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On September 8, I went to the Museum of Modern Art, often known as the MOMA. It was my first time visiting this museum and I decided to go with my friends that I have since elementary school. We saw many different paintings, such as the Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. In addition, we played Jenga. Going to this museum made me appreciate art in ways that I would not have imagined. Although I am not taking an art history class at Baruch, I am taking a music history class. In my opinion, music is a type of art because it allows you to express yourself. Viewing these paintings opened my mind and expanded my imagination. I was able to look at the bigger picture and not focus on the trivial details. One picture looked like a depiction of Bikini Bottom, from the television show “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The ocean had seaweed on the floor and the water was crystal clear. Amongst my friends, I was the first one to notice that. There was a heptagonal pyramid that was upside-down and letters were on its base. However, they initially saw a heptagonal pyramid. It was only after I had brought up the fact like it looked like Bikini Bottom, that they saw what I saw. We also saw a guitar that looked like it was made out of cardboard-like material. They viewed it as a bird’s nest. These differences in observations made me realize that although we may all see the world through a different lens, we all have the same responsibility of taking care of it. We should be on the outside looking in and taking note of the important issues. This idea came to mind when I was at the museum and saw a model of the museum itself.

One day, on a Thursday, I had nothing to do so I decided on a whim to join a Writing Center workshop. The workshop was during club hours so I wondered why it was so long and I hoped I wouldn’t be the only person there.

The workshop was called Compare and Contrast Essays(or at least something similar). Since it was my first time the Writing Center in general I had to sign up and everything first which took a bit since the wifi was still really slow(though when is it not slow). After signing in I sat in wait like I was waiting to meet my doctor or something. Then the teacher came to start the workshop after 10 minutes of waiting.

It turned out to be a small, around 6-7 people in total, group though that wasn’t that surprising. We started off introducing ourselves to pass time in case more people were coming by. Then the teacher handed out packets which would be our example topic for the workshop. The packet had advertisements on them which centered around clothing/body image. The discussion started where we had to find similarities and differences between the first two advertisements, then later we compared the third advertisement to the second one.

The overall feel of the workshop was like one of a class. I felt like I was in a very small English class in middle school learning how to write compare-contrast essays. It felt pretty nostalgic. But because of that I didn’t feel much need to learn from the workshop. Comparing and contrasting isn’t really a hard concept to learn and I had to write it often, though not very well, in history and English classes. It definitely wasn’t bad though. Maybe next time I go it’d be a topic I’d more trouble on or something like that.

When I heard about the different types of clubs and fraternities available in Baruch, I showed interest in a lot of them and signed up for different clubs and fraternities. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to join a club or fraternity, so I decided to attend Beta Alpha Psi general interest meeting. BAP is an honors society, their fraternity is based on professionalism, community service, and brotherhood. They help students develop types of skills which later can be used on life. They also help students get internship at places such as JP Morgan Chase & Co and also help them prepare for interviews for different kind of jobs they are interested in. I really liked diversity and the relationship the member of BAP share. They also have events where the current members of BAP get to meet the old member of BAP, they said it gives a better insight as of what to expect in the real world. They have other fun outdoor and indoor events where one can meet new people and make new friends. I am not sure if I will join any club or fraternity this semester, but if I ever join any fraternity in the future I will think about Beta Alpha Psi. (I attended BAP first GIM so I didn’t know I had to take a picture and write a blog about it).

NYC offers a variety of museums and I set out on a Friday to explore MOMA on my day off. I had gone with my sister to have a day to spend time together and show her art and some of my favorite pieces the museum offered. My favorite piece at the museum is called “Water Lilies” by Claude Monet. I had first gone to see it was in February 2016. During my first time I was captivated by the grand scale of the three panels stretching across the entire wall and a focal point in the room. The lilies sat on pinks and lilacs depicted on the water and it made me feel at ease as. Months later in May, I went abroad and had the opportunity to see his garden where he got the inspiration for this piece in his garden. It made me immediately see the vision Monet had when he originally painted this piece because his garden was a world of colors filled with pinks, lilacs, and greens everywhere.

The museum featured many other works and I had enjoyed teaching my sister about various artists and discussing the strange methods artists use to create their own version of art through sculptures, paintings and exhibits. Certain themes I found around the museum were expressionism, abstract expressionism, cubism, landscapes, and minimalism.  By having spaces dedicated to each style, there are distinct differences between all of them with cubism emerging from Picasso and Braque, landscapes portrayed by Vincent Van Gogh in Starry Night and by Salvador Dali. Art has no limits and seeks to provide a source of expression for every artist whether it is replication of something else or trying to evoke a feeling they had and translating it into their work.

Today, October 3, I attended a Starr workshop about interview preparation. Workers at target came to represent this workshop, stressing how important an interview is, as it can decide whether or not you are accepted to the job of your choice. The representatives of target gave us many tips as to how to act in an interview. They spoke about the importance of many things such as, posture, maturity, confidence, and background of the company or industry of your choice. Target tried to give us an idea as to what employers look for in an interview, by telling us what they look for when giving an interview. I learned a lot from this workshop, as I am sure everyone else did as well. We all need to know how to act and what to expect from an interview, as we all will have to be interviewed one day. The most amazing part about understanding the importance of an interview is how it comes full circle. You start by being nervous while being interviewed by a prominent employer, and then years later, in some instances, you are that prominent employer giving an interview to a nervous student. Once you are an employer you will be able to explain the importance of an interview to many people, and the cycle just continues. I am a very nervous person when it comes to being interviewed. When I was interviewed for my internship this past spring, I thought there was no way that I would be accepted to the job of my choice. I was practicing my speaking and confidence skills weeks in advance but nothing seemed to be working. Until, my father, an employer, told me that the best thing to do in an interview is not to hold back from saying anything that you feel.

