s.liu16 – Freshman Seminar Fall 17 LC10

Small Talk: It’s a big deal!

Last Wednesday on November 8^th, 2017, I attended the workshop Small Talk: It’s a big deal. I logged onto the STARR Search and RSVP’ed for this workshop. This was the only workshop that fit with my schedule and didn’t interfere with any of my classes. Even though this was the only choice I had, I am very glad to have attended this workshop because it was very helpful. This workshop was able to help teach me things that I could use on a daily basis. Small talk helps with daily social interaction and helps people branch out and meet new people. Since this workshop from the STARR Search was helpful, I may attend other workshops as well. This workshop didn’t really help me explore my career goals. Instead, it helped me by giving me tips on how to be more comfortable with doing small talk, which I can use for future scenarios.

In the workshop, we each grabbed an activity paper and a student guide for small talk. Before the presentation started, the presenter went around the room and introduced herself while shaking our hands. She gave us all a warm smile as she introduced herself. The activity sheet was used when we had to talk to the people around us and see who fit the description. For example, one line would say “_________ likes the same music.” I would have to make small talk with those around me to find out who liked the same music as me.

A lot of the tips given were things that I already knew/was logical. A tip that I learned which I found pretty helpful was that looking into the spot in between the eyebrows of another person looks like you are actually looking into their eyes when you are not.

Museum at FIT

On Thursday, October 12th, 2017, my friends and I went to the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology. The walk was not too far from Baruch, which made it very convenient and not too tiresome! It was located next to the university called the Fashion Institute of Technology. No tickets were needed to enter the museum so we just walked right into the museum. Once we entered, we came face to face with mannequins dressed in different styles of clothing. Those types of outfits on the mannequins were not something that people would usually be seen wearing outside today.

One piece of clothing that was displayed which I found interesting was this nice little hat. It caught my attention because it did not look like your standard hat. It was made up of leaves and it looked like a well put together pile of leaves on top of the mannequin’s head. The description was: “A single red rose blooms at the back of this whimsical hat, as a sprawling bed of leaves shapes the crown. Roses come in an array of colors, each of which has been assigned a unique meaning. The ubiquitous red rose, for example, has been a long symbol of love.” I really liked how the hat had a deeper meaning to it. I sure wonder how people got that had to stay on because it seems like a gust of wind would just blow it right off!

This activity didn’t really assist me during my first semester at Baruch. It was, however, fun to go to the museum with my friends and to experience the museum together. I wouldn’t even have thought of going to the Museum at FIT if it wasn’t for this blog post assignment, so I am grateful that I was able to experience a new place with my friends.

UCLA Club Meeting

Last Thursday (September 7^th, 2017), I attended the UCLA (United Chinese Language Association) general interest meeting. I was informed of this club during Convocation Day at Baruch. There was a club fair and a lot of clubs were trying to recruit people to join. There were tables set up for clubs and people going around with club flyers to pass out. As I was riding up the escalator, some UCLA club members snagged the opportunity to inform me about their club. They had handed me a colorful flyer and proceeded to talk about their club. I don’t quite remember what details they said, but I do remember that they mentioned how there was going to be free food at the first meeting.

At the meeting I attended on Thursday, the room was very crowded. Lots of people had showed up and there were not enough chairs for everybody. The meeting started out with information about the club and some of the events. Then, there were some icebreaker games. One game that we played was called Google Feud, which was based off of the rules of Family Feud. Another game that we played involved us guessing what the zoomed in picture was. A picture would be zoomed in and we would have to try to guess what the picture was of. These games were pretty fun and enjoyable! Afterwards, people lined up for the free Chinese food.

During the meeting, I signed up for the club by putting in my name and email address into an excel spreadsheet. The club sends out newsletters to the email we provided so by reading the newsletters, I can be informed of any future events and attend some of them. One event that is coming up is the Lantern Making Workshop. In this workshop, UCLA will demonstrate how to make our own paper lanterns, which seems pretty fun!