Last week on November 7th, I attended a cover letter workshop held by the STARR development center with a couple of members of our FRO class. Although I already kinda knew most of the information they were giving us because of a career preparation class I took in high school, it was still very informative and helpful to be relayed the information again. We went over a few types of business correspondence. We went over the format of a cover letter, an informational interview request, and a followup letter. We went over examples of good and bad versions of each. They gave us packet to keep with all this information that I will refer back to in the future. I learned that cover letters should never be too general but that I can save a general format for myself and just slightly tweak each letter before I send them to prospective employers by customizing some information about the company. I learned the importance of telling prospective employers what I can do for them and not what they can do for me. I also learned that a cover letter is not always required when a resume is requested. I learned this when I asked if a resume is requested, should I automatically attach a cover letter and the answer was no. I asked because I was recently given an internship opportunity that requested I email a resume and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss out because I didn’t send a cover letter when I was supposed to.

In general, I enjoyed the workshop and it opened my eyes up to what the STARR development center can do for me. In the future, I will be using their resources and professional opinion for things such as reviewing and refining my resume.

On Friday, September 29th I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Ana. We were planning on already being in the area because of a picnic for Model UN in Central Park so we met up earlier to explore the museum and visit an exhibit all in one day.

We visited the exhibit on the roof garden of the Met entitled “The Theater of Disappearance,” by artist Adrian Villar Rojas. When we first walked out onto the roof, we saw white, ceramic tables and statues on a checkered black and white floor. The scene seems to be of a destroyed dinner table with the human figures being thrust into the tables full of ceramic food and broken plates and cutlery. There are also some ceramic animals, specifically cats, on the tables. Within the tables are black ceramic statues of humans. Some of them are couples engaging romantically. According to the Met’s website, this exhibition is a radical juxtaposition of normal museum practices as it combines multiple museum practices that would never be seen together. Within the exhibit are already published works of art.

Beyond the exhibit, you can see beautiful views of the New York City skyline because of its being on the roof in the middle of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Right below the museum is Central Park. Many tourists were seen taking pictures and selfies with the Manhattan skyline in the background. Viewing this exhibit and visiting the museum as a whole opened up my eyes to the cultural adventures NYC can offer me. Walking through the museum, you walk through centuries and centuries of history.  I was able to experience this for a cheaper price because of my CUNY ID. Rather than paying the suggested adult donation price, I was able to give just the $12 dollar suggested student donation price.

On thursday, I attended the general interest meeting for Baruch’s Model UN during club hours. I attended because I received an email reminder from the club after I signed their email list at the club fair during convocation day. It was my first club meeting at Baruch and I appreciated being in a room with like-minded people. The majority of the E-board were political science majors like me, which was a breath of fresh air at Baruch since most people are studying business. I’m excited for the conversations we will have pertaining to world issues. I attended the meeting with Ana and Maria from our freshman seminar group but I also reconnected with some other people I had met during orientation and convocation. The meeting was a really great way to pass the time during the 2 1/2 hour gap.

During the meeting, the E-board took the time to explain what the UN is, what Model UN is, and recount their specific experiences with Baruch MUN and the conferences they attended. We learned that model UN conferences consist of general assemblies and crisis conferences, in which school teams are assigned countries and they have to work with other countries to come up with solutions to problems that happen in the real world. Baruch MUN’s 3 main conferences are the McGil conference in Montreal, the national conference in Manhattan, and the NYU Crisis Conference.

I was really happy to find out that MUN experience is not a requirement for joining the conference team because my high school did not have a model un. After the meeting, I plan on filling out the application for the club and team. I’m happy I attended this meeting because I really learned a lot about something that interests me and it has given me an opportunity to become involved in extracurriculars at school!