The club that I joined was Pre-recorded, which I went to last Thursday. This is the first time joining a club at Baruch College so I was very excited. It was an honor for me to know more people, add more friends, and develop the socialization.

There were many people attended to the pre-recorded and that made the club time more exciting. I was late for half an hour, therefore I could not join one of the club’s activities. At first, we played the game called ice-breaker. I was quite sad because I missed the opportunity to connect and know each other through that game. I needed to wait till the next activity.

Then, we all together watched a video on youtube that the club’s council made. We had so much fun and laughed out loud for many times. After watching, we discussed about it and we voted to watch it again but I dont know why the video was not played.

We enjoyed the food and drinks after that. Those were pretty nice with sandwiches, chocolate cakes, coke and stuffs. I was quite full so I only had a slide of sandwich with a cup of coke.

Finally, we all together played the game that I really enjoyed, which was Uno. The cards are enough for everyone in the room so we could all had fun together. The games took us half an hour to play and we couldnt find out whose the winner because the club time was over.

Since joining this club, I have enjoyed it so much and it created an opportunity for me to make friends, and feel a part of the Baruch community. I would join more clubs like this one and I will advise my friends to join the pre-recorded, the club that made my Thursday became more interesting and exciting after a tired morning.

W

My first blog assignment will be about the “Chai and Chat” I attended by the student club, Women in Islam. I originally found this club through a friend, I met at freshman orientation, who was planning on joining. I also met Qirat through mutual friends who told me about the upcoming event, I found myself getting more and more excited to meet the members of this club who share so much in common with me.

Upon entering, I was greeted by the girls in such a kind fashion. They handmade goodie bags for everyone with treats, upcoming events and and unique quote from the Quran. After everyone introduced themselves and stated their majors, we shared each quote and discussed its meaning and expressed our interpretation. Every member was encouraged to speak and assured it was a judgement free zone. A slideshow was presented with pictures of events from previous years showing us what to expect of the upcoming year. Seeing the special bond that this club holds encourages me and the other new club members to participate in the amazing club. I plan on getting involved by attending all future meetings, partaking in the charity week and bake sales they hold to raise funds.

I am delighted to be apart of this club and hope to get to know everyone better!!

When I first saw my schedule at Baruch, I had no clue to what I was going to do during my two and a half hour break on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My FRO student teacher informed me that those gaps are for club hours. I had to find a club that suits me, otherwise I would have considerable amount of time on Tuesdays and Thursday to do nothing. My friend introduced me to UCLA (United Chinese Language Association), which is a club where you learn about the Chinese culture, family, and even offers mentorship. I did not know about any other clubs so I thought why not try UCLA. I went to their 2nd GIM which was on Sept. 7. My first impression was “There is so many people”. I heard that the club was popular but the amount of people filled up the entire room and some students had to start standing by the doorway. One of the sophomores in the club told me that the amount of students would decrease normally since it is just a GIM. At the GIM, we started off with the President and the other position of the club introducing themselves and a brief summary of the club. All of us had to sign in for attendance. To officially join the club, we needed to attend one GIM, one CLP, and one social event. The attendance was proof of that. Afterward, we went on with icebreakers. We played several team games to get everyone to know each other better. The upper-class wanted to take a group picture. Afterwards, refreshments were served. There was noodles, rice, and drinks. They informed me that the next CLP was about learning how to make paper lanterns which is going to take place on Sept.12. Overall, I had a great experience at the GIM. I met new people and made new friends. I met sophomores and juniors who could help me get used to the student life at Baruch.

When I first got introduced to UCLA (United Chinese Language Association) I wasn’t quite sure what the club was about. I decided to go to a general meeting to get a better feel for the club. It turned out the general meeting was really fun. The club had a large number of incoming members and it surprised me how many people were interested. The meeting started with the execs introducing themselves and explained how the club was to promote and teach Chinese culture. We ended up playing google feud and zoom. These games got people involved and people genuinely enjoyed themselves. At the end of the meeting, the club came out with refreshments, bringing out Chinese food and drinks. I really enjoyed the vibe UCLA gave off and am interested in going to some more events. 

I decided to visit the Moma for this blog post. The reason why I chose the Moma was because they have many unique exhibits that caught my attention. I used this as a chance to catch up with one of my hobbies, photography. This was an interesting experience because I didn’t realize how ornate and abstract modern art would be. Many of the paintings were literally indescribable and looked like a bunch of scribbles, however, they were still pleasant to the eye. As I was going through my photos, a couple of them drew my attention. The first picture was taken by my friend, a fellow photographer. I was standing in front of a blank canvas and it kinda looked like a painting of me, which I thought was quite creative. The second picture was taken by me and it was quite the coincidence. If you look at it carefully, you’ll see why it’s funny.