Freshman Seminar Fall 17 FRB

My experience in the United Chinese Language Association (UCLA ) 

As introduced in its description, the United Chinese Language Association (UCLA) at Baruch College strives to promote Chinese American awareness and an increased understanding for Chinese culture and heritage on campus. Their mission rests on four pillars; Culture, Family, Service, and Mentorship. Through these ideals, they provide a lifelong network of fellowship and community for members, bringing together the diverse student body of Baruch College and promoting an increased tolerance for diversity on campus.

On August 31st, I joined the first general interest meeting of the club. I went  with my friend Jenny. She actually was the one who brings me there. When we arrived at the classroom where the meeting was held, I was impressed by the huge amount of people waiting there. We waited along with the group outside the room for the door to open. It took about fifteen minuets. During that time period, some of the committee members approached to us and offered their warm greetings. We had talks and got to know about each other better. The process let me feel warm and welcomed to their community. This feeling intensified as we kicked off the meeting with an introduction of all the committee members, about the club and with a series of game. The overall atmosphere was extremely excited as everyone participated eagerly in games and laughter. The committee members are nice and they welcome all to be part of their family. That day ended with us leaving the room happy and relaxed form the intense academic studies.

People around the world possess different identities, characters, and personalities that make them unique. Born in Venezuela and raised in China, I grew up with uncertainty clouded in my mind, whether about my identity, or my future. It wasn’t until I finished my elementary school years in China that I realized I already had the Chinese roots planted deeply inside me. As of now, I am highly proud of my Chinese identity. It contributes to who I am today as a person. I am glad that I encountered this club in Baruch which upholds the identity I cherish.

(photo credits to UCLA)

The Metropolitan Museum

A few weeks ago, I received an assignment from my Art History class which was to visit The Metropolitan Museum and write a response paper on my museum experience. I was assigned to pick a painting from the European Painting section and write a whole analysis of the painting. When walking up to the museum, there are two fountains outside of the museum. The exterior view of the museum is like  castle. At the front door, there is a large staircase that are filled with people sitting and taking pictures with each other. This museum is the largest art museum in the United States. The interior of the museum has a very bright lighting and the main lobby is called The Great Wall. I like how they don’t make you pay full amount for the tickets, it is pay what you wish. In the main lobby, it is divided into three sections. The right side leads the way to art from the Ancient Egypt and the left side leads the way to Greek and Roman Art. The center of the lobby has a large staircase that leads to Medieval Art. We went to the European Paintings section first to get the task done. After visiting the European Paintings, we went to Asian Arts. Unlike the European section, which mostly were paintings, the Asian Arts had many objects displayed and many sculptures related to religion. We didn’t have much time so we only visited these two sections of the museum.

I’ve always wanted to visit The Met, because it is a large art museum and I really liked the architecture of the museum. This visit to the museum to me is very different from my other experience in other museums, because this time, I actually understood many of the painting I see since we’ve been talking about the paintings in that time period during Art History class. Also, many of the Asian Arts in the museum surprised me because most of them are ones that I’ve never seen. In this visit to The Met, I learned how to accurately analysis a painting and see the painting from different perspective due to the time period. I also learned the values of art and how important they are. It was a great experience overall.

Target Corporation Workshop

Today I attended the Target Corporation Workshop in the Newman Vertical Campus, where I learned about the interviewing process. Upon entering the lecture room, I was greeted by the representatives of Target Corporation. When everyone else that attended settled in their seats, the representatives began the presentation.

The presentation was very thorough and included the necessary steps and helpful tips in each slide. Through the first few slides, one of the representatives discussed the importance of doing research about a company to determine if it is suitable for one’s preferences. The second representative stressed the significance of preparing for an interview in advance in order to ensure one’s confidence when answering questions. The third representative presented helpful tips for conveying confidence during the interview, ways to mask one’s nervousness and questions that one may ask the interviewer at the end of the interview.

The content in the slides was familiar to me, as the Virtual Enterprise program in my high school prepared me for the interviewing process. Though I have prior knowledge of interviewing for jobs and was prepared for it in high school, I feel that this workshop really reinforced my knowledge of it and refreshed my memory of important things I forgot since then. What especially made the presentation helpful was the suggestions made about keeping one’s nervousness internal, since I am usually anxious before job interviews. Even some of the questions asked by other people who attended related to me and I found the representatives’ answers informative. For instance, one of the attendees inquired about whether or not it is okay to ask the interviewer to repeat their question. One of the representatives said that by asking an interviewer to repeat the question, one is showing eagerness to respond in the best way possible. This was new to me, as I always thought that it showed a weakness in the listening and communication skills of the person being interviewed.

Overall, I found the Target Corporation Workshop on interviewing very informative and helpful and hope to utilize the new interviewing skills I learned from it.

