I missed a week of an FYS reflection and I don’t know which one it was, so I can’t necessarily “reflect” on it, but all the classes were really interesting. I’ve learned a lot and hope I fulfill this requirement and pass this class. From discussing the cultures we see around us and our own, to discussing what classes we should be taking next semester, this class was a great help as an incoming freshman.

Today we had class in a lecture room where someone from the STARR center introduced the STARR center to us. She gave us an in-depth presentation on what the STARR center was about, how it would help us towards choosing  career path. She informed us on how we have many resources to help us with resume writing, preparation for interviews, job opportunities etc. I never knew there were so many workshops available to help us.

For my final Enrichment Workshop assignment, my friends and I decided to visit the STARR Career Development Center. To be honest, I didn’t necessarily know what this center was really for other than assisting you in choosing and developing your skills for the career path of your choice. It turns out it was  just like any other center in Baruch, super helpful with ANY questions that you had. They can help with a lot of things like writing your resume, scouting for jobs, etc. Outside the office were a whole bunch of job ads and pamphlets that could help you. The question that my friends and I asked once we went in was “how do we declare our minor, and what could possibly be our options for our minors?” I wish I remembered the name of the very kind, lady that helped us answer this question but I don’t sadly :(. However, pulled up the Baruch website for us and showed us a list of all the minors we can choose from. I asked her since i was majoring in Accounting, what was an option that would suit me best and she said anything pertaining to liberal arts, and in my mind i automatically thought of minoring in the language French, because honestly nothing else in the liberal arts category interests me AT ALL, iI find it to e very boring. As to where we declare our minors, that would be on the fifth floor of the Newman Vertical Campus, she told us that once we go in and tell them what we were there forthey would give us the appropriate forms to fill out, and be able to help us out. But there isn’t any rush because we have a long period of time until we need to declare our minor officially. Our first visit to the STARR center was a mini success to say the least.

Today was the last class of FYS, and it was bitter sweet. I learned a lot in such a short time from a class that we only have once a week. I learned about punctuality, time management, and a lot of things in general about being an independent adult, starting college. There’s no longer any teachers running behind you t complete assignments and to get your grades in order, it’s all on you, and from this class they made it very manageable to do so and to understand how to do so. This week has been rough to say the least, even though it literally just started yesterday. Been counting down until the semester ends, we have a long way to go, but not enough time for these grades to improve!!!

This weeks class was where we shared out our mini monologues for the bulk of the class and though we’ve done this so many times, I myself was scared for everyone who went up there. Everyone looking at them, them not knowing what to say and kind of rushing just to sit down again. It was spooky, but what’d you expect on the week of halloween… that was corny. Afterwards, Gabby and Bernice divided the class in half and discussed with us whatever it is we needed clarity on, though we didn’t get to meet with gabby due to time, overall another FYS was cool this week.

This week’s class was pretty easy-going as it always is. A lot more students were chosen to present their mini monologues in class and it had me feeling pretty nervous because i didn’t really want to be one of them. Since we didn’t have class for a while and we been having a lot of off days, I’ve been taking the time to study for upcoming midterms and complete homework instead of waiting right before the deadline. I’ve had a lot of older students tell me freshman year would be a breeze and the workload is easy, but that really isn’t the case, everything kind of hits you like a truck all at once, so the best thing you can do is manage your time and try to be responsible.

This week’s FYS class covered a lot of material. To start off, we discussed our past week/weekend, the few students that shared out had interesting stories, it was cool to see we’re actually warming up to each other and comfortable enough to discuss things, it makes sharing out those short paragraphs about ourselves sound less nerve racking. Afterwards we discussed culture and what it means to us. Each group had a similar definition and after watching the video it showed us just how similar our lives really are. Class concluded with the fact though we may appear to be different, in reality we go through similar life situations which we seem to undermine causing us to stay a certain distance from others when that shouldn’t be the case.

Hi, my name is Christine Alexander. I’ll be turning 18 years old in November. I was born and raised in Queens, New York however with my parents being from Guyana we were back and forth a lot. From a young age not only did I witness poverty in my own neighborhood, but in my parent’s country as well. In high school, when we were deciding what college to apply to and what majors to choose and I really wanted to choose something that would allow me to help those in need, whether it be children, orphans, seniors, it didn’t matter, I just felt obligated to help make a change and try to help them have a life they deserved but couldn’t make on their own. After talking to many teachers, I was discouraged to do so, they said “you will bring their burdens home with you,” that somewhat startled me and I decided that the way I wanted to help wasn’t going to positively affect me in the future. I realized there are other ways to help without giving or taking burdens from one to another. With this being said, just because I wont be attaining a degree that would help me help others doesn’t mean that I’m any less motivated to help. In the end my goal is to use the tools and knowledge I was fortunate enough to acquire to give back to society and help, even if it’s one child, to get a proper education to live a better and successful life.

For the first enrichment workshop assignment, my friends and I decided to head to the Latin Heritage event that happened right after class. We went thinking nothing of it, it was mainly to help us complete an assignment. However, after attending the “Latin Heritage Month 2019” event, it was evident that the latin culture just as any was so warm and welcoming. There was a variety of sweet and savory food, which all was appealing to the eye. Along with that, there was a silent disco which was really interesting to witness and to see how Latin music makes others feel, more or less positive. The sway dance movements of those listening to the music showed a lot in the way that latino’s impacted the U.S. along with many other countries with their diverse and colorful culture. Being from Queens, “the melting pot of NY” you may think that you would always be around so many different cultures and be familiar with their music, food, etc. but that isn’t the case. For me and hopefully for others too, I’ve been isolated to only peers that share the almost the same culture and background as me. Having the opportunity to witness another culture was a really cool experience.