I took a trip to America’s first  Treasuary building. In 1790, the Capital was moved to Philadelphia and the Federal Building was designated to serve as the New York City hall.

 

The he building is historic and is preserved as a National Monument due to its deep roots in America’s history. In 1765, delegates fromthe original contents met to discuss the Stamp Act. Additionally, the Bill of Rights was proposed there along with other fundamental legislative laws.

 

On Tuesday, 10/10 me and my friend visited the Museum of Visual Arts at the School of Visual Arts in the Kips Bay neighborhood in NYC.

The museum was very inspiring to me since all the pieces there were created by students of the School of Visual Arts who are my peers.

I saw beautiful exhibitions of photographs as well as painting and sculptures made by the students.

One of the exhibitions shown portrait photos of new yorkers dressed in traditional costumes of many different cultures, showing the cultural diversity of the people that live in our city.

Another exhibits shown paintings created by people incarcerated at Rikers Island which in my opinion is a very good idea because it brings consolation to inmates, helps resocialize them and show their human side to the society.

I’ve seen exhibitions made by many students who came from abroad bringing their cultures to NYC and incorporating them in their art which inspired me to also try to express myself through art since I think that my culture is underappreciated in America and I would like other students to gain exposure to it.

This trip to museum was fun and inspiring and I will definitely come to visit it again.

On Tuesday, October 10th 2017, I went to visit the Museum of Mathematics during lunch. I chose this museum only because of its proximity to Baruch College and my burning desire to pass Freshman Seminar so I would not have to repeat it in the future. Due to time constraints, I only stayed in the museum for about 5 minutes. Nevertheless, I experimented a genuinely life-changing moment when I witnessed the capacities of geometrical structures and the profound beauty behind these works of art. Suddenly, I felt a strong sense of appreciation for my calculus class, which I had previously found very dull and sleep-inducing. I suddenly realized how important mathematics was with its infinite power to sketch and define curves and angles and all those cool stuff. I am now so thankful that Freshman Seminar forced me to visit a museum because it will honestly have a significant impact on my academics. Mere minutes after snapping the selfie, I can already feel the activity assisting me during my first semester at Baruch. I will now try very hard to earn that A in calculus, and I think I won’t sleep in another math class for at least a day or two. 17 words beyond the word count of 200 because I could not control my excitement, my most sincere apologies.

Today, Mike and I decided we were going to the second floor during club hours. I still had no idea what club I wanted to be a part of, and Mike offered to come with me and help me out.  I knew that Mike was half Ecuadorian, and it was extremely ironic that we stumbled upon the Ecuadorian club. I love the food, and was extremely excited that they were holding an event called “Let’s Go Bananas!” on Thursday during club hours. They will be playing Ecuadorian music, serving authentic Ecuadorian food, and teaching people more about the Ecuadorian culture.

Many of my friends, and even best friends/brothers, throughout all stages of my life have been Ecuadorian, but they were all from Queens. One thing I am hoping that this club will do is allow me to meet Ecuadorian people from all over the 5 boroughs, and all over the world. Hopefully, I will be able to learn many aspects of the culture that will open my eyes to how other people live.

Everyone lives so differently and experiences different things that shape them. It is extremely interesting how people from the same culture can experience similar things throughout their life while those experiences are different from someone outside of the culture. To see how life is lived through a different lens allows for people to understand the people around them. Becoming knowledgeable of another culture gives me insight on how to live my life better.

In addition to learning how to live my life better, when my linebacker “bro”, Paul Cardova (who is Ecuadorian), comes back from the University of Buffalo I can surprise him with my newfound knowledge of the Ecuadorian culture.

If you are interested in the event, let me know, and we could go together. If you do not want to go with me, that’s cool too, the event will be at Room 10-170 in the Vertical Campus from 12:40 pm to 2:20 pm. Hope to see you there!

I am interested in many things, ranging from reading voraciously to programming computers decently to fencing somewhat awkwardly. At Baruch, I’ve been looking for ways to explore these interests by joining as many clubs, and participating in as many student life activities, as I can. As a young Chinese man, I’m not surprised when people go up to me and ask if I’m good at math (which I am), computers (which I also am), or gaming (which I’m not, but wish to be). With that in mind, I decided to attend E-Sports Association’s general interest meeting this past Thursday.