Academic

Last week, I attended an Academic workshop, which was an international conference. At the workshop, students from multiple different schools presented their research papers. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that it was appropriate to take a photo of this workshop, but I did learn a lot. At this conference, there was a student who discussed the transformation of Soho from an artist site to a tourist site. Soho is even referred to as a “Tourist packed area.” They viewed tourists’ cliché or people that ruin the city. The tourists were viewed as intruders, who ultimately defeated the purpose of Soho and its creation. There are three phases of Soho history; they are the formation or the artist community, gentrification and commercialization. Tourists lost site of our history and our past and turned Soho around completely. In order to conduct her research, she used primary sources, such as interviews with artist or tour guide accounts from the New York Times. She placed most of these primary sources in her presentation so it was very clear to her audience that her sources were credible. It was very easy for us to follow along and relate to her research topic. Through her extent research paper, I learned a lot about her topic, but more importantly she inspired me to start thinking about my capstone or thesis paper from now. She helped me realize how to get started, conduct research, and finally, begin writing a paper. It was clear that it took her  a lot of time, but she did a great job. She showed me that writing a research isn’t impossible. I am happy I attending this workshop as a freshman because it allows me to get thinking at a young age. I will start to open my eyes to possible research topics. I hope my paper turns out as good as hers!

STARR

Today, I attended a STARR Workshop at Baruch that discussed Interview Prep. Representatives from Target were there to present the workshop and get a better understanding of what retailers have to say about interviews. When I saw that Target was there, I knew that the workshop would be helpful because Target is a very successful retail store. There would be no better presenter then them. They began by telling us what they look for in a new employee when it comes to an interview. Some of the major tips they gave us were to do mock interviews and research successful interviews so that when we go in for a real interview we are well prepared. They mentioned some important things during an interview, like posture, confidence and word choice. When target sees that a possible employee presents themselves nicely, confidently, and properly, they see them as fit employees. These ideas are going to resonate within me as I move along my career path. I realized the importance an interview; in many instances, it is the deal breaker of whether or not you will be accepted to your dream job. My goal is to start researching famous interviews and taking notes on them so that I can begin practicing from now. I hope to master mock interviews and have the confidence to go on and master my real job interview one day. I Hope to attend more STARR workshops at Baruch so that I can better prepare myself for my career and my future. It is amazing to see what Baruch has to offer. With their workshops, tips, and practice, I will soon be on the right path towards my career. I hope to be so prepared that when I finally get there, all my hard work will pay off.

MET Museum time travel

I was assigned to go to the MET museum as an assignment for my Art History class,which in reality was to just skim around to see which painting I liked and give my reasoning behind it, but once I got to the museum my views changed from a mandatory assignment to a willingness to observe all the art in the museum as it left me in awe. I met up with Kejvi at the front of the museum that stretched nearly 3 city blocks wide right in the heart of the city, central park. It’s architecture distinct from its surroundings is what really captures the attention of anyone visiting the museum.

We proceeded to go up the stairs where the early renaissance period was located, art from all parts of the european world that showed the influence of religion during the time period. I was amazed by not only the paintings which were done to perfect detail but also the beautiful sculptures that seem near life-like. After I was done with my assigned section I went on to travel and navigate my way throughout the rest of the museum for my own satisfaction. You’ll be amazed on the things you see and it truly is like traveling back in time and feel what others felt during a certain time period.

The museum was full of people from the moment we came in to the moment we exited. My trip to the art museum taught me to truly value art and the history that comes with it. I’m glad I had this assignment and recommend anyone of any age to go and see the art because art is relatable in one way or another to every single person. I normally don’t attend museums but it changed my perspective with a joyful and artsy day that ended with a burger and a shake. 🙂

 

 

 

LASO GIM

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.

This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative. At the LASO GIM w/ their Director of Student Affairs Jessica Torres [far right.]

Lexicon

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.This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative.

B.A.S.S.

I have attended B.A.S.S. (baruch actuarial science society) in both the GIM in the first of september and will be attending again, this thursday september 14th. I have a reasonable amount of knowledge about the actuarial field and the steps one must take to accomplish such great task. I came into the club knowing lots of information but also being susceptible to receive new information that I may have overlooked or not known at all.

In B.A.S.S. GIM I learned that the SOA( society of actuaries) has changed the curriculum to become an ASA by adding 2 more exams and adding new material. Therefore, instead of the 5 exams needed to become an ASA it is now 7. And I know it may be an impossible task to complete all 7 by the end of my college career but I hope to at least completed 4-5 exams and prepping for the next 2. With the correct guidance that B.A.S.S. and the department of math supplies i may be able to achieve this goal through my rigorous coursework and hardwork.

In addition I also learned a fun fact that though the typical workplace for an actuary is an insurance company. Actuaries are even being hired in meteorology positions to determine the chance of actually getting a type of weather forecast.

The club has already allowed members to partake in meetings with certain insurance companies that may allow for a possible internship or program that could help enhance your knowledge on actuary through experience. Next week tuesday, B.A.S.S has organized for Prudential to come to Baruch and speak primarily to freshman and sophomores to offer a 1 week training program that focuses on the steps to become an actuary, I am highly interested and already RSVPed for the event. I can’t wait for tuesday and show Prudential what I have to offer and what they could offer me!!

In the near future I hope to be an integrate part of the club. And by my senior year I want to become either President or V.P. so I could help other new members that were in similar situations like myself and engage in a leadership position in the field that I’m devoted in.

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I’m in the pink circle – forgot to take selfie :).

Delta Sigma Pi Brotherhood meeting

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.