Category: STUDENT LIFE

I attended Baruch’s Latin American Student Organization’s general interest meeting on September 14th. All of the current members introduced themselves and they explained the purpose and benefits of the club. LASO strives to create strong ties between Latinos and Hispanics who attend Baruch College and provide social and academic support. They also emphasize the importance of professional development and provide services to assist in resume creation and interview skills as well as helping members find internship opportunities. I am Mexican and Puerto Rican and take much pride in my heritage; it is very important for me to find a place where I am able to talk to, socialize, and collaborate with people who I share common experiences with. Although Hispanics and Latinos come from many different countries [and islands] we tend to share similar experiences in the United States since we are categorized together. I am very politically and socially active in my own community at home and always strive to raise awareness about issues that affect people of color and would definitely want to bring those aspects to LASO; I would like to emphasize the importance of political and social consciousness and how it affects Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The socioeconomic and political aspects of our communities in essence directly affect our education or future determining how successful we will be; and I am happy to be joining a club that can serve as a platform for people from all over Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands to come together to discuss the problems we face as people of color and be able to suggest solutions.

On Thursday, September 14, I attended the Lexicon general interest meeting. Lexicon is Baruch’s student run yearbook. It is the only student run business in Baruch, which I think is very cool. This was the first club meeting that I went to. Originally, I was not interested in any clubs, but one of my friends told me about Lexicon and I decided to see it for myself. First, the members started off by introducing themselves, then they gave a power point presentation explaining what Lexicon does and the different departments. There are 5 departments: Photography, Admistration, Marketing, Finance, and Graphic Design. I did not think I would be interested in Lexicon, but I’m glad I went to the meeting bbecaus now I’m interested in the photography and finance committees because I like taking pictures, especially of the sunrise and sunset and I intend to be either a finance or accounting major. I was a commuter in high school. I did not join any clubs or organizations, went to school and then went straight home. With the two and a half hours for clubs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I hope I would be able to use this time to get involved on the campus.

On Tuesday, I visited the Delta Sigma Pi Brotherhood meeting along with my friend Dennis. I learned about it through a member who was spreading awareness of the event at the top of the escalators on the second floor.

It took a bit of the time before we could enter the room, and there were many people who were waiting outside. When we were finally let in, the room filled up quickly showing just how many people were interested. I chose to sit in the back so that I could eat my lunch peacefully. Before long however, they were offering food to all of the visitors. It was a shame that I had already finished eating since the chicken looked really nice.

Soon, several members who had recently finished their internships gathered in the front of the room and began talking about their experiences in said internships. Many of them gave useful insights as to what could be expected of us should we try searching for internships along with what we might be expected to do in the case that we do secure an internship for ourselves.

Something that really stuck with me was when the members stressed how difficult and how important it was to secure the first internship. Basically all of them agreed that it was extremely important to try and reach out to as many opportunities as possible for the first internship. The first internship is the hardest, but all the ones afterwards would be much easier according to them. When going for your first internship, they said that it was unwise to be picky about getting into a large company and that being open minded about smaller companies was important. After the first internship, getting others would be much easier.

I enjoyed my time at the Brotherhood meeting, and I am very grateful to Delta Sigma Pi for the opportunity to attend a very insightful meeting.

Pho. That was the extent of my knowledge about anything related to Vietnam, other than the fact that it tastes amazing. I went to this workshop hosted by the Vietnamese Student Association impulsively and with no expectations since this was my first club meeting at Baruch.

After stepping into the room, I noticed how the official club members/executives made sure to greet and talk to everyone in the room. Within the first few minutes I could tell the friendliness and inclusiveness in this association, especially by the smiles on their faces. I never made a spring roll in my life before, but there’s a first time for everything and September 7th seemed to be the day. It was simple (pretty similar to making dumplings): hold the rice wrapper under water for a few seconds, remove and place the ingredients (lettuce,  rice vermicelli, shrimp) on top, roll, dip in sauce, and enjoy. Although my spring roll looked more like a spring ball, it tasted delicious.

Shortly after, the first language workshop to be hosted began. A variety of teachings were presented on the PowerPoint, from greetings “xin chao” which translates to “hello” to the names of different ethnic dishes such as “com suron”. Furthermore, I appreciated how the PowerPoint consisted of the pronunciation broken down since I had some trouble accentuating the vowels without a native tongue.

The next activity was a matching game using the phrases we just learned with photos and the proper Vietnamese translation. Since I didn’t expect to be quizzed on the material, I somewhat struggled but my group finished with correct answers. Thankfully, the names of a few dishes stuck with me and looked so tempting that I’ll have to try them out next time I go to a Vietnamese restaurant.

My first meeting at VSA and Baruch taught me not only about Vietnamese culture, but also about the atmospheres and communities in Baruch’s clubs. The great vibes, laughter, food (!!), and learning made this experience enjoyable and rewarding. Additionally, these reasons go back to my goal of being a part of the community in college since I was active in high school. I’m excited to participate in more events and student life activities. 🙂

When I first heard about UCLA, the first thought that hit me was, “The university in California? Are they linked to one another like an university scholars club of any sort?” I looked up the club on Facebook, and saw that it stood for United Chinese Language Association. I was interested in knowing more, and when I met some UCLA members at the Club Carnival, I got to know what the club was and the next meeting date.

On Thursday, August 31st, I attended UCLA’s first general interest meeting, and one thing I didn’t expect was a huge crowd of people. (I counted the number of heads in the group photo, and it was approximately 100. *gasped*) The meeting started off with a powerpoint presentation about what the club entailed: values that it stood for and promoted, activities and important events that UCLA organized and showcased, as well as introduction of the members of the executive board and committee. Two of the major events that UCLA holds every year are the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lunar Festival. The goals of these two events is not only to celebrate the important holidays, but also to spread and connect the culture, tradition, and language of China with everyone.

