I went to a career workshop last wednesday. It was the Ad Hoc Workshop that taught students that there are more options for you to chase your career in baruch than many would know. The Ad Hoc workshop showed us the Ad Hoc major, this is a major for those who have looked and couldn’t find a major that matches their wants. It is within the Weissman Arts and Sciences program. In order to make an Ad Hoc major you must combine different courses from two or more departments. These majors must be liberal arts. For example, i could be interested in both law and the internet and journalism so using Ad Hoc i could combine them into one major. Now there is a long process to do such things, you can find all the information buy checking the baruch website and searching in Ad Hoc. While baruch has countless opportunities for us to succeed some people can feel like nothing matches their passions and that’s where the Ad Hoc major comes into play. 

My grandfather, Michael, was born in 1929 during the USSR in modern day Belarus. He was born into a poor working class family. Socialism was the law of the land and there was almost no chance of him finding a way out of poverty, all were equal but in this case all were equally poor. In 1941, Nazi Germany made its way to his town, capturing him, his parents, and his 5 siblings (3 brothers and 2 sisters). At the time of his capture my grandfather was 11, his younger siblings were all under 5 years old and his oldest sibling was his 17 year old sister named Lena. Each night, the guards made the rounds choosing people from the population to be shot and killed, trying to find the Jews within the town. His family was safe until one night, with no explanation, his oldest sister Lena was taken. She was ripped away from the family and never seen again. She was likely taken out into the plains and shot by the Nazis, killed at the age of 17. He and his family were transported and put to work in a concentration camp in a forest outside of a small city in Russia called Voronezh. He found it impossible to go on with his life without his older sister but during his time at the camp my grandfather made a vow that his sister’s death would not be forgotten. In 1943, the family was saved by the soviet army, at that time called the Red Army. Having gone through one of the most traumatic experiences imaginable he surprisingly had the motivation to make something of himself, to work hard and make his family proud. During the 1950s, he found his way in Kazakhstan, a largely empty country where the USSR encouraged volunteers to help create a thriving city. Here he successfully worked as a merchant selling everything and anything to anyone, until he had enough money to move to Ukraine to join the rest of his family. There in Ukraine his family built two beautiful homes. One was a wonderful home for him and his family while the other had a special purpose. The second home was named after his oldest sister Lena who was killed by the Nazis. The home was used as a shelter for anyone they thought could use it. Over the next 15 years, the house saw hundreds of faces; the needy, the sick, the prosecuted, all were taken care until they were back on their feet and ready to continue with their lives. Although my grandfather ended up moving to America, the house was still run by his siblings. Now it has turned into a farm where each weekend my cousins teach free courses in Law and Language. I shared this story today because I think it’s an excellent example of how hate can be turned into love, how no matter how bad life gets there is a purpose for everyone on this earth.

During Anthropology class last thursday a teacher from the writing center came to visit our class to give us a better understanding of how to write our essays due the following thursday. In class we had to dissect an essay  called “The Disgrace of Man” finding how the topic sentences of each paragraph relate to the thesis statement while at the same time help the flow of the essay along. I learned of new transition words that i can use for helping keep the essay going in a thoughtful manner. Words such as thereby, however, nevertheless and on the other hand can help you make counterpoints or support for your thesis. The teacher from the writing center was very helpful and seemed like he has been teaching for a substantial amount of time.  It was interesting to see how small words can impact your essay and it was a very a good way to find a starting point for my anthropology essays. I plan on visiting the writing center again very soon for more help on english essays.

Last week I went to the general information meeting for the traders club at Baruch College. Since before the semester, I wanted to join the club for its learning experience inside a stock trading computer lab and its real life application after college. The meeting was an eye-opening experience; I walked in and saw a handful of students dressed in full suits and overheard people talking about their internships over the summer, I already felt like I was behind. It was clear that I was probably one of a handful of freshman. I met a few juniors and seniors and spent the whole meeting writing as much down as possible to make sure I didn’t miss any information. Over the course of the two hours I learned how to use the trading software, Rotman Interactive Trader, and how it will be used in future trading meetings and events. Luckily I can use it on my home computer and practice for the next meeting. I met with an old member of the club and he told us about what it takes to succeed in this club. He explained how he joined the club with absolutely no background experience but with working at home he developed the skills to join the club at the MIT competition where they finished ahead of countless prestigious colleges last year. I plan on following in his footsteps, especially on a coding background. Coding is an important part of stocks but learning it would not just benefit me for the club but for jobs in the future. Overall the experience matched my expectations. I knew I wasn’t an expert on trading and that I had a lot to learn but meeting junior and seniors in the same position let me know that I wasn’t alone and that starting early is a great step to being ahead of the pack.