Month: October 2017

Last Thursday, I decided to go to the interview workshop offered by the Baruch Actuarial Science Society. They went in depth into what goes on a actuarial resume and was very helpful answering questions. The club is more than I expected, they offer a lot of advice and help about becoming an actuary and I see that I should attend more of their meetings. They used an example of a bad resume and a good one which, again, was helpful. They were very engaging despite not talking about something fun and emphasized organization and making good bullets. They also had pizza which was great. I was kind of sick and very nauseous so I was worried about throwing up but I guess eating something warm helped. I did not participate since I was so tired and unwell but it was still nice experience to sit back and just absorb the information. There had been a Hong Kong club Halloween meeting and the Anime Asylum club maid cafe that day but since I was not up for socializing or smiling I went alone to this club instead. After going over to resumes, the president continued with going through the process of getting an actuarial job or internship. He mentioned fairs and events, the process of interviewing and how to answer certain questions which was very helpful. The overall process seemed very intimidating and kind of scary but whatever. He and the rest of the eboard members also talked about their own experiences in interviews which was nice. He talked right up to 2:25 which was annoying because I had class in 10 minutes 8 floors down and also because I had to pee. I did not hear what he was saying at the end and I did not really care. Thankfully, the elevator came swiftly. 

Baruch has a lot of amazing clubs and a wide variety to choose from. From student life clubs, to sports teams, to recreational activities like archery, Baruch is sure to have the club for you. I was shocked by the amount of clubs there were at first; the fact that the club fair had more than 50+ booths set up, and that the fair had to be extended to the other gym was amazing. I looked at a few student life clubs like the Hong Kong Club, due to the fact that my mother is from Hong Kong, along with UCLA: United Chinese Language Association that my friends are in. In that club, a few of my older friends that I met through hanging out with my cousin were part of it, and they were sharing their experiences along with what they do and what events they plan out. I have not joined yet, but I do plan to in the near future. Another club that I am joining, however is the archery club. I love archery; ever since I was a Boy Scout going to shooting competitions, to winning my first trophy, to purchasing my first and second bow, I have become an avid recreational shooter that I plan on continuing. I plan on doing another blog post on that soon.  (Please excuse the photo; wish that I had taken another one) 

My name is Jordan Chin, I am a freshman at Baruch College in New York, NY and my intended major is Real Estate and Metropolitan Development. Now, over the summer we read a book, and my favorite parts about it were how the writer introduced certain characters like Maribel, who was a Mexican girl living in the United States. It really showed the hardships she had to endure whilst living in the United States, and it really opens the reader’s eyes as to how our society really is. One thing that I did not like about the book was that Alma was too protective of Maribel, being her mother, but also how she blames herself for Maribel’s accident. It shows how being the mother that she is, she cares a lot for her daughter and takes the blame for when she gets hurt.

On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, my roommate Nick and I visited the Entrepreneurship workshop in NVC room 2-140. I have to say, this workshop opened up my eyes to the endless world of business professions. Coming into Baruch, I was solely focused on obtaining my MBA in Accounting, not knowing all the other fields out there that I could get into. I realized that there are multiple things that I could explore; most especially in the field of business. The fact is that being an entrepreneur could be a sure-fire way to get involved in business, especially if you have some start up ideas. However, one thing that I learned that really stuck out to me was that to be an entrepreneur, you don’t have to necessarily invent something completely new. Most modern entrepreneurs take a business concept that already exists, and they modernize it and make it more useful and easy. For example, Uber took the concept of a taxi and made it easier, quicker, and technologically savvy to call for one. The stock market exchange company, Robinhood, took the age-old concept of buying stocks and made it as easy as using clicking a button on your smart phone. These concepts exist already, but are simply modified. This is information that I can hopefully put to use when I enter the accounting world, perhaps starting up my own accounting company. Plus, we got free pizza!

Baruch College has a lot of different clubs students can join. During Club Fair, I got the chance to visit a lot of clubs, one of them being the International Student Organization, aka ISO. The ISO representatives were very kind and helpful throughout our conversation. ISO is about bringing people together. I feel like it is a smaller version of Baruch College, since it is a club that consists of a huge number of kids, all from different economic, social and religious backgrounds. What I liked about the International Student Organization is that the leaders are very kind and help everyone, including us, freshmen, adjust and get to know Baruch better. A lot of people believe that the International Student Organization is a very important club here at Baruch College, because it is supposed to be the best place to start being active on campus! Students are able to gain information about different cultures, try different foods and experience different religions and customs. I feel like the International Student Organization is the best place to start making memories at Baruch College and meet a lot of new people from various parts of the world. For me, ISO is definitely a club I want to join because, coming from Greece, I don’t know a lot of people here in New York. As a result, this is a way for me to meet new people from different ethnic backgrounds and gain information regarding different cultures. I am very pleased I got to attend one of the International Student Organization’s meetings and I believe that a lot of kids, especially the ones coming to Baruch from different parts of the world, should take a chance on ISO. Both the leaders and the mentality of the club help in promoting a sense of equality between the kids and make sure everyone’s voice is being heard and respected.

