Is That Any of Your Business?

Posted on February 8, 2016 by AmoniB

There is an uprise in new buildings and you neighbors are being scammed and removed from their homes. You are in a stable home. Is your surroundings any of your business?

It occurred to me that the younger generations aren’t as involved with their environment as they should be. I don’t mean knowing everyone in their building, knowing the name of the guy at the corner store or being at every “mix.” We…. yes I am only 24 so I sorta am considered to be apart of said generation… We need to know more about what is happening in our community as well as being more accountable for the actions of those who reside or try to take over it

Seeing my social responsibility and drive to help others, two elders of Linden Houses, on separate occasions, asked me to be apart of a few community events. Because I had a lot on my plate I declined. That was two years ago and I regret it. Now I am trying to be on my community board and help out the gentrifying east New York community. I want to save the essence of the neighborhood and keep my community looking the same and stop the several evictions, removals, scams, and making the neighborhood unaffordable. I am also looking to be part of my community board, where at lived most of my life, Brooklyn cb5.

I am telling all of you to find you local community board and to at least go to a few meetings per year. Get involved. Know what is happening, especially if it’s going to damage or enhance your current community. It may end up affecting you somehow.

Here is images from the last community meeting on public safety, rezoning, and more

QUESTION TO THE AUDIENCE: Now I ask you….. Would you take responsibility or will you ignore what is going on around you?

Stay tuned next week to read 5 steps on How to Start a Business

The Softer Side

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Pamela

Image Credit

A recent study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities reported that long-term career success comes from demonstrated proficiency in skills and knowledge that cut across all majors. Yet one of the major complaints by employers is that graduates do not have the soft skills needed to keep the job. Employers also say the skills that are lacking are more important to an individual’s success at their company than his or her undergraduate major. A Career Builder Survey supports the claim that companies are looking for employees with people-oriented soft skills and are becoming more and more concerned about the “skills gap” in today’s workplace.

The fact is, far too many graduates do not know what soft skills are. Although it’s a common term, very few students have heard of it. I am not saying that colleges don’t teach any soft skills but there seems to be a void (or rather, a disconnect) between academic performance and job performance. While it is important to have knowledge and skills for specific fields, skills in critical thinking, writing and communication, and analytical reasoning are just as, if not more, important. Think about it! The most crucial skills needed for success and most graduates have never heard of them. But how can students develop and practice something that they have not been taught?

Well there is good news and all is not lost. In fact, there is so much opportunity to gain the skills we need and it starts with us. Instead of waiting for someone else to teach us, we can teach ourselves. The best place to start is by reading and engaging in professional learning activities that will result in long-term benefits. Whether you like e-books or paper books, its usefulness cannot be understated and will allow us to internalize and practice what we learn and advance our knowledge and soft skills.

I know that many of you will not have time to read beyond the required reading for school and it can be quite overwhelming with so much to do. Also being “creatures of habit”, we are used to having someone teach us. But, if we start by taking responsibility to change the way we think, our actions will also change. That’s why I am writing this blog. This will be my way of bringing to you just some of what’s available out there to help you stand out from the crowd and give you the competitive advantage.Image Credit

What are the Most Important Soft Skills?

Free Activities

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Konyca

A few days ago a colleague and I were talking about how there are many free or inexpensive activities in New York City. However, the tourists are actually the ones who take advantage of them more than the locals. There’s even an “IDNYC” card you can sign for and get a free one-year membership for a curated list of cultural institutions in New York.

Last year was my first time taking the Staten Island ferry during sunset, believe it or not. Recently I went back again, but this time with a few friends which was an amazing experience as always.

“The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather a condition of it.”

-Nietzche

“Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.”

-Unknown

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”

-William Morris

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”

-George Bernard Shaw

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”

-H. Jackson Brown Jr

The Revolution

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Mandy Mei

“The funny thing about this is… My dad bought this Roku thing as soon it released and it was around the time I started finals in my Associate’s year. He unboxed it and out came this quote card right here. At the time I had strong emotions towards changing the world, especially for the homeless.

So everytime I look at it, I get motivated. I don’t know, I just kind of love how simply it’s phrased. It’s weird, but it spoke to me so I choose to keep it around. I feel good about the future to come.”

Student Name: A. A.

