thing in the world, but I can honestly say that I did enjoy the atmosphere and performances. It also helped that I wasn’t watching them on my own. It would be interesting to see even more perspectives of new students. This may encourage me to attend the following year’s Baruch Voices in which a next set of monologues will be given.
Baruch Voices
Attending Baruch Voices made me realize how diverse Baruch College actually is. Listening to freshmen present their monologues proved not only to be entertaining, but also, it evidenced how so many students at Baruch have such different backgrounds. I think this is a mere reflection of the fact that we are in New York. The city is commonly know as a “melting pot” due to the presence of people from different backgrounds, with different cultures and values, and this was clearly shown in the short afternoon of presentations.
Despite the diversity, I also saw people with similar things going on. Selfies were being taken constantly, of course, due to the blog post. But still this didn’t distract the students from cheering on their peers just before they were about to recite their monologues on stage. Too bad our class had no representatives, because in the audience, we had numbers.
As opposed to the monologues heard in class, which were mainly about starting college, I liked how the students in Baruch voices focused on other subjects. Some of them were very personal, which is interesting because most people wouldn’t feel comfortable with sharing these to a room filled with strangers, and it definitely builds a relationship with the audience.
I think that the fact that the performers were all students contributed to an overall relaxed and casual event, rather than a boring and formal ceremony. Multiple raps were made, and most monologues were actually humorous, which made the presentations even more interesting and definitely requested the active participation of the audience. This also made time fly but, making it seem like we had only been sitting there for a few minutes, and not more than an hour.
I didn’t quite know what to expect when I was walking into the multi purpose room, but now I’m sure that it was much more that just writing a blog posts. I think that the event gave students the opportunity to speak what was on their mind, which is an excellent way of getting freshmen involved in college life.
Summing up, I would say that Baruch voices was a very interesting experience, full of excitement and emotion, and next year, even though I will not be required to attend to write my blog post for my first year seminar, I might still stop by to listen to some monologues and share a few laughs.
Student Life
With permission from Mike, I was able to count donating blood as a Student life assignment for the blogs. Donating blood was something I was always willing to do. So I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. This was my first time donating blood and I made a schedule online. The day of donating blood, you are supposed to drink a lot of water and eat well. When I got to the place, I had to make a donation card and fill out a bunch of forms and questionnaires so that they can see if I was eligible to donate blood. After I was claimed eligible to donate blood, I had to wait on a line which took like 30 minutes. When it was my turn I got up and sat an a reclined chair you would see in a hospital. The person that was taking my blood was very nice. He stopped the blood flow to my arm to locate the big vein he needed to inject the needle into. I;m not the type of person to get queasy when seeing blood so I was completely fine. After injecting me, I waited what seemed to be around 3 minutes but to my surprise, they told me it was actually 6 minutes. Apparently I was one of the people that finished quickly because I saw some people still drawing blood before I sat down. After I was finished they brought me to a table where there were an abundance of snacks. There were mostly snacks with sugar or salted-chips and apple juice. This was to prevent people from feinting or getting dizzy after donating blood. Of course I took some free snacks with me for the road. Overall, my experience was very delightful. I know some horror stories where people feint or have a huge bruise the next day at the spot where they drew blood. For me, it was completely fine. I would donate blood again and since I have a blood donor card, I don’t have to fill out the questionnaires again.
