Overall, last week has been easy going. Last week’s class involved a speaker from the STARR career center coming in to benefits the center has to offer. It was great because the center is free and offers a range of benefits to help students succeed. The center offers mock interviews, career counseling, jobs, academic advise, and more. After the session I visited the center and found lots of helpful sheets including upcoming jobs, workshops, guides to majors, and more. The website also had helpful links including Vault which I used during an appointment I had at the center. Knowing that this center is easily accessible will help me throughout my years at Baruch and I’ll continue to use their services.

This week has been good so far. We’re halfway through the semester and I’m excited to see how the rest of it will play out. We presented our monologues today in class and while I know mine was short, I was able to present something which I was satisfied with. I enjoyed everyone’s monologue because they shared a bit about themselves and some of them were amusing. This upcoming Thursday is Halloween and while I don’t celebrate by dressing up, I wonder whether other students at Baruch will.

Hey everyone,

For the second workshop I decided to check out a STARR career workshop. The name of the workshop “Managing Your Own Personal Growth” was presented by Joe Slota. Mr. Slota covered topics such as managing priorities in life and balancing life, personal growth, friends, and more. The workshop helped develop views on the business world. One memorable thing I remember was Joe saying that in the business world, it’s best to be yourself rather than someone you’re not. Another was that impressions are made not only by what you say but rather what is not being said such as body language. Lastly, it was a quote where he said he “works to live, not live to work” which stuck with me because he said if you follow this principle, you’ll never work a day in life.

This workshop helped me explore my career goals by introducing me to priorities and happiness which will help me in the future. The idea that we should find something we’re passionate about and be ourselves is something that some people don’t consider because they care more about money and sacrifice their happiness, family, or other important things in the process. I realized that in order to achieve my career goals, I’ll need to consider what my priorities are and how I can apply for jobs that satisfy them. Joe Slota said the business world requires the ability to connect with people and in order to achieve these goals, I’ll need to further explore the STARR career center. I’m aware that the center provides advice and conducts mock interviews, builds resumes, provides internships, jobs, and more. This workshop was a good start to seeing what the STARR center offers and will likely attend more workshops in the future. I would highly recommend attending a workshop because there’s something to learn and could provide insight on what you really want from Baruch.

Steven

Hello everyone,

This week at class we did more prep for the monologues that we’ll be presenting in the upcoming weeks. We also discussed the registration process for next semester. We received advice such as which classes are highly recommended or suggested so that we are on a good track for graduation. I found this to be helpful because this will be the first time I’ll be making my own schedule. The only worries I have is accidentally signing up for a class that won’t count for credits because I already satisfied the requirement or not liking my classes. Therefore, I will likely meet with an adviser to ask any questions.

Steven

These past few weeks have been pretty chill considering the days we have been having off. I spent the days off working on finishing assignments ahead of time so I wouldn’t have to worry about procrastination.  I have started coming up ideas for the monologue and begun typing it. I have also started to prepare for the second enrichment workshop that is due next week. This week’s class allowed students to practice their presentation skills for their monologues and involved more of a reflection about how we are doing in our first semester. I would say, I have enjoyed these past few weeks and college has treated me well. Classes have been straightforward with the exception of some but as of now, I’m at a good place and hope that it stays like this throughout the whole semester.

This week’s class introduced the  terms discourse communities and cultural diversity. I enjoyed this week’s class because it further developed my understanding of cultural diversity at Baruch. Discourse communities are groups who have common interests or goals including culture. I defined culture as the traditions, beliefs, or customs people accept as part of their identity. It’s important to know about cultural diversity at Baruch because it encourages students to talk to people they usually don’t interact with. Adding onto that, cultural diversity relates to cultural competence, the ability to understand and effectively interact with people, because awareness allows students to be considerate and learn from others. In class, a video showed participants placed into boxes based on their cultural race and asked questions. Participants were shocked that despite looking different, most people from different background shared similar experiences. This can be applied to learning at Baruch because while we may consider everyone to be different because of our appearances, we are likely to share similar goals or interests thus sparking a relationship.

Hey everyone,

For the first enrichment workshop I decided to first focus on academics and thus, decided to go to a museum. I wanted to experience something that would introduce me as to what being a unique college student would be like. Being that I wanted to not travel far, I decided to go to a close museum in the Bronx. The exhibition featured a man by the name of Alvin Baltrop. Baltrop was an ex-navy medic who photographed events while serving such as structural ruins or portraits. Featuring pictures taken by Baltrop they also revealed an interest to erotica, mainly men. Through his photos viewers can see that Baltrop was interested in men and would often take pictures of them partaking in an activity and would sometimes even take nude pictures of them. During the late 1900s, being gay was not as regular as it is today and would be treated as hostile. However, Baltrop, knowing the struggles, partook in helping out local gay communities by teaching them about STDs and health and would even help little kids in need.

Learning about Baltrop has taught me that as college student, only I know my purpose for going to college and how I can contribute to helping myself and others. Even if the challenges are discouraging because I’m either different than most or because statistics say so, being able to stand out because I’m different can make me a great student. While Baltrop was different for his sexual orientation, my reason for being different is likely my inability to express myself clearly thus resulting me in being more shy. However, being able to identify what I have and how I can improve on it can help me break out of that shell and hopefully become an outgoing Baruch student. Knowing myself and what I enjoy in life can help me in earning my degree from Baruch because learning to accept myself and use my skills to help the community can be enriching. Being a student doesn’t mean going to classes just to pass but to become involved and I think that’s what Baltrop introduced to me. While he was serving his country, he also made it his responsibility to help those that were in need. Like Baltrop who found his own community, I will also meet people who are like me, people who are motivated to work hard because they want to better themselves and others. Also it’s not just about working hard for the rest of my life or at Baruch but also learning to capture the moments that mean the most just like Baltrop did with his camera.

I enjoyed last week’s class as it has helped me to better understand Baruch’s campus area. Being a freshman in a larger school setting coupled with a fresh start and not knowing anyone can be intimidating. I have found it useful to have weekly classes to help me recognize the many aspects as to what Baruch has to offer. This week helped students, including me, get to know which Baruch buildings has to offer such as career counseling, where to rent, borrow books, buy school supplies etc. Associated with this topic was playing a scavenger game which I would say was great in allowing students converse with others who they usually don’t talk to. I learned about the STARR center and the writing center followed by the enrichment workshops, which I must attend, and use this knowledge to help myself understand life at Baruch and how I can make the most out of it in these next four years.

Hello! My name is Steven Reyes. I am 17 years old and will be turning 18 this November. Some interests I enjoy are playing video games, watching Netflix, and sometimes doodling when I’m bored. I am a shy person and it’s something that a lot of people recognize about me. While sometimes I seem as quiet, I care very much about those I’m close to such as family and friends. Being in a new environment is a new experience and much like to everyone, it can be awkward to meet new people especially when we all come from different environmental settings. It’s something that always was a struggle to me but I have made great friends in the past to which I still keep in touch with. I would say my high school years have been easier to interact with people because we would always have the same classes with the same people over the years making it easier to establish a relationship. Despite all that, I enjoy meeting friendly people who share similar interests and backgrounds which allows me to connect more personally.