Major: Computer Science

Age: N/A

Virtues from Motherhood: A Full Time Life

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Samantha

Everyone in life has goals, dreams or aspirations of what they aim to achieve in life. People make plans and timelines to accomplish these things with the hope that they won’t be derailed or rerouted along the way. Reality however tells us that isn’t how things work and my life is testament to it. At 18 years old, in my very first semester of college I found out that I was pregnant. That was one of the most emotional days of my life; fear, anxiety, excitement and confusion overwhelmed me. How could I raise a baby? Would I be a good mom? What would happen to my goals and plans for myself?

Ultimately I decided to have the baby, a little girl I named Ava. After weighing my options and listening to the opinions and advice of my close friends and family I decided that I made an adult choice and I would just arrange my life goals around raising a daughter. To my surprise that was far easier said than done and I found myself overwhelmed with a newborn and a full time college schedule. I dropped out of John Jay College when Ava was 9 months old and didn’t return to college until 2013. Dropping out of college was a difficult and defeating choice for me and I felt lost and unmotivated after. I felt like I’d failed myself and my family and most of all Ava. My biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be someone she looked up to or admired and that she’d feel I was a quitter. So at 23 I rolled my sleeves up and went back to college, albeit no easy task while working full time but I was determined to finish what I’d started.

In June of 2015 at 25 years old I finally earned a college degree, an Associates in Business Administration. I didn’t have plans to go on for my bachelors but my advisor and English professor encouraged me to keep going and recognize my own potential. I am so glad I continued onto City Tech because in one semester I have met such amazing people and made life long friends. I have met professors who believe in and encourage me and make me feel that my goals are possible.

That is why I am writing this blog I want other moms or even other parents who are working and going to school while raising a child that this is possible and you can do it. I want anyone who’s been told to give up, go home or quit to read my experiences and feel inspired or reach out for support. My high school guidance counselor told me that I would never get any type of college degree being a teen mom that I should forget college and go find a full time job. Not only was she insanely unprofessional, she was wrong because I earned my degree and I’m working on a second. So whoever you are, whatever you’re doing know that it is possible and you will succeed because we all have the power inside of us to do so despite the struggles that we have endured. Remember the word impossible itself says “I’m possible”.

Comment Below and share your story. Have you ever faced adversity and triumphed? Are you a parent in school? Share your story I’d love to hear and get to know my followers!

Succeed by attitude

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Mandy Mei

“I believe we must find our passion in life. Once we find what drives us- then by having a positive attitude we can succeed. Success for everyone is different- success to me is happiness. I do not have a lot of friends, I do not have an adventurous lifestyle, but I know what drives me happy. My happiness comes from being able to share a memorable experience with people and being able to touch their heart. I am passionate about marketing because it is in marketing that I can create the magical and intangible experience that connects to people head, heart, and soul. Life is full of obstacles and challenges. Every time when I wanted to give up, I remind myself… I must stay strong and positive for what I love/what I believe in- my passion.”

Name: J. Lin
Age: N/A
Major: Hospitality

Embracing the Upcoming Year

Posted on December 21, 2015 by briannavasquez

“Here’s to New Horizons (Brooklyn Heights Promenade)” by Brianna Vasquez

As another semester comes to a close and our stress levels began to decrease, just in time for the holidays. We begin to be sentimental as the year also reaches its end. We began to ponder about the resolutions we will allow ourselves to commit to in the New Year. Yet, we may not completely finish our resolutions; we still write some that we would like to do especially those that consist of a physical change in ourselves such as losing weight or going out in public more. Instead, challenge yourself to resolutions that are more personal such as being a better baker, being more spontaneous, or being brave in unforeseen circumstances. These may be even harder to achieve but in the end, they help us to not only be better for others but for ourselves as we navigate through this journey called life.

So as you prepare for the holidays, remember to be excited for what 2016 may hold or bring to your life and as always I hope to add a new recipe to include in your recipe box to make for the holidays.

Peppermint Meringues

Image by: Annalise Sandberg

Active time: 30 minutes

Start to Finish: 2 1/2 hours

Makes about 5 dozen

Ingredients

3 large egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Red gel-paste food coloring

Directions

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; secure corners with masking tape. Fit a pastry bag with a small open-star tip (such as Ateco #22). Set aside.

Put egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir gently until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer bowl to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Mix in peppermint extract.