Men’s Cross Country Team
Joining the cross country team was a very tough decision to make, but as the season draws to a close, I without a doubt don’t regret whatsoever. In high school I ran spring track for three seasons, but I always enjoyed running three or four miles on the treadmill during the off season. This got me interested in running cross country during college. However, I was conflicted because I wanted to run but practice and meets would take serious amounts of time away from my school work. I was very clear with myself that I needed to prioritize grades and professional development in college, and I couldn’t let running get in the way of that. After much debate I decided to join because running was a stress reliever for me and I felt it would be not only healthy for me, but a great way to meet people and bond as a team. Practice was twice a day, six days a week for approximately 2 hours each. The first daily practice, always in the first half of the day, was a speed workout aimed at improving our kick. These typically involved interval sets, sometimes with hills mixed in and sometimes with longer distances, that went from fast to easy and vice versa. The second daily workout was always an endurance run at Central Park. At the first night practice we ran an 8k (4.99 miles) and every practice from then on increased by 1k. The last endurance run I ran for practice was 18.6 miles. Let me tell you something: there is nothing more thought provoking than running through a poorly lit section of Central Park in Harlem. For meets, our race is an 8k over semi-hilly terrain. In every meet the top five runners from each team, based on the meet results, score for the team. So far I’m competing for that fifth spot with two other guys and I hope to obtain it at the coming championship and push the team to victory. The course we run the most, and the course for the CUNY Championship, is the cross country trail at Van Cortland Park. Overall, I’ve loved my time on the cross country team because it really did help me relieve stress and meet like-minded freshman.
Hillel
Growing up as a religious Jew, a big worry within the community is that once you go away to college, you will stop following the laws and traditions of the Jewish religion. This is because it is usually very difficult to continue following many of the laws, especially when surrounded for the first time by so many people who don’t follow the same laws and traditions as you. One solution that many Jews use is to go Yeshiva University, which is 100% Jewish, and so for them it is easy to follow laws, since everyone around them is Jewish. However, it is very expensive, so instead I chose to go to Baruch. I chose Baruch over other CUNYs mainly because it has a lot of Jews. With Judaism being such a big part of my life, I of course went to the Hillel on the first day, to see what they offered. I have went just about every single day since then, usually to eat lunch or to just hang out and use their unique Wi-Fi. The specific event that I took this picture at was Parsha Wednesday. In Judaism there is basically a chapter from the bible for every week, which is called the Parsha. At Parsha Wednesday, a volunteer speaker speaks about a few thoughts from the Parsha of the Week. It starts at 12:15 every wednesday, and in the middle they serve pizza. I will keep on attending Hillel probably for the rest of my time at college, as it is a good base for me to have fellow Jews around me, and is also a good way to meet new friends. It is also a good place to visit every day, as they have a free lunch every single day of the week except friday. This is good because it is difficult to find kosher food, and even when I can, it is usually very expensive. It is also good because as a Jew, the stereotype that we love things that are free is very true. Usually the food that they serve is pizza, but every once in a while we have something different, like sushi or chinese.
My First Club
Student life is a big part of the college experience in any academic institution, and Baruch is no exception. There are many clubs and organizations in Baruch, and if you were to invest even just a little bit of time in searching for one, you will surely find at least one that suits you well. The clubs here in Baruch are very welcoming, and looking for new people to join every day, even if you’re only slightly interested. I recently took a visit to the Hillel Club in Baruch, a prominent Jewish organization that helps band together Jewish students and staff so they can all come together under a similar life experience. In this club, you will meet many different types of people, all of whom are very friendly and welcoming, and the club itself is very . prideful in it’s hospitality and laid-back atmosphere. At first, I was fearful to go see the club because I thought I would be an outsider who would be look upon as if I didn’t belong there. After a lot of convincing by my friends, I finally decided to go and see what the club was about. Although I myself am not Jewish or of Jewish decent, I was fairly interested in the culture, which I have been partially exposed to in my life a few times. My two friends, both of whom are of Jewish decent, took me along with them to the club and introduced me to everyone. I was very much surprised to find how accepting of a new person everyone was. We sat down and talked just as normal people do, and made a few friends during my short stay. As I was getting ready to leave the club, more people began to speak to me about getting more involved in the club and taking part in some of their activities, which I was perfectly fine in volunteering my time to.
