Category: Student Life

Starting out in college was a lot different from what I had expected.  It seemed unlikely to know most of the people in your graduating class like in high school so it was very intimidating.  I personally was slightly afraid of meeting new people as I had grown accustomed to my current group of friends after many years of hanging out with them.  I thought that it would be very hard to meet new people and repeat this same process.

I attended a volunteer event due to the request of my friend.  That friend of mine also happened to go to Baruch.  It was an event that was not related to Baruch but one that helped me adapt to the life at Baruch.  I had to cooperate with many other people who I had never met before and work together to unfold/fold chairs and tables, set up water bottles at booths and move furniture around.  We had a lot of free time after setup because we had to wait for the event to start and the runners to come to us so we can give out water.  In the time we waited, I learned how to get to know strangers around my age better and I ended up becoming friends with them.

After the event had ended, we all went out to get lunch together and talked about ourselves.  I had learned that many of them come from schools that are slightly far away and they had come back to the weekend to help the community.  Hearing this, I thought that there are good people out there who are not afraid to reach out to others.  A new mindset was beginning to emerge where strangers are not to be afraid of and instead to be befriended.  I think this was a great experience for me and that I should not underestimate the process of making new bonds.

Many of my friends have mentioned this club called UCLA and many have recommended me to join. At first I was like UCLA, as in the University of California, Los Angeles? Then I came to know that it stood for United Chinese Language Association. I wondered to myself, what does this club do? Do you learn the Chinese language? So I finally found a day to go to the club meeting in room 9-155. Initially I thought I was going to be an outcast in the club since its been a couple weeks since school began but the moment I arrived at the door I realized that I wasn’t alone. It gave me a sense of relief and comfort that I had friends to go to this club meeting and have fun together rather than by myself. Not too long after did one of the members of the club come to me and my friends to interact with us (I am actually not sure what position he holds in the club but he wore a suit and spoke during the club meeting). His name was Alexis and he was very outspoken and welcomed us to the club with arms wide open. The doors opened and we were seated. For the first 30 minutes or so, some of the members went around to introduce themselves and chat with us to get us situated into the club and tell us about the club. There were dominoes pizza provided for us. This week was lantern making but I was unable to stay for it due to the fact that I had to leave early to go to the financial aid office. Overall, I definitely feel that the people in the club are extremely nice and welcoming and made me feel like I was a part of the family even though it was my first time. I wouldn’t mind coming back for another meeting. As a matter of fact I will be attending another meeting and this time I intend to stay for the whole event. This way I am able to experience the whole event and from there I will be able to decide what my next step will be, whether to join the club or aim for another one.

Around the end of Convocation Day I ran into a couple of UCLA (United Chinese Language Association) members while I was leaving. We engaged in a small conversation where I learned about the first event that was being hosted a week later. I decided to go later with my friends. After class ended, I met up with them outside the plaza and began heading up. By the time we entered the room, all the seats were taken and everyone else had to sit on the floor. There were about 150 kids in a room that’s meant for 30 and I kid you not, we all managed to fit. All the members were introducing themselves one at a time and I could tell from their bright attitude and enthusiasm that they were genuinely happy to see new faces. Since everyone who came was a new face, the members made all of us play some games to get comfortable with each other. One game we played was Pictionary. The classroom was split up into two teams with one illustrator on each team. I liked drawing so I volunteered to play, little did I know what was waiting for me. My whole team, including my friends, was depending on my drawing skills so I had to draw to my fullest ability for them. I got Cinderella and I drew her with the glass slipper but I seriously messed up her foot, like badly. The other team won and I became sad forever. The members of club want to promote and educate others about Chinese culture. They spread the message with fun, recreational activities, which is all I know so far, but it seems pretty fun. I can’t forget to mention again how welcoming and chill the people are. I look forward to participating in more of their events and making new friends!