Next, we played some games, which I forgot what they were called. The event was about half a month ago, so I didn’t remember the exact names. One game was about two teams given a scenario, in which each team played a character, taking turns asking questions and responding in question format without hesitation. There was a lot of laughter, and it showed me how relaxing and fun this club was. After taking a group photo together, refreshments were provided. 🙂

What I loved about the meeting was that the environment was very friendly and welcoming. I could imagine how everyone could be close like family in just a matter of time. I enjoyed it and had a wonderful time! About the selfie, I didn’t know we were going to writing a blog so I didn’t take one. As an alternative, I used pictures that UCLA took, credits to them.

On September 7th, last Thursday, I attended UCLA’s second General Interest Meeting. UCLA, which stands for United Chinese Language Association, was a club founded to promote and increase our understanding for the Chinese culture. Originally, I did not plan on joining this club but after a friend convinced me, I was glad I attended.

When I first arrived at the room there were already a lot of people inside. Despite how crowded it was, a member of the club still came up to me to have a conversation and asked if I had any questions and tried to learn more about me. He made me feel welcome in the community that they built.

After they introduced the members of the board, they had games ready that would involve the entire room. One of the games, Google Feud, required us to give an answer that would be the top 10 searches on Google within a category. This game allowed us to be more open and social with the people around us by making us work together. It made us feel like we were friends that gathered together to have fun.

At the end, they served food such as chicken fried rice and lo mein. During this time we were able to interact with others that are also interested in this club. It allowed me to meet many different people that were also freshman. I learned about where they came from, what they planned on majoring in, and how they felt about Baruch.

The UCLA Meeting was a time to have fun and socialize with others. Being given a two hour break in between classes for clubs gave me an opportunity that I would otherwise not have had. Instead of attending clubs, I would have been a commuter that just came to school for classes and then leave. Joining a club will allow me to be more social and become a part of a community.

On Thursday, September 7th, I attended the first general interest meeting for the Vietnamese Student Association, also known as VSA. This club aims to promote cultural awareness and give people a better understanding about the Vietnamese culture and heritage. At a first glance, I was not interested in this club because I was not Vietnamese, so I felt like I would not fit into the club well. However, I had a complete change of heart after the meeting was over.

At the beginning of the meeting, we had the opportunity to make our own summer rolls (Gỏi cuốn). We were given lettuce, shrimp, and rice noodles and rice paper. We were taught, step by step, how to create our own summer rolls. The next part of the meeting, the board members of theclub introduced to the different foods in the Vietnamese culture and taught how to pronounce them in Vietnamese. Some of these words included, Chả Giò (spring rolls) , Bún Thịt Nướng (cold rice noodle dish), and Bún bò Huế (Vietnamese noodle soup). I also was familiar with some of the words shownWe also learned greeting phrases such as “xin chào,” which means “hello,” and “cảm ơn bạn,” which means “thank you.”

Overall, I had a great time during this meeting. This club gave me the chance to learn about other ethnic cultures and the types of food they had. I realized that attending this club allowed me to meet and talk to new people and discuss the similarities we had for attending Baruch.

As a result of attending VSA, I’ve grown interest in other cultures, and would love to join another club to learn about another culture in the future. I look forward to attending future meetings events this club has to offer and become a member of this club!

Since I knew that we needed to go to some workshops, I have been thinking what kind of workshops or clubs I should join in.  My friends recommended that I could go to the Latinx Heritage Month event with them on Thursday. They showed me the flyer and I knew that this event is to celebrate Latinx cultures as we explored and highlighted its richness and diversity. I was interested in it so I went to this event with my friends.

This event was held in Newman Vertical Campus 2^nd Floor Lobby. When I got there, the first thing I noticed was the loud music. I saw a DJ play the Latino music. The music was so loud and many people were excited. Some people even danced with the music. I could not understand what the music was about, but I could easily get the feelings that the crowd there had so much fun.

The people there also served free food there. Many people got in line and waited to get their food. It’s a pity that I just finished lunch so I didn’t try their food. They also gave us the flyers, and we could see that many Latinx events will come up soon in this month. After my friends and I signed our names on the computer, we walked around the lobby. We saw a lot of Latin American flags hanging upstairs. I could only recognize a few of them. We also took some pictures like many other students did.

At the time we left, there were still many people coming to this event. My friends and I all thought this event was quite interesting and funny. And I’m looking forward to joining other events again.

At Convocation Day, I was approached by a girl who was part of the Hillel organization, which is the club for all Jewish activities. Being part of my high school’s Jewish Culture Club, I was instantly drawn to this club and knew I had to check it out. I went to the first meeting a bit late but still went and met about 15 new people in less than 20 minutes! Everyone was so welcoming and excited to meet new people, I couldn’t wait to go again next week. I had no idea that going to one club would be able to provide such an eye-opening experience. Noa Bentor, an Israeli singer/songwriter was the speaker for the day, and I can honestly speak for everyone in that lecture hall when saying her story really moved us all. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and just as she was ready to start her journey again, cancer free, she got a call that it was back a second time. The pain she was explaining, we were all able to feel it as she played her songs to audiences. Regardless of what was thrown at her, rather it being different treatments, any more bad news, and just the overall fact of what she was going through, she never thought negatively. Her story showed us the real meaning of strength and how she was able to overcome it with her music. Every note she sings with every beat she plays, you feel the rawness of her voice and the struggle she overcame. In a way it also showed us how this was a form of a journey of self discovering and growth. This experience was able to show her there is much more to life and being happy is one of the most important things, because you will never know when that happiness will just slip out and disappear for the time being. There are times where I lack a sense of motivation and I put on her songs and it puts me right back into the state of mind I need to be and I keep going.