Month: October 2017

For my second blog post, I have decided to write about my experience with the SACC Tutoring Service here at Baruch College. Amidst an upcoming math midterm, myself along with a few other students decided to take a journey to the SACC in an effort to familiarize ourselves with the content on the exam. The first step I took in guaranteeing myself a tutoring session was signing up online at SACC’s own website. Their, I entered my Baruch Emplid ID and my name and reserved a two hour slot with a private pre-calculus tutor. I then proceeded with my school day, for my session would not occur until the following afternoon. Twenty four hours later, I traveled to the SACC center and was met by my tutor and fellow classmates. As a group, we worked together in tackling the Pre-Calc Midterm 1 review sheet which we never even 100% completed! Despite this, i still enjoyed my only second time in the SACC center, an event well worth the trip. Upon competition with the session I concluded that I had not only learned much but now had an instilled confidence within me, in regards to performing well on the exam. I also found joy in the fact that I spent quality time with my classmates outside the classroom (something that does not normally occur). Two days later, I found myself applying all the information I have learned onto my very own pre-calc midterm. Afterwards, I was relieved that the exam was over. Although, when the test grades were released online nearly two weeks later, I saw that I did not perform to my highest expectations. I received a 70 out of a possible 100 points. This was the first test I took within Baruch College and would serve as a reflection until this day. Unfortunately, this test broke my freshmen heart. I thought it was all over. I believed, “that’s it, i’m done, gotta transfer out of Baruch and go to a different college”. I did not know what to think. But as I would soon learn, despite how much I prepared for this test, it was still my first test of college and was only one of many to come. I realized that I had the opportunity to raise my grades and my spirits and travel back once again to the SACC, in an effort to redeem myself. T-1 Week until my next pre-calc midterm. Gotta go!

On Tuesday, September 28, I was very excited about attending the Baruch College Club Fair, not only as a prospective member, but as a leader of the Mock Trial program at Baruch College. I had dreamed of this moment ever since I visited Baruch, to be able to be a leader of a program at Baruch, especially of the Mock Trial team, which has everything to do with my dreams of being a lawyer and utilizing the resources around me at this school. Unlike most students, I got the chance to see what it is like to be a leader representing a program. When doing so, I soon realized that there is a lot of pressure around having to represent an organization and be able to clearly indicate a strong message to encourage people to jump on board with your passions. In simple words, I gained so much respect for sales people since selling something isn’t as easy as it seems. When having to explain, i felt confident but also a little of anxiety. Why? Because I never was put on the spot like this before. I never was put to test to have to answer such an intelligent question. The first time was hard; I haven’t heard from that member ever since. But once I did it two or three more times, I sounded like a forty year veteran of Mock Trial! In addition to just learning how to be a representative, this event also opened up my eyes to just how much is at Baruch College. I never realized that programs like ‘Caribbean Association” even existed and many more. The point is that it really opened up my eyes and made me think wow, how much does this school really offer. I could literally find an organization that has to do with everything I could ever think of. Going to the Club Fair provided me such a valuable experience from simply opening my eyes to what Baruch has to me gaining leadership experience, it’s tough to be able to have all of that happen in just one event.

On Friday October 13th my History 1001 professor arranged a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If we went we would get five points extra credit so a handful of us took the time out of our schedules to go. I really wanted those extra credit points and I had never been to the museum so I requested to leave early from work. I work at Baruch’s Star Career Development Center, so my advisor allowed me to leave early as long as I make up my work study hours a different day. When I got to the museum Professor Boozer was still touring with a different group of students so we waited a while for her and the rest of our class to arrive. Once everyone had arrived we went into the Egypt exhibit as Professor Boozer gave us essential information about specific statues and artifacts. We saw several statues of Hatshepsut, an offering bearer, an elaborate wig, WILLIAM the hippo (and his twin), etc. We were all taking pictures of the artifacts and statues we found interesting to write out museum paper on. However, we later realized we were not allowed to write a paper on Egypt if we were on this trip. So, after the trip ended a small group of us stayed at the museum to go to different exhibits we could write our paper on. We went to the Mesopotamia and China exhibit. We went to the Mesopotamia exhibit because we actually learned about it already from class. We went to the China exhibit next because it was easy to find. We wandered around for a while and saw a lot of beautiful artifacts. One striking one was of this deer that was made out of spherical glasses at the China exhibit. My first time at the Met was an overall good experience. 

There was a club fair being held in the main gym on September 28, 2017. I attended in hopes to figure out which clubs I should join and where those clubs were. It was especially important for me to attend because I was not able to attend the club fair held during Convocation. I did not go to the convocation club fair because my mom wanted to stay for the parents seminar and I didn’t want to leave her in case she gets lost (my cellphone reception was terrible there, at the time).  Alicia and I had went to the basement to go to the club fair but we were a but early. We waited about 15 minutes before going into the gymnasium. In the meantime we were looking through our assignments for the week on our laptops. We saw some of our fellow peers go into the fair so we assumed the fair started and went in the gym, as well. The first person I saw was Karl since he was right at the center in the front of the gym. I was overwhelmed with how crowded the place got so quickly and the amount of clubs that were present at the time. There was food everywhere too and some people even had little games for their clubs. There was even a DJ. I signed up for the Mock Trial club and I saw Women in Business which I might want to join next semester. We went to the music club, as well. I even saw a Bengali club and an MSA (Muslim Student Association) club, which was cool. It was nice to see an MSA club because there was one in my old high school too. We met and talked to a lot of different people who all had their own unique qualities and tastes that they took to fit in to this school. It was a nice experience.

http://tinypic.com/r/fo14oz/9

I learned a lot at the Sacc. They taught me a lot of math. I had a math test on pre algebra (I’m in math 2003) and when I was going over the review sheet I noticed I did not know how to do some of the problems. I tried going over problems with using notes, however, I still didn’t understand and was not able to complete the questions. But they are very knowledgeable and help me step by step how to do each problem. It is a warm environment. There are two aspects that make it enjoyable. First, the teachers give off a nice and pleasurable vibe where they stress focus, but do not impose pressure. Second, I felt that the environment was very conducive to learning because everyone there is focused and not distracted. For example, the first time I went to the Sacc, I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what it was. I had a lot of nervous excitement; instead of having to pay for a tutor I can have my peers teach me in Baruch. The person who taught me Math in the Sacc is a sophomore who is great at math. He understood the information and knew exactly how to go about doing the problem. The Sacc is a great idea and I’m very fortunate that Baruch provides this service. I will continue to use and implement the Sacc into my schedule. Many of my friends have also gone to the Sacc and have had the same rave reviews as I have. They also underscore the fact that the people who teach are very knowledgeable and actually care about the students, and don’t just do it for the money. I will be going to the Sacc tomorrow and I can’t wait for them to help me understand the problems I have.

On September 28th, I attended the Club Fair. At first, I had no clue it was even going on but I felt like it’s a great way to learn more about the school. I went by myself and it was honestly super overwhelming. There were so many different clubs and so many people. I seriously attend a school filled with so many diverse cultures and it’s so exciting to me. I tried to go to almost every club and learn more about them. I met so many people and it was just so much fun. I felt, in a sense, at home. There are so many different people who come into this school building every day and it’s just so nice to know that they all can conjugate groups/clubs to build comfortability alongside support. The DJ was mixing songs from left to right and it was just a well put together event. There was even a club about food! Can you believe that? Overall I enjoyed my time there and I didn’t even realize attending counted as a blog post. That’s how you know I actually found it enjoyable.  As I was proceeding towards the exit, I see Karl and he gave me a phone wallet and I asked him to strike a pose!