Freshman Seminar Fall 17 LC17

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.

I have heard many bad things and negative stories about people’s experiences with fraternities. Beta Alpha Psi may have changed my mind. After speaking with members of BAP I realized that they stand for something different than most frats. Their goal is to work together within a brotherhood to achieve. I learned that they participate in community service and host many fun events.

I also learned that they have specific requirements for joining. To be a member you must maintain a 3.5 GPA in either Finance, Accounting or CIS. As someone who intends to major in finance and maintain above a 3.5 gpa, I am very interested in BAP. The members of the group were very professional, so I think it would be a good fit for me.

p.s. eyebrows on fleek

A few days ago, I attended the interest meeting for Traders at Baruch. Walking into the trading floor at the Library building was extremely intimidating. Everyone at the meeting was well-dressed and it created a unique atmosphere. Throughout the meeting, I realized how competitive it is to join the club. However, it seems like a great opportunity to learn about options and stocks.

There is a multi-step process to joining the club which includes submitting a resume and going through a few interviews. I thought it would be a perfect way for me to gain some experience. Here is a blurry picture of me at one of their interviews last Friday. 

When I walked into the UNICEF@BARUCH enrichment program I was wondering what in the world am I doing here. I have no idea what UNICEF does but I was very eager to learn, (and they had pizza). I learned a lot that day during that enrichment program, not only from the meeting itself but the pamphlet they gave out telling us about the program.

During this enrichment program, we spent a lot of time talking about the various things UNICEF does for the world. UNICEF is an organization that helps children around the world grow up with the rights and liberties they deserve. They are in 190 countries and territories around the world helping out where they can. I really enjoyed this program and may go again.

The other day I visited a business frat by the name of Beta Alpha Psi. Coming into Baruch I told myself no frats as it is not something I wanted to do with myself. However, the business frats may have changed my mind as they are much more professional. Beta Alpha Psi is no exception as they broke down the rules and regulations to join. Despite not supporting my major, the business frat still interested me in case I end up actually studying Finance or Accounting.

The professional manner at everyone in the frat was very warm and welcoming. They were interested in recruiting you and learning a bit about us and it seemed for the most part genuine. This experience has changed my point of view of the frats at Baruch. Hopefully, with a few more meetings in a few more clubs I may find the one I would like to join and pursue further.

                                                                       the pic is with the stand since I forgot to take a pic of the meeting.

Last week, I went to the Latinx Heritage Month celebration which was filled with different types of music and food. Coming from a school that also liked to celebrate different types of culture, I was happy to see that this new school which I feared was rather isolated and not full of energy was actually full of pride and joy. Something that was a plus was that the music actually catered to the event, without having techno music as the most played throughout the entire time.

There was an abundance of people that shared the same curiosity that I did of what was happening. They were selling books on the side while there was another DJ trying to hype everyone else. Ironically, there was actually a bigger crowd for the free books as the event started to warm up. Since my friends and I are freshman, we were just awkwardly walking around trying to engage. We gathered most of the food that was capable since our main goal for this year is not to waste so much money on food.

This was not the first even that I have attended but one that I enjoyed the most. Hopefully Baruch offers more events like these so I can become more involved in the community since it is a commuter school.

On August 31st, I went to the Vietnamese Student Association General Interest Meeting and I didn’t expect to really enjoy myself in there. I was able to make a few new friends. The VSA board was also really friendly that they went around the room to introduce themselves to me and my friends who I came with, but also took the extra step to be friends with us on Facebook as well as ask about our week and how we were transitioning to Baruch.

Last week, I had the pleasure to visit the very first meeting of the Baruch ESA, or the Baruch E-Sports Association. My peers and friends recommended that I check out this club as it would expand my understanding about the sports that is e-sports. Having almost no background of competing in these video game tournaments, I went in with a very open mind and was eager to learn about this phenomenon in many societies around the world.

What I gathered and learned from the event was that the club was about many different things that are related to E-Sports. The club president informed us that the club revolved around following popular e-sports tournaments in countries such as Korea and China whilst also hosting events for the club members. The club is very much interested in fostering a healthy community in which video game players could discuss their experiences with highly competitive video games such as Starcraft II and League of Legends.

On top of hosting these events, the club was also interested in finding prospective video gamers and recruiting them to play for the Baruch ESA. As I looked around the room, I could sense the wonder and excitement that was shared in the calm atmosphere. I will definitely be coming back to check this club out even more and see what more they have to offer on top of this plethora of activities. I would highly recommend other students to come check this club out.

Thursday club hours can be a bit hectic, in my opinion, because there’s so much to do. You don’t know where to go or what to do. During the past few weeks, I have been to a different club every Tuesday and Thursday. Last Thursday, I decided to go to the Opening of the Latinx Heritage Month and the Unicef Club.

My first stop was the Latin celebration that was going on in the second floor during club hours. It was really nice to stop by for a few minutes and see how a lot of students were celebrating the Latin month. This is new for me because at my high school there were really few people who are Latino, so I didn’t really celebrate anything like the school did last Thursday.

After stopping by second floor and getting some food, I went upstairs to a GMI meeting of the Unicef Club. There were a lot of people in the meeting, people had to bring desks from other classrooms so everyone could sit. We had some icebreakers, which gave us the opportunity to get meet more people. One of the things I liked was their mission and how the club works and helps children by fundraising. It remind me of a club in high school that I used to run, Global Connections because we raised money to help build a school in Ghana, and over the four years I got to see how it went from nothing into a school. I really hope I can have the same impact in Unicef as I did in my high school club. I’m hoping to get into the fundraising committee.

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