On February 11th, UCLA held their Chinese New Year celebration. It was a wonderful event which had dragon dancers, drummers, and martial artists showcasing their form. There was also a Chinese Dance group who danced contemporary music. It was pretty enjoyable with the free food, however, it did seem like we were getting educated on the history of Chinese New Year which seemed a little redundant since it gets reminded to us every year. Other than that it was pretty funny to watch the event when there was a little game show theme because the volunteers had to collaborate to play a game like feeding with Ramen Noodles blindfolded. Going to this event was key for me to understand the broad differences from event to event and I wouldn’t mind going to another. I am somewhat an introvert which would seem surprising and I find social gatherings and even normal conversations slightly awkward. Part of my personality calls for stepping out of my comfort zone for the sake of reducing the awkwardness.

On Friday March 4th BSU hosted their 10th annual fashion show. The show was lit with beautiful models,  great music by DJ Skillzz, and of course, the hottest fashion pieces for special occasions and everyday wear. One of the most striking set of pieces  was a form fitting black dress accented with an elaborate gold pattern and a counterpart matching men’s shirt and pants combination.  Not only did the event showcase the latest in fashion but also the latest in talent. There was an extremely talented gospel singer, awesome rappers, and a truly amazing violinist. There was also a choreographed dance number that was set to the latest Beyonce hit that had everyone dancing and moving, followed by a magician who had showcased his skills on Americas Got Talent and now entertained us all with his very dangerous acts. The 10th annual fashion show gave to us what was truly a fun  filled night with wonderful entertainment.

I decided to schedule an appointment for a writing workshop with the hopes of learning some useful techniques that could aid me with the development of my essay for English class. In this workshop we focused primarily on making comparisons and then developing strong thesis statements from these comparisons. As a basis for our work we used advertising by Nike aimed at the male audience and one aimed at the female audience. Using  comparison techniques we dissected the two advertisements and learned a lot about the  thought process that goes into marketing products and the reasoning as to why certain advertisements have certain particular characteristics. We then looked at the various different ways one can state a thesis and how altering the word structure slightly can produce a stronger statement. The entire workshop lasted an hour and a half and I believe it was time very well spent. I wholeheartedly recommend you to stop by if you are ever in need to step up your writing game.

I went to the career fair on February 5th. I had prepared my resume and business professional outfit a week ahead. When I walked into the Vertical Campus, a seemingly never ending line had formed. Students in suits snaked past the lobby and down into the staircase. I waited on line with my ID and resume in hand. The line shortened and I finally made my way into the gym.

I located several companies I wanted to visit on the map and spent the next three hours talking to the representatives and reading flyers. Overall, the experience was very informative and helpful. I learned a lot about different internship programs that are available and what recruiters look for in a candidate.

I consider myself pretty good at tennis. I’ve been playing tennis since the beginning of middle school. My high school Varsity team did pretty well. When I came to Baruch, I wanted to continue playing tennis because I enjoyed playing. After having no luck trying to find out how to join the team, I asked some of my friends. There was a huge process I had to go through. After finding out the coaches phone number, I had to fill out a bunch of forms. I had to have my doctor fill out a form. I had to fill out other forms. I had to make an appointment with the school physician to get a physical after already getting a physical from my own doctor. It was an annoying process. Now I just have to wait and see if I make the team.

The Candyland Carnival event was my first student life event I attended this year. I got to the event early, but a line was already forming outside of the gym. I was really excited so I kept walking back and forth in front of the gym. The event coordinators were handing out admissions bracelets and a waiver for the students to sign. When the gym finally opened, I ran into the room and took in all of the station. Almost all of the interactive stations were made out of inflatable material. There was an inflatable bounce house, an obstacle course that screamed of copyright infringement (WIPEOUT!), some sort of boxing ring, and a rock climbing wall (which didn’t actually have any rocks as foot/handholds).

Soon after I took in my surroundings, I found my friends on the other side of the room. I immediately created a game plan with them intended to help us try as many of the attractions as possible. We started with the bounce house and made our way around the room in a clockwise direction. The event started getting more and more crowded as time went on, and the lines got longer and longer. We ran out of time before we got to try everything, but we had a lot of fun anyway. 

The winter carnival with the candy land theme was the first event I attended as a Baruch Bear-cat! I must confess it was a highly creative way for me to commence my college life, as well as meet new people. The candy land carnival allowed me to “break the ice” with lots of my freshmen friends, as it provided me with the opportunity to engage in activities and events with multiple people.

The highlights of the event included participating in activities that were absolutely new to me, such as the one where we had to jump from one location to another while keeping our balance. The events I also participated in included events that I had hadn’t been a part of since the end of my childhood, such as jumping in the bouncy castle. However, the most significant highlight of the event was meeting new people, new groups, being introduced to new clubs, and having the first laugh with people I would be spending the next couple of years with.

Today when my history class was canceled I went to the computer lab to do some homework. It was a great experience, although the student staff in the yellow vests weren’t very helpful. When I first got to the computer lab my Baruch user name was not working. So I went to the front desk and tried to ask the student staff in the yellow vest what to do but they just looked out the window. Then I asked the guy sitting at the desk what to do. He was much more helpful and directed me to the help desk. At the help desk they not only got the computer working but also my student wifi, and they even wished me a happy birthday. Ultimately it was a good environment to do work and I will likely be returning again.

I sat in for the duration of Baruch’s number one radio show, titled “The Noir Show”, hosted by Kwame Joseph, founder of the segment. It was a very interesting listen, addressing many of today’s current events, celebrity news, and the ever evolving hip-hop genre. Conscious conversation, semi-heated debates fueled by contradicting views, an amazing music selection, and some of Baruch’s best personalities really set the bar high for the other radio shows.  The show won 3 trophies at last year’s radio ceremony , and anyone who tunes in can clearly determine why. I’m looking into joining them soon as I am good friends with most of them already and the show’s success in the college is only rivaled by how much fun each of the members have participating in it.  This was definitely a culturally enriching experience.

Last Thursday I attended the Spring Study Abroad Fair. I visited a couple of different stands, but only one of them was the most interesting to me. When people think of “studying abroad”, they usually think of European countries like the United Kingdom and France. However, I learned that you can study abroad in Bangkok, Thailand. Although Thailand may be a little different than other countries,  it still has an amazing culture that should be experienced by others.

When I was at the Thailand stand talking to the ladies who were there, they told me a couple of things. One, they told me that Thailand isn’t as sketchy as the media portrays it. Two, Bangkok is just like any other city, like Tokyo, London and even New York City: all having a center of business and finance. Three, the night life is amazing, filled with lots of restaurants and bars and friendly people who want to have a good time. These reasons have made me rethink where I would like to study abroad.