Category: Introductions (Page 1 of 2)

Hi all,

My name is Daniel Iqbal and I am pursuing a major in finance. I am excited to begin this class due to its expansive nature when referring to the Arts of NYC. The notion given by Dr. Tenneriello that this class is a “living course,” fills me with anticipation to begin!

About Me

I am born and raised in Valley Stream, Long Island and have always had a fascination with social interaction. I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people and engaging in conversation that can create not only connections but friendships that can last a lifetime. My MO is that there is always more to learn and by reaching out to those around you, it will increase your knowledge of the world. Furthermore, it seems the more people I talk to, the more windows of opportunity open, and life just gets easier.

Aside from academics, I spend most of my time with family and that’s honestly by choice. I am extremely motivated by my older sister Maleha who has just completed med school and is on her way to be a doctor! Her moral integrity is something to strive for and I respect her a lot (Even though she is a DO)

Regarding hobbies, the two I focus on mainly is weightlifting and surf fishing. Both extremely different in nature but are equally stress relievers in their separate ways. Weightlifting has been apart of my life since COVID and has always been apart of my schedule ever since. I feel that everyone needs at least an hour of physical activity and besides walking, this is how I reach that marker. You may not realize how fun it is to throw weight around in the gym so my advice is to give it a shot! But on the other spectrum, fishing is a low intensity activity that I enjoy. Loading up the car with my father and cousins, and messing around on the beach have brought me some of the best memories that I have to this day. Most recently I was fishing on Block Island, RI and the views from the beach were spectacular.

Thank you guys for reading, and here’s to a great first semester at Baruch!

I love shopping, spending time with my friends and family, traveling, and trying new foods. This summer I traveled to Cancun, Mexico where I had an amazing time with my family. In my spare time I love to do martial arts and swimming. I’ve been training taekwondo for about 8 years and recently started doing kickboxing as well as Muay Thai training.

Hello everyone! My name is Vera Gladysheva and I’m from Brooklyn and intending to major in finance (but still largely deciding). I love listening to podcasts on my way to school, specifically Stephanie Soo’s Rotten Mango (true crime) and Baking a Murder (horror books/movies) podcasts. I got into podcasts way back in freshman year due to my 45 minute commute and have listened to them whenever I can since (over 700 hours according to spotify wrapped). I have also been working at a nursing home since last summer and I’ve absolutely loved my time there from our weekly barbecues to bingo nights. It has become my second family away from home and not only the residents but also the wonderful people I got to work with and the incredible nurses I got to learn from who have shown vast amounts of humility and care for their patients day in and day out. We also have one special member of our team- West the therapy doggie, he’s the absolute sweetest munchkin ever but will drool all over you:

In terms of hobbies, I’ve dabbled in a lot of different crafts all the way from stabbing wool with a giant needle (needle felting) to more timid ones such as photography. I also love going out to nyc to just wander around, thrift shop or just scope through bakeries/cafes, skincare and stationery stores (I especially love Ktown which is not too far from campus). I’ve also recently started collecting Pop Mart blind bags- specifically the Hirono collection, I just think they’re the cutest things ever. Here’s my collection so far:

Hello, my name is Gunjan Barua, and I want to share something about something I genuinely appreciate. Before I tell you about my background, let me tell you a story that made my appreciation for music stronger. Once in high school, my teacher said, “Students, I have great news for you guys. We are going to the Broadway musical next week,” my heart raced. After listening to the news, my friend and I said to each other, “Wait a minute, weren’t we just discussing going to a Broadway show? I waited to see the astounding musical with great alacrity.

After anxiously counting down to showtime, the day finally arrived. “Into the Woods”, the name of the musical, felt so mysterious. Inside the theater, people gossiped like chirping birds. But my attention was only on the stage. I imagined the conductor saying behind the curtain, “Brace yourselves, guys. Give your best today and know that a standing ovation will result from your hard work. The synchronization of the music, the echo of the voices, and the actor’s dialogues all gave me goosebumps. I told my friend, “I will probably cry, so if you have some tissues, make them ready.

The passion I have for music is deeply rooted in my own upbringing. This enthusiasm for music comes from my ethnicity, which provides me with a great inheritance of music. The country I grew up in, Bangladesh, is rich in culture and traditions. I listen to Bengali songs all the time because their metaphors around nature describe the human experience in a beautiful way. The famous songwriter and artist Tagore, for example, uses nature to describe his love for a woman. The music I experienced growing up as an intense listener was heartfelt and attracted me immensely. I think this was because the music captured the diversity of life. The music of Bengal holds a significant position in a Bengali’s life. Whenever I listen to folk songs such as Baul, Bhatiyali, Murshidi, and so on, they always take me to an another planet.

Music is not supposed to be esoteric; it’s a language that should be accessible to every individual. As a person with an artistic mind, I readily admit that music has the power to impact my everyday life. With a pair of headphones on, I can not only overthrow the negativity in my life, but I can also embrace and feel the beauty of my life. I expect from this class to give me more admiration for music. Thank you for reading my blog.

Hi everyone! My name is Ellie and I’m from Long island! I’m majoring in Finance, and I’m very excited about the next few years here at Baruch.