I’d actually attended the last meeting a month ago, but I ended up getting lost, ping-ponging between the 3rd and 8th floors to look for two rooms that turned out to be closed. I finally gave up and went to the Office of Student Life, where after hurriedly explaining my predicament, I obtained the room number for E-Sports. Having finally found the room, I got there just in time for the club leaders to finish signing people in and take a picture of the entire club. In my disappointment about missing most of the meeting, I forgot to obtain an image. However, I did receive the date of the next meeting so I could be punctual next time.

This past week’s meeting was easier to find because the club organizers actually emailed the room number, which was near the Ticker’s offices. It was still very hard to find, but considering that I had also applied to become a copyeditor for the Ticker, it was convenient. But back to the E-Sports Association: I learned that the club met every Thursday to compete in collaborative gaming environments such as League of Legends and Counter Strike Global Offensive. I was very happy to learn that we’d be playing a game in which I had some decent experience. I also learned about the dedicated gaming room in the Newman Library’s sixth floor, and that the club met every Thursday. Having absorbed more detail about the club during this meeting, I decided that it would be an optimal place for me to brush up on my gaming and teamwork skills.

 

Last Friday, Ellis, Chris, and i visited the American Folk Museum in Manhattan. It’s located on 2 Lincoln Square and it has free admission! The exhibit we saw was titled “War and Pieced” and it explored the beauty and complexities of the material remnants of war. The exhibit held many quilts of numerous colors and sizes but they all held one thing in common. All of the quilts had deep and meaningful imagery tied to numerous wars and battles. This exhibit featured quilts from the Prussian and Napoleonic era as well as some from the British Empire. They are from all over the world such as South Africa, India, Prussia, Austria, France, and Crimea. It’s extremely inspiring to see the symbols and feelings of the soldiers who laid down their lives during these violent conflicts.

My favorite piece by far was the main quilt which was huge! It was laid out in the center of the room in a huge glass display and was a quilt dedicated to the Holy Roman Empire Intarsia. It was used through 1846-1851 in Prussia and Austria. It was made of wool and hand embroidered. It depicts Charlottenburg Palace and was commissioned by Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. Another quilt I enjoyed was actually inlaid with a chessboard! Soldiers used it to play chess to keep themselves occupied in downtime during long wars. All in all, although some might think a quilt museum is strange but it is so interesting and fun! Their shop helps provide for the museum and I bought a really cute handmade blue elephant keychain for my mother! Ellis bought three pretty outdated weird books for $6 each and I really don’t know why. All in all this was an experience I’ll definitely remember, especially because of how awful and cringy our photo turned out! Also because I had no idea there was a museum for quilts. You really do learn something new everyday.

Finding the New York Transit Museum turned out to be a challenge. I was expecting it to be a building with a sign in the front like most museums. The entrance of the New York Transit Museum however, actually looks like a regular train station leading to the small museum underground. Once I got there the first thing that drew my attention were the vintage turnstiles. Parts of it were completely wooden, unlike the metal ones of today. They had large gaps in between each turnstile that allowed many people to squeeze through without paying. I found out that the loss in profit was so large that the turnstiles were redesigned with all the gaps fully closed. Jumping the turnstiles was still a problem, but at the time simply closing the gap resulted in more revenue for the stations.

The rest of the museum is set up like a vintage train station, with red, yellow, and green railings.  They  have also preserved the transportation itself. I was able to go on and sit down in the old trains and buses. The signs were interesting as well. Some explained old laws like one that said spitting was illegal. Others showed the street names and the price of a ride. At one point it only cost five cents to get on a train. One exhibit described how transportation, especially the Fulton Ferry, helped Downtown Brooklyn evolve. This exhibit was interesting to me because I live in Downtown Brooklyn and used to go near the riverside with my friends where we could still see all the ships still moving through and the old train tracks that used be there. Most of the tracks are gone now and have been constructed over, but in some places the metal tracks still pop out along with brick tiles.

War and Pieces was an art gallery. I went to see it at the American folk museum. I’m not usually a fan of museums. However, the subject matter was particularly interesting. Every single one of the pieces was a quilt. For those who are unfamiliar, a quilt is like a strange mix of blanket and rug. And seeing a museum filled with them was interesting to say the least.

 

I had known the general theme of the museum when I first went there. After all, it’s called the American Folk Museum. But I had no idea that it would be a quilt exhibit. Before that point, I had seen 3 quilts in my life, one of which was my own from when I was little. I got to see at least 8 quilts on that day. I took a really stupid looking picture with the two who joined me. In the souvenir shop, I got 3 books, one on being a husband, one on a wife, and one on a mother.