       Going to Hillel for the first time I didn’t know how the environment was going to be. I had never experienced the Jewish life at a college before. I had high expectations knowing the great population of jews in New York. So I went to their welcoming party.

      Entering the club I was welcomed with heads of the club. Asking where I was from and engaging in simple dialogue. Speaking to people throughout the club I came to realize there were a lot of people I did not know. It was not just Jews from the area but there were Jews from around the country. I met Jewish kids from Maryland, Michigan, and LosAngeles. Learning diaspects of Jewish culture.

      Going to their welcoming party I found out about a list of exciting events. The Hillel hosts different lunches with great foods such as wings and pizza. They also have shabbatons (weekend outings) at places such as Brownstone and Washington D.C. They have events such as ice skating, tech fairs, and tours. They also have 20 minute shiurs (Jewish biblical discussions) once a week every monday.

     Not only were there many great events and activities at the Hillel but they also offer job/internship. Through the club, they offer Database, Social Media, and Administrative jobs/internship. As an incoming freshman who is looking for a job/internship this was very exciting for me. I would be able to have a good job/internship while being able to work in a comfortable environment.

     Visiting this event made me realize how much of a Jewish home I have at Baruch. How much opportunity I have to engage in a Jewish community at the Baruch Hillel. How diverse the students are and how many events I have the opportunity to engage in. Most importantly, My life at Baruch and my life as a Jew do not have to be separate but rather intertwined.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Life imitates art, or so they say. Today I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art on fifth avenue and dove headfirst into one of my favorite art museums. I observed medieval art, modern and contemporary art, European sculptures, decorative arts, Greek art, Roman art and Egyptian art. The Egyptian art section was by far the best exhibit. Pieces dated from the Paleolithic era to the Roman era. Colossal obelisks depicted various stories through hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics usually mentioned pharaohs (Egyptian kings) and various gods. Around the Egyptian Temple of Dendur there was a beautiful moat laid out across the front half of the exhibit. My favorite pieces of art from the Egyptian exhibit were the sarcophaguses. The concept and history behind the sarcophagus are quite fascinating. Ancient Egyptians mummified the dead then placed them in sarcophaguses to rest. Ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife so they thoroughly prepared the dead for this. Egyptian tombs were decorated with the deceased person with food, property, and offerings to sustain them in the afterlife. To Egyptians “the land of two fields” was known as their heaven. When someone died their heart would be weighed on a scale by the Egyptian god Ma ‘at. Ma ‘at is known as the Egyptian scale of truth or balance. You had to earn entry to “the land of two fields”. Performing good deeds during your time on earth did this. If you managed to perform good deeds your heart would become light. If your heart was not light enough a crocodile-like beast, Ammit the devourer would eat your heart restricting you from leading a peaceful afterlife. If your heart weighed light, you were welcomed to Ra’s ship. Ra is the Egyptian sun god. Ra ruled the sky, earth, and the underworld. All in all Egyptian history is vivid and beautiful. The Metropolitan Museum of art was well worth it.

Name: Sameer Sewdath

Fun Fact: Kanye West is my favorite artist.

Perspective Major: Finance

One thing I liked about The Book Of Unknown Americans: I liked the character development (specifically of Mayor and Maribel). Mayor’s feelings for Maribel allowed a beautiful relationship to blossom between the two characters.

One thing I disliked about the Book of Unknown Americans: I find it very unlikely that the special education list Arturo received in Mexico at that time period would specifically list care-centers in Delaware. Arturo could have probably went to another town in Mexico to receive the special care for Maribel.

Benjamin Dror

Major: Real Estate

Liked about the book: Was very interesting and was able to draw me in.

Did not like about the book: The ending was very bad.

For one of the enrichment workshops, I stopped by the Baruch College Hillel Organization. Hillel is a nationwide jewish advocacy group found on the majority of college campuses. At Baruch, Hillel is a fairly large club, and is one of the most active on campus. Twice a week, they offer a free kosher lunch, which is open to the entire student body. Although I don’t plan to be involved with it, Hillel is a great resource for Baruch’s Jewish student body.

The event I attended was the first meeting of the semester for Hillel. They gathered all the new Jewish students and supplied lunch for everyone. The meeting was just for meeting new people and getting to see what things Hillel has to offer students at Baruch.