One of my favorite things to do is bake! I love making cookies and other desserts for my friends and family (I have one older sister and a younger brother and sister), but I especially like making cakes and cupcakes because of the creative freedom they give for decorations. I worked in a bakery near my hometown at the end of my junior year through the end of this summer.

I also love listening to music! Some of my favorite artists at the moment are Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Hozier, and Noah Kahan. Hozier relased a new album this month and it’s all i’ve been listening to! In the past year, I’ve seen Harry Styles and 5 Seconds of Summer in concert. They were both great shows, and it’s always great to get the chance to see live music!

I also love getting outside and spending time with friends! Over the summer I went peach picking with some friends, and I got to go apple picking with them last fall, which I hope to do again this year sometime. Over the summer, I took a trip to Windham and went on a great hike to the top of a waterfall, which was amazing to see!

I’m very excited to get to know everyone and have a great semester together!

Hey everyone!

My name is Imaan Malhi. I’m majoring in Finance but I’m excited for this class because analyzing art is one of my favorite hobbies. I’ve been doing visual art from a young age, but as I grew up, I turned more towards looking at art and studying it. I did an internship at the Whitney Museum where I was able to talk to lots of artists and explore different mediums of art. I love that through art, we can communicate beyond words and languages, and form deeper connections with the world around us.

Another way I spend my time is by talking and spending time with my family and friends. This summer, I went to Pakistan to visit my grandma and cousins, and it was a really fun experience. I’ve been working on improving my communication in my native language, Punjabi, and talking to them really helped. In general, I like communicating with different kinds of people, so I’m also hoping to study abroad in Spain to improve my Spanish speaking skills. I’ve been learning it in school for 7 years, but I want to use it more practically. 

Some of my other hobbies include reading, talking long walks at the park near my house, and playing sports such as lacrosse and soccer.

Hi!! My name is Dheyala and I’m from Long Island. I’ll be majoring in Biology at Baruch.

I have a cat named Sam that I found in my backyard 7 years ago and an older sister as well.

I love baking, listening to music, and spending time with my friends and family. In my free time, I love going to aquariums and parks. I also really enjoy going to concerts; the most recent ones I attended were The Weeknd and 5 Seconds of Summer. This year, I travelled to Dubai and visited family in Bangladesh. I would really like to travel more, so I really look forward to studying abroad.

Hello guys! My name is Xin, pronounced with a Z but in Chinese it’s pronounced differently. I was born and raised in China and moved to the US when I was 7. I lived in North Carolina for about a year and then moved to New York City. I now live in Brooklyn. My major is accounting but it could change in the future because I have a dream of starting my own business. 

I have a younger brother who is 3 years younger than me, and I also have a cat named Pepper. He is now 2 years old. I fear birds so sorry to all those bird-lovers out there. I love to dance and am a part of Halo Dance Crew. One of the most accomplishing things that we’ve done this year was to showcase at the New Jersey stop for World of Dance. 

I like to watch dramas in my free time, but my attention span is short, so I usually don’t binge watch any shows with a few exceptions. I listen to a variety of genres of music. My favorite genre of music recently is Krnb. However, I am open to try new things whether it’s music, shows, books, or sports, so don’t hold back on the recommendations. 

I love to take photos of other people and views. I also do a little bit of editing but I’m still learning. I like to explore the city with my friends when we have free time. I like the city life, it’s part of the reason why I stayed in the city. 

My full name is Jan Carlo Avendano, but it’s okay to just call me Jan. I am majoring in Management, concentrating in Operations Management. I come from Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and I went to the High School of Telecommunications Arts and Technology. I’m excited to begin my undergraduate studies here at Baruch!

I am very passionate about martial arts. I have been doing Taekwondo for more than seven years and dabbled in other martial arts, such as kickboxing. Three years ago, I began my journey instructing classes, where I had to learn how to teach fun and engaging traditional and olympic-style Taekwondo classes that also teach discipline and progress students towards achieving their next belt. Today, I am a Head Instructor who is learning more about the business end of the martial arts school.

I am also really interested in Software Engineering! While in high school was a part of the school’s Software Engineering Program (SEP), where I had a lot of fun learning about programming languages and creating programs and websites. Here is a video where I presented my senior year Freedom Project, where I trained a computer-vision AI model to detect martial arts techniques!

I also like to do a bit of photography! Especially landscape/scenic photography, but I generally look for things that just stand out. Here are some of my best photos!

Those are some of the main things that I do, other than that though, I really love athletic training and weightlifting, writing, technology, and video games. That’s all for me!

What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for – the things I was brought into the world to do?

Marcus Aurelius,

Hi everyone!

My name is Chaeyoon Baek but I go by Claire. I was born in South Korea, moved to Chicago, North Dakota, Queens, then finally Long Island. I want to travel the world and maybe even live in a foreign country in the future.

At Baruch I am a marketing major but I might change to Finance.

A few of my hobbies include music, fashion, photography, art, shopping, and hanging out with my friends. I have a digital camera and love taking pictures of my friends.

My favorite artists include SZA, Frank Ocean, and Colde.