I attended one of the Spotlights Series workshops to fulfill my career blog post. This workshop was basically about careers in the start-up industry. First, the two presenters introduced themselves and explained how they got involved in a startup company. They are twin brothers from organization school16. They both graduated from college with a finance degree and worked in a finance firm together. Later on, they found out that was not what they wanted. They quitted and joined the startup. They knew it would be hard to start something new, but they decided to take the risk. It came out as a huge success. After the self-introduction, they began to present on what startup is, why working on a start-up can propel your career, how to build your professional skills and how to understand the job search process in this industry. They explained stages of a startup company and risks of different stages. There are four primary startup stages, including idea, validation, seed, and growth. The validation stage has higher potential to grow so that people should be more concerned about companies at validation stage. They talked about the foundational skills, like customer service means to have the ability to handle difficult people. They also gave out tips on how to stand out at a job fair by being over prepared, such as choosing a few top companies to research, knowing why you like the company, understanding how they communicate and telling stories about yourself. Overall, the workshop was very helpful and interesting. It was a good experience, and I learned a lot from it. 

As Linda Grayson has said, “There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” I feel the same way as she does, but my friend would prefer bubble tea than chocolate. My friend is kind of unpredictable. She always describes herself physically dry and mentally high. She knows that I’m afraid of rodents, but keeps texting me the pictures of her golden hamster regardless of my fears. Although my unpleasant impression of rodents has not yet resolved, I’m getting used to seeing her pet without any resistance. She’s deeply into Sherlock and claims to be his wife. I guarantee that she doesn’t know she can be beaten by Sherlock’s fans. Our ideas are often on different channels. Her ideas would randomly pop up anytime and anywhere. I’m still considered about my major, while she’s already thinking about her retirement plan. She recommends me to think about it as early as I can since she feels so energetic from it. I’m nearly shocked and wondering if I have made a friend who is more than 45-year-old. Not only did her personalities make her seem special, but also brought me surprise that I wonder what this “obstacle” will endow me as we move on and grow up together.

Last Saturday, I visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art with my friends. It was a five-hour visit. I can barely use fascinating words to describe how awesome it was. As the largest art museum in the United States, its collections are organized by seventeen departments. They are from different origins. I was dazzled by all different kinds of artworks and didn’t know where to explore first. Therefore, I randomly pointed somewhere on the map and went straight toward that collection. It was the European Paintings collection. I had visited series of Vincent van Gogh’s oil paintings. The most impressive one that I had ever seen was the self-portrait of van Gogh. It is a self-portrait with a yellow straw hat. At first, I didn’t notice that the painting is one of his self-portraits. I only saw the crowd standing in front of one artwork. The unusual circumstance had grabbed my attention. I involuntarily moved my steps toward them. Then I realized everything made sense. And I knew that Van Gogh always depicted his face as it appeared in the mirror to produce his portraits. Then I went to the Asian Art collection. I was surprised by the Astor Chinese Garden Court because I can barely see this kind of architecture in my country, maybe in Beijing but not my hometown. It usually appears in the Chinese costume drama or movie and serves as the garden for wealthy people. I almost went through every collection of the museum since my friends needed to complete their assignments for art class by finding the artworks and taking notes on them. I had been here for the second time. Every visit is a different experience, maybe that’s its magic. 

Last Thursday, I attended the general interest meeting of Chinese Christian Fellowship with my friends at Baruch College. Before entering the room, I knew that it’s a Christian club. The first thought in my mind was that I couldn’t join it since I’m not a Christian. However, the club members explained to us that it’s not necessary to be a Christian. They invited us to the meeting to get more details. The meeting began with the introduction of the club, and it was the first highlight. The club members did a presentation on CCF’s background information and its main goal for the future. They said that they aim to spread Christianity to people, but not to force anyone to believe in this religion. After the introduction, we prayed and ate. The reason for praying is to speak to God in order to ask for help or give thanks. I think this is a good way to stay thankful and cherish all the things we have. Then, we played a game to get rid of the awkward atmosphere since most of people were new to the club and they didn’t get to know each other. There was punishment for the game. The one who lost the game was required to perform a show. Fortunately, I didn’t lose.  The second highlight of the meeting was still a presentation, and it was all about the useful tips of how to survive at Baruch. In the end of the meeting, the President concluded that CCF is not only a club, but a family to all members. All the club members showed all their passion about improving the club and expressed their willingness to help. The meeting was a huge success, and the overall experience was pretty good. I am looking forward to the next meeting.