A club I attended was Alpha Phi Omega. I went to their general interest meeting, and the leadership and service meeting as well. At the general interest meeting, I got to meet some of the members of the club. Everyone seemed really outgoing, friendly, and helpful. We were presented with the values of the club. which is leadership, friendship, and service. The first meeting gave me a general gist of the club. At the second meeting, we watched a Ted talk video on YouTube about lollipop moments. The video itself was inspiring because it was about how everyone is a leader at some point their life because they impacted someone for the better whether it was an action or something they said. However, most people do not consider themselves a leader because they do not know they have such an impact on others because no one tells others that they changed their life. But if everyone told someone who impacted their life, then people would know. And these are the lollipop moments that should define leadership- not the kind of leadership we define as where we place leadership on a high pedestal that only a select few can achieve. I found this to be inspiring because it is a different way of living life. The world would be a better place if everyone was told how, whether it was something they did or said, that made someone else’s life better. At the second part of the second meeting, we made paracords bracelet to show support for the troops. We watched a video on how to make it. It was really confusing at first, but they I got the hang of it afterwards. Overall, based on these meetings, I found the atmosphere to be friendly, inspiring, and a tight knitted group.  

I recently attended the Latinx Heritage Month Opening Ceremony on the second floor. The first thing I was greeted with upbeat Hispanic music that I did not necessarily understand, but I almost wanted to dance along anyway. There were two long lines and I jumped aboard with two of my friends, who I dragged along to keep me company. From those two lines, we got a plate of different meats and a drink after signing up for their newsletters. The plate of meats seemed to have Spam, lamb, plantains, and fried chicken. There were two selections of drinks. One was a mixture of orange juice and milk called Morir Soñando (which actually translates to “to die dreaming,” what a name!) and the other was an oatmeal and chocolate milk mix called Jugo de Avena. I chose to drink Morir Soñando. It tasted like an orange yogurt drink and I quite liked it. While we were eating, a game similar to musical chairs started. Instead of walking around chairs, there were no chairs and they danced to the music. The winner would get a delightful goodie bag. Unfortunately, I had to leave the opening ceremony early due to a previous appointment and missed watching the rest of the game.

Thinking back on the opening ceremony, I found the atmosphere very welcoming and I thought that if I wasn’t busy, I would have stayed longer (and maybe to get another drink too). I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to go to the other events the latinx student organizations will hold for the rest of this month and part of the next, but if I did, I would totally go to the other events. I also thought that if this is how other heritage months are going to be, I’ll definitely be planning some visits.

I was recently at one of the Hillel club meetings. At one of the meetings, we definitely got the feeling of inclusion. Everyone was happy and full of life, willing to answer our questions. They played music and had free food, making everyone feel welcome. Chinese food was not too bad, but I definitely hoarded the lollipops and fortune cookies, just because I am that type of person. I definitely signed up, as I can’t wait to meet new friends and get into a new circle of friends. In addition, I signed up for a business club that deals with investments. It definitely was worth going to. As a result, I will not be attending weekly meetings with my friends, meeting new people and trying new things along the way. I can not wait to jump into this and get involved. It will make me feel as if I am doing something in my Baruch career and getting involved. Now that is definitely my intention there. I do not want to be one of those kids who just goes to class and does not experience everything that Baruch has to offer for me. Plus, most of the things there are free of charge! So there is no reason not to try them. I will be sure to take full advantage of all the opportunities offered here. Hopefully some of the next steps will be to go on trips and see what there is in the Jewish community. I will also hope to get involved in the finance club. That will help me launch my career and teach me things that I need to know, from people who would directly know it! It will be a great source for mentoring me and jump starting my path to success in the real world.

My impression with Hillel is insane. It seems like an amazing club with some interesting people who I’d definitely like to get involved with before I graduate from Baruch. I am not Jewish, but you do not need to be Jewish to join their club. They’re an awesome group of people, and their meeting was one of the coolest meetings I’ve been too. While their I learned about various other clubs as well, and ended up joining one other in addition to Hillel. This club was a group of investors who wanted to teach us the ins and outs, as well as get involved in real estate which is my major. While they were more concerned about the residential side, and I on the other hand are concerned with the commercial/industrial side, it will still be fun to collaborate with them. The major difference between the two is that residential is very much based on emotion, as couples either love or hate the house. With commercial on the other hand, its not an impulse purchase, and people are not attached to warehouses or buildings like they are regular homes. In the future I’d like to get even more involved in these clubs, possibly becoming a leading member or even a president one day. Even though I doubt I’d ever be a president, being a leading member and making speeches is right up my alley, as public speaking does not bother me as it does most. I also ended up getting free food, which was a common occurrence when I first came to the school and got a tour. I was told I would always be given free food and they were not kidding. They ended up ordering Chinese, and we all feasted and enjoyed our fortunes from the fortune cookies afterwards.