Author: a.lavi1

This picture is me in the Chabad House on Bowery Ave. Ony of my goals coming into college was to maintain and improve my jewish identity. It’s not easy to constantly be affiliated everyday while doing college work at the same time. However, it is something I’m am getting used to balancing. Every Monday and Wednesday, I go to a Judaism class. The main activity we do in this class is learning the Talmud. The Talmud is considered to be the oral bible that was passed down from generation to generation from moses, and only recorded down on paper around 200-500 C.E. When learning the talmud and reading all the different rabbis that have different opinions on different topics, I feel like a part of something larger. I feel like I’m tracing my identity nearly 2000 years ago. The Talmud consists of conversation between many rabbis and their opinions on different laws in Judaism. They derive their proofs from the bible and earlier rabbis who lived in the mishnaic times. In order to learn the Talmud, you have to constantly be focused and be analytical while asking questions.

In our class we first have a one on one group work for about an hour and then it develops into a class where the rabbi is giving the lesson. Its emphasizes to first have one one one group work because it’s important to toil and struggle with the aramaic text. We wouldn’t learn as well if it was in a class setting the whole time. By doing this, we will soon be able to read and translate the Talmud ourselves, without the help of a rabbi.

Once we learn what the Talmud is teaching us and we develop questions, we go on to medieval commentaries on the Talmud which is very abstract and requires constant attention. Then we we go into class time. Class time is very intriguing because we always diverge from the topic and talk about questions that are practical to today’s everyday life. The learning, including the group study and the class is an hour and a half long. After the class, we say the evening prayer called maariv. In it, we are are thankful to God for all the amazing things he grants us in our life. The night, or darkness in general, symbolizes fear, evil, and doubts. In the evening service however, we proclaim the we are faithful in God despite all the seeming dark things in our lives that hold us back. We proclaim that God is one with everything and he can be seen in everything, even in the darkness.

After, that Chabad gives us dinner which varies from week to week. One week it can be sandwiches and another week it can be wings. One time they gave us sliders, barley and salad which seemed random but it was delicious. During dinner we talk about many things. Sometimes we talked about what we learned in the previous hour and a half. We often talk about sports or any current events that occur at the time.

I am extremely appreciative of the Chabad that they provide us with Jewish learning and an amazing dinner that comes after the learning

Going to Baruch, it is a worry of mine which job I will land when coming out of college. I also never really knew and I still don’t know exactly what I want to do when I’m older. At Baruch college, the Starr Career development center provides clarity in the future. My friend told me to go to the Starr but I didn’t want to because I didn’t think it would help. I was very stubborn about the situation but I nevertheless decided to go to the Starr and schedule a meeting with a peer representative. They were very accommodating in terms of scheduling a meeting which I am grateful for. Right before the meeting, I was thinking of how pointless it really is as a freshman in college to be thinking about my career now, especially because I am unsure of exactly what I want to commit myself to. However, once I started my appointment , I suddenly had a feeling of comfort and assurance that everything will be okay. The lady told me that it is totally normal to not know what I want to do when I’m older, especially as a freshman. She did express to me the importance in just brainstorming what I’m interested in and what really catches my attention. We started to brainstorm and I came to the conclusion that I’m interested in business of some sort. I still haven’t decided exactly what type of business I want to go into, but she provided me with a foundation to base my career on. Then, she suggested that I start to build my resume which I was never interested in doing. She said that even if I won’t be using it this year, it’s good to start now and I can always add more to it. She reiterated to me that most if not all internships will only hire me if I have a resume and a history with work ethic.

 

The student Academic Consulting Center or better known as the SACC has been a very useful resource for me thus far in my education career here at Baruch. I personally have always struggled with math but baruch’s free math tutoring program has provided me with aid in achieving the grades that I am targeting. I recently went to the SACC many times for a math test. Scheduling the appointment was very easy and there were a lot of time slots available as well as many different peer tutors. I went to the SACC to learn derivatives and limits for my upcoming test. With my math teacher not being effective in teaching the material, the SACC taught me exactly what I need to know for the test and how to approach each problem step by step. SACC is not only known to be helpful to the students, but also is known for their academic integrity. I found out at the SACC that it is prohibited for them to do your homework with you. At first, I was frustrated about that, but the more I thought about it, the happier I became because it made me feel secure. It was a satisfying feeling knowing that the SACC is a legitimate peer tutoring program that values academic integrity.

The SACC also provided my friends and me a free studying space to study for our test without a peer tutor. This was significant in terms of our advancement with the material because it allowed us to go over the material amongst ourselves and not having to rely on the teacher to explain or walk us through the steps. When leaving the SACC, the people at the front desk gave me a nice smile goodbye and told me to have a good day. The SACC is more than just  a peer tutoring program. The SACC is a comfortable place where I can feel I have dignity in admitting that I need help with math.