Freshman Seminar Fall 17 LC16

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a seminar given by the Starr Career Development Center. It was an internship seminar that was meant to help people find internship opportunities. I was interested in this seminar because I really want to find an internship for this summer or next year in order to broaden my experience. They told us that Baruch has a process called on campus recruitment, which is something I would not have known had I not attended this seminar. Many companies come to Baruch and hold interviews for students interested in interning for their companies. I think it’s a really great opportunity; it is very convenient and and useful for students who may not have the time to go to an interview. I also learned that there are different kinds of internships, but paid internships are what I am most interested in, since it would be mutually beneficial!

Last Wednesday I went to a career workshop called “Small Talk: It’s a Big Deal”. I went with Sahil, David, Jarrett, and Moataz. In the workshop the presenter from STARR Career Center went over the importance of small talk as well as ways to initiate a small talk. The presenter also went over what are good methods to keep up an initiated talk. There were demonstrations done by the staff from the STARR Career Center, although the presenter only told the group that there were more staff members present after the demonstrations so it felt really scripted. I chose the workshop only because it worked very well with my schedule. Those that went to the workshop were given a packet regarding small talk and inside sums up what went on in the workshop as well as sections that were not covered in the workshop, it’s a very good reference.Overall, the workshop was very engaging and I learned about the importance of small talk.

Choosing a career activity for the blog post was rather challenging as I wanted to go in a group. In this group, we faced difficulties such as attending a career workshop that fits all of our schedules and “Small Talk- It’s a Big Deal” workshop was the one. The issue was that the workshop is scheduled rather late so we would be getting home around 8 which poses an issue of limited time for studying for our political science. However, we didn’t let that stop us from having fun and learn new things. Going with friends was an excellent choice as the circumstances allow us to be slightly goofy and elevate the positive vibe of the room. With a single joke, we were able to transition from a boring small talk lecture to a fun conversation. People participated more often and the activities allow some of us to be more comfortable in our small talking skills. We learned about the effects of a small talk and how important it is to use small talk to achieve the results you want. At the end of the day, I walked in to the workshop thinking about how it’s a drag and come walking out without a single regret. This workshop not only teaches you how to utilize small talks, but have fun in doing so. I strongly recommend anyone to attend in their free time if they’re ever bored.

Last Wednesday, my friends and I went to the ” Small Talk- It’s a Big Deal” Career Workshop. In this workshop, we learned about how to tell if a person is interested in talking to you. Two aspects that we looked at were body language and facial expressions. If the person is trying to make eye contact with you, has a straight back, and is smiling, then the person is geniunely showing an interest in having a conversation with you.

We also learned about how a person should keep a conversation alive with a person that they just met. For in, you can create small talk by finding something in common with the person you just met such as the weather. However, it is important to stray away from three sensitive topics: sex, religion, and politics. These three topics are very personal and should not be brought up in small talks. On the other hand, there are times where politics can be brought up, but it would have to be in a very limited manner. For instance, you can converse about how tense a general election may be. I really enjoyed this career workshop because I am able to use what I learned last Wednesday in job interviews and in future events where I will meet new people.

On Thursday, November 9, 2017, I went to the Wall Street Careers Panel, which was a splendid experience to learn about graduates of Baruch College who have created a change in our world. These people spent their time to come to Baruch and inform us about their careers. These graduates vary in every different way; there are people from every ethnic group, there are both men and women, there are both immigrants and people born in the United States, and people ranging from the mid-twentieth century to a student who is currently in the colleges graduate program. We were able to learn how they became who they are, and the positions that they held.

There are many points that every student could take to heart. One that resonated most was the graduates’s stress on failure, and what how should approach it. They emphasize how we can learn from each failure, and build to the next opportunity, something else they stressed. Baruch College is abundant in opportunities, giving students all the tools necessary for success.

The people themselves did not seem to pedestalize themselves. Their stories are very similar to ours. There is the virtuosic student, participating in many academic activities throughout their career. There is the person who had to balance a low income with the college tuition. There is the person who never truly knew their major, but found something to be passionate about. As a person who can understand each situation, these people became more of adults who faced the same situations we have, and not a CEO blessed by fortunate luck.

As for their jobs, many of these people on hold powerful jobs. These include Vice Presidents, Managers, and Senior members. These people took the most they can out of Baruch College, taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

These people went through the same process that we went through, struggling day by day to achieve what they have done. As the new generation, we should also make the best of what we can. After all, we are the embodiment of gifts that everyone else gave us. There is no reason to not take the most of it.

On Thursday, I attended the Majors and Minors Fair which was located at NVC in room 1-107. I wasn’t there for the whole event, but I was able to stay for a good amount of time and learn about a few majors and minors. As I was about to enter, two people were outside of the entrance handing out different papers for the fair. One paper was basically telling us about the majors and minors that are in this college. Some minors that caught my interest are photography, psychology, and mathematics. These are the ones that I might take a further interest in learning about because they sound fun. Another paper was just a response survey about my reactions to the fair. In the fair, I first went to where accounting was because that is my intended major. I also went to the 3 minors that I mentioned before to learn more about them. I’m really glad that I went to this fair because I was able to discover the different options there are in Baruch when choosing what you want to study.

On Wednesday, November 8th, I went to a STARR Career Workshop, which was called Small Talk: It’s a Big Deal. In the picture above, the handsome guy in the red shirt is me.  I learned a lot about making small talk at this workshop. We even practiced small talk on each other. I thought it would be awkward since we were forced to talk to each other, but it was not awkward at all. I met a lot of new people who go to my school. I had actual conversations with them and I enjoyed myself. I learned that small talk is important for making connections and networking. It’s also important for knowing how to speak to future employers in interviews. I also learned the importance of body language in communicating with others. Basically, it is important to keep a good posture in any social environment because it shows that you are approachable and that others should have no problem coming up and talking to you. In any networking event, it is important to make yourself presentable and approachable. Dressing up well is not enough, but body language and presentation will determine the amount of connections that you will receive. This experience was valuable and will help me at Baruch. I am now confident in my small talk skills.

For this academic blog post, I decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art. I like art, so I figured it would be fun to go to an art museum for an academic post. My 2 favorite artist are Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, so I knew I wanted to find artwork from them. I went to the 5th floor of the museum and found a piece from Picasso, called “Harlequin”. Before I found out Picasso made this piece, I knew he had to be the artist behind it because it had interesting shapes combined into a picture,  with no recognizable image. Another piece I found at MoMA was van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. “Starry Night” became my favorite piece of artwork when I was in the first grade learning about van Gogh, and it still remains my favorite until this day.  Overall, MoMA was a nice, quite, relaxing experience, and it was nice to have a break from college stress and enjoy looking at art.

This past Tuesday, I attended a network campaign at the Javits Center, located in West Of New York City. This event included many types of businesses presentations and mentor ships, such as the fields of Financial, Real Estate, Jewelry, Medical and Law. I was able to view many types of career choices in this exhibition program and was able to ask many questions. Questions included, whats your typical day schedule? What specific work is expected at this particular major? Do you enjoy what your doing? Not only were we able to see specific leaders at specific booths, but some parts of the companies offered mentor ship presentations on their pathways to where they are today. The leaders representing their specific career gave me a lot of advise towards what major I am planning on pursuing in the future. I would definitely want to attend another one of these networking career days, just to be able to learn more about specific majors from people who actually work at companies.