Author: Esther Kramer

I went to a workshop at the Writing Center focused on writing thesis statements and how to make them consice and efficient. The lecturer was very nice and made the workshop fun and entertaining. Here we were presented with a scenario involving arguments from two different sides, and were given example thesis statements that were both weak and strong, and how we can use these examples to improve our own thesis statements in our papers. In addition we were given a paper listing sample thesis structures that would make our essays more formal and our thesis statements less vague. Overall it was a knowledgeable experience.

All my friends in high school told me that senior college applications were going to be really tedious and stressful, and it did seem like it. I had senior friends in my sophomore and junior years who told me stories of writing seven or more essays for some of the top colleges in the nation, and it kind of freaked me out. But when the actual application period rolled around, I found that I actually had a lot of control over how stressful or not I could make the process. I wasn’t really interested in applying to a lot of Ivy League schools like Harvard, Princeton, or Yale as a number of my friends were. Rather I focused more on applying to colleges near where I lived, since I didn’t want to move away from the city. Many kids were surprised when I told them I dint want to move away, but I didn’t really see it as that big of a deal. The college application process ended up not being that stressful and for the most part I didn’t have to write more than one or two additional supplements for the schools I applied to. Meanwhile I’d often see some of my friends struggle during the process and complain about how stressed they were or how many essays they had to write by what deadline, and I just couldn’t relate. In the end I got accepted into most of my school choices and was satisfied with it.

On Thursday I attended the HSBC commercial banking session. It was mostly intended for juniors and seniors, however at the session I was able to look into HSBC and learn about what the company does and what its main purpose is. There were representatives from the bank, each holding different positions, and they explained what their work life is like and how they interact with their clients. They mentioned that, since they work at an international bank, they interact with clients from various foreign countries and therefore it would be beneficial for them to know multiple languages.

Last Thursday I attended a meeting for the Baruch Actuarial Science Society (BASS) where the club hosted a couple of speakers who currently work in the actuarial field. I am interested in the field of actuarial science as one of my possible professions, so listening to actuaries talk about their job with us made me know more about what the career is like and the benefits and steps in becoming an actuary.

The speakers also told us about a company called MassMutual, which is a leading life insurance company and has programs to help lead aspiring actuaries in the right direction and gain hands-on experience in subjects that are vital to the profession, such as courses in Excel and data analysis. Overall I had an interesting time attending this club meeting.