d.danilov – Freshman Seminar Fall 17 FRB

Finance and Economic Society

A few weeks ago, I attended the Finance and Economic Society. This club was particularly interesting to me because I am planning to major in Finance myself. The people who held the meeting were very friendly and polite to everyone. They brought in pizza and drinks for everyone and served it before the presentation started.

The presentation focused mainly on the aspects of Finance major in Baruch and various career paths related to finance. Some of the things covered during the presentation were Hedge Funds and Prop Shops, Private Equity and Venture Capital, Portfolio Management, Market Analysis, Corporate Finance, and Stock Trading. Although some of those things seemed very confusing to me at first, the speaker explained everything very clearly and gave me an overall better understanding of Finance. The speakers also explained what kind of jobs are popular in the Finance industry. He then told us what kind of skills each position requires and what kind of work we will be doing. I found that particularly interesting and insightful, as it made me think and realize what kind of job will be truly interesting for me. After the presentation ended, I also started wondering whether Finance is the right major for me. Most of the jobs and positions explained in the presentation did not seem that intriguing or interesting to me. Something else that stuck with me from that meeting was when the speaker told us that you don’t necessarily need to major in Finance to get a job in the Finance field. Then he asked one of his fellow club leaders to tell a story of a girl who majored in Biology and ended up working for JPMorgan Chase Finance department. This made me question my choice of major even further and made me more interested in exploring other majors in Baruch.

Hack for Baruch

A few weeks ago, I attended the Hack for Baruch club. My friend invited me to go with her because we were both interested in learning coding. It seemed like a great opportunity for me to learn, so I went. The organizers of the club brought in pizza and drinks for everyone and served it before the presentation started. Everyone had to bring a computer or borrow one from the library to practice writing code together with the speaker.

The session I went to was an introduction to Java. Before starting the lesson, the speaker gave us a basic overview of the programming language and its application in business and other fields. Then he gave us instructions on how to download and setup the necessary software for his presentation. After everyone set up their software, it was time to start the lesson. We were following his instructions step by step to create certain basic commands in the web browser. At first, I didn’t understand anything about the language itself, and simply followed all his instruction. However, he also explained what each line of code meant and why it is important. This definitely helped me understand what I was doing and made me feel more comfortable with this new programming language. Everyone was free to ask any questions along the process if they didn’t understand something or had trouble executing the code. In the end of the session everyone got a chance to sign up for the newsletter and follow the club on Facebook to get updates about future meetings.

In addition to exploring the world of programming and learning Java, I also got to meet new friends at the club who are also interested in coding. Overall, I had a great experience at Hack for Baruch and I will definitely keep attending their future meetings!

Delta Sigma Pi

On September 12, this Tuesday I attended the Brother Panel of Delta Sigma Pi. Earlier that day, one of the members approached me in the hallway and gave me a brief introduction to the fraternity. He was very friendly and it seemed like a great opportunity to explore Baruch student life and professional opportunities.

Before the panel started, they offered everyone food and drinks. During the panel, 5 brother members sat in front of the room and talked about their experience in Delta Sigma Pi. This presentation was very interesting and informative. Each member started off by introducing themselves and talking about their backgrounds. The majority of presentation was focused on explaining business opportunities, internships, and support that DSP provides for its members. All of the members presenting interned at various big business companies. It was very interesting and inspirational to hear stories of their success in the business world. All the members presenting also gave us valuable advice about student life, academics, majors, and business world.

One advice that really stuck with me was to pick your major very carefully and only choose something you are truly passionate about. Often times people pick majors just to get a well paid job. As it was explained by multiple brothers at the panel, certain jobs and environments simply won’t be suitable for you. For example, jobs and internships in Finance and Accounting fields require you to sit in the office and stay focused for long periods of time. This can be very stressful and hard for some people, which will make them unhappy and unmotivated in the long run.

In addition, I had a lot of fun meeting new people and hearing their experiences in business. All the members of Delta Sigma Pi were very friendly and welcoming. They answered all of my questions and gave me their contact information. The atmosphere and professional environment really sparked my interest and made me want to join them.