Author: f.dhiman

On November 16, I attended the Start-Up Tech Fair hosted by Hillel at Baruch College. At this event, there were several entrepreneurs who shared their success stories. In addition, they offered tips on how to start your own business and help it become successful. The owner of Celsius, an app that allows you to lend others money and make interest off it, had something that really struck out to me. He talked about failure and how he had failed multiple times. However, the strength to keep going is what allows someone to achieve something. He said that you will fail in anything you do, but if you are determined, the failures only hone you to become stronger. He also said that what we learn from our business classes in college won’t help us in our business career. He mentioned that the two classes that we will really help us in our everyday life down the road, are psychology and communications. I agree because these classes allow us to understand behaviors and communicate effectively. These entrepreneurs were recruiting students for internships that day. Luckily I had brought a couple copies of my resume and had given them to two or three of the companies I was interested in. In addition, this event allowed me to network with these successful individuals in the business and technology industry. Furthermore, I was able to meet more students who had similar goals as me, and had created many friendly connections. My father has owned a cell phone store in Queens for over twenty years. Recently, the past couple of years of retail business has been very slow because of the shifting market and buyers. I had listed the inventory online at consumer platforms such as eBAY and Amazaon. I was surprised to see how fast most of the inventory had sold. I remember shipping up to fifty phones a day to separate buyers. I think that currently and as we move on into the future, technology and business will continue to become more intertwined. Therefore by attending this fair, I was able to learn more skills and receive advice on how to continue to conduct business online.

This past week I had a conference with my English professor, Nadim Essey. The meeting was held as a check in to let us know how we are doing in the class, before the drop deadline. I had come five minutes early for the meeting, to set a good impression. During the meeting, Professor Essey and I not only discussed my performance in this class as well as a Baruch student in general, but also my approach and concerns with the upcoming research paper.

Since I had handed in all of the assignments, and received excellent grades on all of them, Professor Essey said that I am doing very well in the class. He said that he noticed that I am participating more and adding insightful and effective contributions to the class discussion. Then he asked me about what he can do, to improve the class and the learning environment. I recommended that he be more of a helpful resource outside of the classroom. I said that he should be more easily accessible, like by responding with emails more frequently.

We then proceeded to discuss the upcoming research paper on a book we are currently reading in class. I had told him my topic, the symbolism of the American Dream in the novel and its role in Hollywood. He had approved of my topic and also asked me if I had any problems in conducting the research. I told him my procedure of researching, and he gave me some tips on how to effectively use the library’s resources.

Next, we discussed how I’m doing in my other classes. He mentioned that my classes said that they were having problems in philosophy and I mentioned me having some too. He then tells us that he has a background in philosophy and gave me a list of websites that describe different philosophers and explain their teachings. In conclusion, this meeting allowed me to realize that I am doing well in most of my classes. In addition, I learned some tips on research, and that I am able to reach out to professors if I ever need any help. This was a pleasant academic experience.

I feel that Baruch offers a plethora of clubs and Fraternities, so I would be missing out if I didn’t join one. Furthermore, clubs are a great way to enhance/build your professional skillset. They help us become a better leader, communicator, and more collaborative. Moreover, it can help you create new contacts and offer networking opportunities. In addition, clubs allow you to be more social and make more friends.

On September 12, 2017 I attended two clubs: CSA (Caribbean Students Association) and USA (United Sikhs Association). As two of my friends and I were walking through the club rooms on the third floor, we heard the song “Bad and Boujee” by Migos playing on a loud speaker. My friend and I traced the song back to a room filled with numerous individuals who greeted us with warm smiles when we asked “how do we join?” After we exchanged information and were given a basic rundown of the club, we were told to have a seat if we could find one. There was only one chair unoccupied and there was three of us. So we decided to leave and venture off to different clubs.

Suddenly, I ran into a Sikh friend of mine. He asked me if I was going to USA? I then responded with me being oblivious to the club’s existence. After he escorted me to the club room, I was shocked when I entered the room, because I didn’t know that there were so many Sikhs who went to Baruch. Although, I knew quite a few people there from before, there were many new faces. The club focused on spreading awareness of the fifth largest religion in the world, Sikhism. After they were done introducing themselves and the club, the leaders of the club told us to introduce ourselves. So we went around in a circle, talking a little bit about ourselves. Like many others, I said my name and talked about my first day at Baruch. I talked about how I thought I had classes with many of my friends, however they either ended up being on different floors or taught by different professors. So I had to make new friends in every class I went to. Although I was successful in doing so, I felt sad that my high school friends were in different classes. Later that day, my friend Pav, a board member of USA met me and told me about the club and how clubs in general are a great way to stay connected with friends when you don’t share classes with them. Overall, I enjoyed going to this club and would like to continue attending their meetings. In addition, I feel that I might be able to get a leadership position in the upcoming semesters because of the strong impression I created at the last meeting.

Moreover, I attended the Wall Street Club and Hillel Club in the past week. In both clubs, there were guest speakers who were successful Baruch Alumni. All of the guest speakers were investment bankers who worked at prestigious companies such as Goldman Sachs and Rothschild and Co. I feel like listening to their stories and advice has helped me think more about my career goals and the necessary steps I need to take in order to achieve them. In conclusion, I am glad that I am experiencing Baruch student life by visiting these clubs and will continue to do so. And last but not least, I really enjoy the free food each club has to offer.