Author: t.sanichar

During this semester I took a trip to the Jewish Heritage museum in Battery Park. The museum provided a more in-depth look at Jewish culture as a whole and also, paid special tribute to the events of the holocaust.  A structure that really stood out to me personally was the Garden of Stones by Andy Goldsworthy. This garden holds tremendous symbolism. It features 18 trees spread out throughout the garden, each of these trees are portrayed growing through a rock. In Jewish culture death is often associated with inanimate objects such as rocks. But what makes this architecture so unique, is that the trees are growing out of the rocks. Trees are often associated with life and the preservation of life. So the memorial represents life growing out of death. It conveys a powerful message that we must not let the death of the Jews be forgotten, but we must not let it place a hold on our lives. There is also, a very symbolic meaning behind the number of trees. The 18 symbolizes chai which is the Jewish word for life, again Goldsworthy tries to find meaning from the large amounts of death and devastation. The museum also featured a room, filled with pictures of the victims of the holocaust. This part of the exhibition was very melancholy, but it also made me realize just how many lives were lost in this terrible event. My favorite part of the museum by far was the top floor, in which you can overlook both the garden and the statue of liberty.

Overall, the museum was a great experience. I would recommend people visit it at least once in their life. It really provides insight into the Jewish culture and delves deeper into the holocaust and the events that took place during WW2.

 

The career fair was a very exciting experience. The event took place in both Baruch Gyms and had a large amount of both students and companies. I was able to converse with multiple different organizations and companies and find job listing specific too me. At first I was intimidated, I did not know what to say to the presenters from these big companies, but as I listened and eventually talked to some upper classman, I became a little more involved in what was going on. The students advised to remain cool and confident and try to start off with a brief summary of yourself and why you would be interested in a specific company. After a while it kind of became a second nature, going around to a majority the companies and stores present.

As I got to around to most of the companies, a few stores offered applications to some jobs and some even offered jobs on the spot. Although, I did not visit the fair with the intention of jumping straight into a job, I did contemplate it after receiving all of this new information. After the fair was over I had a whole list of companies to look up and even take into consideration for future job applications. It eventually lead me to open up my Starr account and there were even more job and internship opportunities on their website.

I recommend the career fair for every incoming freshman and even sophomores and juniors. It was a very eye opening experience that allowed me to gain the skills to portray myself as a professional individual. It also made me fix up my resume, for future job references. Overall, the fair allows students to learn to grow professionally while they are partaking in their individual studies. It can be very intimidating thinking about finding a job and working, but the career fair showed me that jobs and internships are readily available to students who are willing to commit themselves.

This past Thursday, I attained the Latino Heritage Month Opening Ceremony in the 2nd floor lobby. The Opening Ceremony was very fun and engaging. It featured different cultural foods, a DJ that played Latin music, an introduction the all of the clubs associated with LASO and a variety of different activities and engagements. The Ceremony consisted of dancing and different activities to introduce the fellow students to the Latin heritage and culture. In the ceremony I was introduced to different clubs within the LASO community, I signed up for clubs such as the Dominican club to be exposed to different cultures. I was also able to try empanadas a traditional Latin dish. I look forward to attending the GIM for the Dominican club and the other clubs associated with LASO. During club hours I also visited the Alpha Phi Omega brotherhood and learn about their standards on Leadership and their close knit brotherhood. We also made Para Chord bracelets as a sign of support to our troops that are fighting for us.