Using a new small paintbrush, paint 2 or 3 stripes of red food coloring inside the pastry bag. Fill bag with 1 to 2 cups meringue. Pipe small (3/4-inch-high) star shapes onto prepared baking sheets. Refill bag as necessary, adding food coloring each time.

Bake cookies until crisp but not brown, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

You can make the meringues a week ahead and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place (though not in the freezer or refrigerator). Any humidity or moisture will soften the meringues.

Recipe courtesy of Culinary Serendipity and Martha Stewart

Image by: sarbjit singh

Honestly, I love working for “The Buzz” but I want to become a better writer in the New Year by challenging myself as a writer, in terms of creativity. Personally, I view New Years as a time to evaluate ourselves in order to prosper by way of self-improvement.

Comment on what resolutions you hope to achieve in the New Year? What does New Year’s mean to you? What are some of your traditions? I hope that you achieve the goals that you set for yourself and wish you luck in all your future endeavors. And Cheers to new horizons and opportunities.

What I Learned From Blogging on The Buzz

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Jessica

Hi everyone! You probably know me best as the crazy, passionate foodie on The Buzz and you were probably looking forward to a blog post about food, well today’s post is going to be a little different. This is my last post with The Buzz as next semester is my last semester and I will need to take care of other obligations. I just want to take the time to reflect on how far I’ve come with food blogging on The Buzz and what I’ve learned.

It’s been an honor to be a part of a team at City Tech particularly for blogging because I am passionate about blogging and I always love to meet other bloggers no matter age, sex, niche, major, and etc. Although I haven’t had much opportunity to meet the other bloggers because I go to school and work part-time, I still felt a connection.
It was nice to show another side of me in front of City Tech, besides as a Hospitality student. I was able to share my love and passion for food and restaurants through The Buzz, something I haven’t been able to do too much of in my degree/department.
I learned how to remain determined and motivated to stick to a blogging schedule and even though at times I had hundreds of topics I can blog about, it always came down to – what do I think everyone else would be interested in or what haven’t I blogged about yet?.
I learned a lot from other students just by reading their blog posts and looking through their pictures they post. I really felt everyone’s creative juices coming together.
One last item I am very fortunate about is to be able to build up my blogging/writing portfolio and I will have the opportunity to show it to future companies of the work I’ve done and how far I’ve come.

If your interested in keeping up with me and my food adventures, you can always read my food blog – Ambitious Eats or keep up with my Yelp reviews. Thanks to everyone that has helped me and supported me while I was on The Buzz! It’s been a great pleasure to blog for this community.

For Future Openlab bloggers: If you ever need advice on starting a blog or blogging itself, you can contact me through school e-mail and etc. Most importantly when you blog for The Buzz, be yourself

A Charitable Winter

Posted on December 15, 2015 by AmoniB

As an afterschool teacher, I taught my 4:5th grade students to importance of generosity, empathy, and thankfulness during the fall and winter months. Although it is a struggle to get them to learn tolerance and that there are various forms of bullying to withhold from, they seen to be getting the charitable concept.

We will be doing a play, written and directed by me, this week on 18th of December to show the thankfulness and charity of the holiday season. I will edit this blog to add images of the performance. Here are some images leading up to this point, as far as prep and learning concepts.

: concepts

: stage direction

: empathy, charity, thankfullness

: anti bullying

: charity

: stage

: staging

Share what you are doing that’s charitable this winter. And check out Vive Entertainment Enterprises @vive_ent they are hosting a homeless clothing drive.

Hope to see you guys next semester.

Cloudy Days

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Jean-Luc

New York City isn’t necessarily known for as a cloudy city, but sometimes it does get really cloudy in NYC. And when it does happen, many times it becomes such a spectacular phenomenon for one to admire.

The part of the day to best fully catch the beauty of the clouds over the city is during the times of sunrise and sunset. This is when the dazzling clouds in he sunlight gets more noticeable and creates such a fantastic view. At multiple times, I find myself lost and in awe looking at the clouds as they pass over the city’s astonishing skyline. For something that is not a daily occurrence in NYC, when it greets the city, it magnificently add a beautiful touch it and adds grandeur to New York City’s unique identity.

a city skyline in front of a sunset sky, with cars on a bridge Brooklyn Bridge – Brooklyn

Gantry Park Plaza – Queens

Manhattan Bridge – Manhattan

Brooklyn Bridge – Brooklyn

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