My friend & I, in front of HillelFUSION
I went to FUSION’s first GIM on September 7th. I first heard of them from a friend in VSA at Convocation. I asked my friend if she knew any dance-related clubs at Baruch, and she told me that FUSION has a dance team. I signed up for FUSION at Convocation without knowing anything about it other than the fact that it’s basically the Filipino club. When I went to their GIM, my initial assumption of them was wrong. FUSION is not simply just the Filipino club, but it’s Filipinos Uniting Students in Other Nations. While the club may predominantly be about Filipino culture, the club also tries to include other cultures as well. Every club will say how they’re really close like a family, which is something I wouldn’t deny, but from what I’ve seen, this statement is more evident in FUSION than in other clubs. From their intro video, to social interactions, to even their less awkward and totally bearable icebreakers, the members of FUSION are goofy, genuinely outgoing, and kids at heart. Their events, Mr. and Mrs. PI, Battle of the Barrios, Fear Factor, and FUSION Fridays, all seemed fun and collaborative enough so that each member of the club has a role to play.
At the end of the meeting, they asked if anyone was interested in joining Confusion, their dance team. I signed up immediately, and I got in without having to audition. This was mainly due to their lack of members and because it was enough for me to have prior dance experience from high school. Our first practice was on the same day from 9 – 10 PM, which seemed really late at night, but nevertheless it was an enjoyable experience. After going to the first GIM, I will definitely be attending future events and meetings.
Music Industry Club Experience (NYMIA)
I chose to attend the general interest meeting for in joining the NYMIA because already have a great amount of interest in music creation and the music industry itself. I’ve always wondered about the business aspect of the music industry, but never took the time to research it. Therefore, I felt that this club would be a good thing to attend, for I thought that I’d be able to learn more about the music industry. I was assured that this would be done by the president of the club, and things began to look promising for the club. The board members for the club all looks enthusiastic and passionate about the club, which made me feel good about the quality of the club. Regarding my passion for creating music, the club promises half off for renting out the music studio, which is really good for someone like me who isn’t trying to spend $40 an hour to use a professional studio. I plan on getting involved by coming on the days the club meets that interests me, such as the Music Mixer day which has the members of the club get to know each other and find out what they all do musically and see if they can collaborate. I’ve always looked for a female singer to be featured in one of my songs, so I’m hoping to find a girl like this at the club. I also might try and perform on open mic night. Performing in front of a live audience has always been a dream of mine, so I feel I should jump at this opportunity to make my dreams turn into reality. In addition, I may attend Karaoke day at the club so I can have fun with the group members and take a day to relax with them. As of now, I’m excited for what NYMIA has in store for me as a first time member. 
FUSION
On September 14, I decided to attend a club meeting. I looked at a list of clubs online on the Baruch page and decided I wanted to go to an Unicef meeting. So at club meeting time I went to the room that Unicef is supposed to be held in. The club was smaller than I expected and they were serving pizza and soda to everyone. I took a seat and was immediately welcomed by a boy who I later on found out was a board member. When the president started his PowerPoint, I realized I was in the wrong club. The club was actually Fusion, Filipinos Uniting Students In Other Nations. I was flustered by my mistake but I decided to stay and see what exactly the club is about. This was the club’s second general interest meeting so I got a broad understanding. The powerpoint spoke in depth about a contest/pageantry: Mr. Philippines. It is a contest numerous colleges take part in. Contestants put on performances and show their talents to win. Ironically the president of the club has won before, but for Hunter College, not Baruch. There isn’t much of a focus of Fusion besides exploring and getting to know Filipino culture better. After the introduction, ice breaker bingo was played and we all went around trying to find people who fit the requirements to win one of the three cups of cookie dough that were prizes. Then we broke up into small groups and we did a treasure hunt to compete for the remaining cookie dough. There were many silly riddles like “show me a picture of your group”. I included the picture we took. My team actually won third place and so we got some cookie dough to eat. It was sugar cookie and super sweet! Overall I had a lot of fun even though this club was not the one I originally planned on attending. The people were really friendly and kind. I laughed a lot and enjoyed myself. Maybe I’ll continue to attend meetings and learn more about Filipinos. After all, everyone is welcome to join the club!