This summer I will be spending my time interning at an Israeli startup. I’ve had limited experience working in the real world since I’m just a first semester freshmen so I didn’t really know how to navigate dealing with professionals in the work force. As I was worrying about what I would put on my resume, I figured that I would seek career guidance at Baruch’s STARR Career Development center.

Right from the start, people were there to help. One nice lady sat down with me for an hour discussing what things I can put on my resume and even gave me some advice about how to conduct myself in an interview. Coming in as a first semester freshmen, career and professional work are about the furthest things on my priority list, but the STARR Center presents a space and a team of people to aid you in your path to the work world.

I attended Baruch voices with a group of friends. Going to Baruch voices made me realize that everyone has a story, whether or not they want to share it. We all have different personalities, skills, hobbies. It made me realize that even though people have likes and dislikes, we are completely different due to the way we were brought up, our experiences, etc. Its nice to see that no matter where we came from, we will all try our best to succeed.

On April 4th, Douglas, Michael, and I went to a lecture on the Musical Heritage of Iraqi Jews. It was hosted by a guest speaker from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Avi Tchamni. We mainly went for the extra credit for out Music History class but it was nice to learn about this music of Iraqi Jews. We learned a lot about the different instruments they played such as the oud. The oud is similar to a guitar. It has 11-12 strings. There were many more instruments but I don’t remember their names. We also learned that the instruments that the Iraqi Jews play creates different notes that only their instruments can play. Their notes don’t exist in the western musical world just like how some of ours doesn’t exist in theirs. Their music may not sound pleasing to our ears because of the notes we are not familiar with.

Taking a SACC tutoring session over the weekend really helped me get back on track in academics (mainly the dreaded mathematics). The tutors/advisers there were really patient and helpful and seemed to know what they were teaching. The fact that they were also students who have taken the course is in a strange way a confidence boost in itself, knowing that they have also been through the struggles I am now currently going through. They understood that calculus and math in general is a stressful and important subject at Baruch and they surprisingly made understanding the subject matter quite easy on top of everything else.

I attended the Baruch Voices event today hosted by Kayla and Candice (I wonder which events Candice ISN’T a part of at this point) and gained some insight into some of my fellow freshman. Everyone that stood up to voice their monologues had something important to say, whether their monologue was funny or harrowing. They had a story to tell. They made me aware of the fact that those people you pass by on your way to the class you’re 10 minutes late to because of the MTA’s horrid service have fully fleshed out dreams, fears, and lives, just like you do. That’s something students often forget; that we’re all struggling with something, and that we could all use some help or someone to talk to every now and then. School isn’t just about getting your work done, it’s about forming connections, and Baruch Voices sure made me much more likely to attempt to network in the future, as I sympathized with most of the content that was shared, even when I never met the speaker before. We are in this together, so we might as well act like it as opposed to pretending to look at some vital piece of information on our phones when the opportunity to create a bond arises. (Again no picture attached because Candice and several classmates saw me attend the event.)

Last Thursday, I went to Baruch Voices to present my monologue. After our class shared our individual monologues, we voted on which pieces we enjoyed the most. I was very surprised that my classmates decided to pick my monologue, so I wasn’t very prepared to present. I made a lot of revisions before the presentation date, but I didn’t have time to rehearse. On Thursday morning, I woke up late and rushed to school just in time to make it to the start of the event. There were many less students present than I expected, but the crowd was very friendly and supportive. Many of my FRO class members were present, so I felt less anxious. I also got to see my friends Danica, Della, and Ginelli!! The show started, and I got to hear many great pieces. When it was my turn, I went up onto stage and winged my presentation. I was the last to present, so I hope I had a big impact on the audience. I had a lot of fun and I hope to participate in more events like Baruch Voices.

A couple weeks ago during a Thursday club hours I went to the lobby around 12:30 to watch as Candace got hit with a pie in the face. While waiting for that to take place I spent some time at the Accounting Society booth as I saw some kids playing a version of beer pong (this of course was water pong) which had caught my eye at first glance. When I walked over to chat up the people manning the booth to ask what the pong was for they told me they were raising money for an upcoming seminar they are planning to hold with speakers and food. After a few minutes of talking I was also informed that club members also meet recruiters in addition to the speakers and get a solid insight look into the world of accounting on a professional scale and any and all potential that it holds with the students who join the club. The deal with the pong was you pay $1 for 2 shots and if you hit a shot you would get a free bubble tea or you could just buy the bubble tea outright for $3. My natural abilities from my teenage years kicked in and I ended up leaving club hours with a bubble tea and signed up to get emails and notifications for future events and news with the Accounting Society.

A few weeks ago I attended Baruch’s Got Talent, which was basically a big talent show. I went with a friend and although I wasn’t able to stay til the end it was still interesting to see all the faces that were willing to put themselves out there for all to see. There was the usual singing and dancing routines that were to be expected at these things but there were also some people who mixed it up by doing jump roping, spoken word/poetry, and other interesting acts. They had some judges there that seemed to know what they were talking about and had experience with these things. All in all, it was an interesting experience and I’m glad I went.

Last Thursday during club hours two freshmen who were voted by their peers in their respective individual seminar classes performed their monologues for other freshman to hear. Altogether there were about 8-10 monologues, each one discussing a myriad of topics that are going through most freshman minds through the first semester of college. It spanned from topics regarding the irony of freshman seminar taking our precious club hours away from us while encouraging us to join more clubs and meet more people to women facing abusive relationships. The three best in my opinion were the three from our block which were performed by Michael, Vinny, and Emily. Michael tied Pokemon to life eloquently while Vinny showed extreme courage and talent by going up there and rapping a very well thought out and composed rap. The most powerful one hands down was Emily’s which spoke about the very real issues of anxiety and depression people face daily.

This event allowed students to voice their inner most feeling’s  on something that was important to each of them. Many of the pieces were inspiring and very thought provoking as well as entertaining. Michael had a very interesting piece that talked about the influence Pokemon has had in his life and how it has had a huge influence on the lives of many young people as the iconic series turns 20. Emily and Vinny both showcased pieces that showed a lot of inner strength and made you feel that we could do something to turn negative situations around through positivity. The show was a very enlightening experience.