S3 / Episode 1 – Are you aligned with your intuition?

RAQUEL: WELCOME TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF BMCC OPENLAB STUDENT VOICES. I'M RAQUEL NERIS, AND IN THIS EPISODE, IQRA SHEIKH, FROM THE OPENLAB TEAM, INTERVIEWS BENITA BATAMA, A COMMUNICATIONS STUDIES MAJOR. IN THIS INTERVIEW, BENITA SHARES ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE IN CHANGING HER ACADEMIC PATH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF BMCC RESOURCES. LET’S LISTEN TO HER STORY. ___ In this podcast episode, Ikra Shaikh interviews Benita Batama about her journey at BMCC. Benita shares that she initially majored in computer science but switched to communications studies after taking a speech class that she found engaging. She emphasizes the importance of the supportive community at BMCC, both among students and professors. Benita advises future BMCC students to take their time and learn from their mistakes without the fear of heavy consequences. She plans to transfer to Baruch College and pursue a major in human resources or labor studies with the goal of becoming a labor and employment lawyer. Benita also discusses an internship program in Paris that she participated in through BMCC, highlighting the need for better awareness and promotion of available resources for students. The podcast ends with Iqra expressing hope that the conversation will bring about positive changes at BMCC. All right. Iqra: Hi, everyone. My name is Iqra Sheikh, and today I am with Benita: Benita Batama. Iqra: Benita Batama for the Season 3 of the Open Lab Student Voices Podcast. And in this season, we're going to be talking about Benita's journey at BMCC, since this is her last year or last semester…? Benita: Yes. Iqra: Okay. And yeah, we're going to start off with, what is Benita's major. What is your major, Benita? Benita: So I'm a Communications Studies major here at BMCC. Iqra: Nice. And how did you figure out that this was going to be your major for BMCC? Benita: I actually had a professor who I took Speech 100 with, and it was just an amazing experience, just everything I learned about culture, but also amongst, like, individuals intertwining with intercultural communications, but really interpersonal communications. And I thought it was an amazing experience just being in her class, and the students were very engaged, and I thought this was it. It was a lightbulb experience, and it was a great experience, so I changed my major. Iqra: Okay. What was your major before this major? Benita: Yeah, my major was computer science. I wanted to go down that route because I had just worked for a Fortune 500 tech company called National Cash Register, and I thought this was also a route that I wanted to go towards. And after being a student in that major, I just realized how unnatural it felt. It felt as if I wanted to prove a point rather than enjoy the profession. Iqra: Cool. So what are some things that helped you pursue, you know, your degree that kept you motivated to show up and to get the stuff that you needed to get done in order to get out? Benita: Yeah, I would definitely say, first and foremost, it would be the students. Every single one of the other students within the classroom, they gave it 110%. They were engaged. There was a lot of communication, hence the major, but also it was really more of that camaraderie, being able to hang out with other students, feeling like it's an actual community versus a classroom. And then next would be, of course, the professors. They also had that close-knit family feel where each of them know, because it was such a small major, each professor knows each other, and each would just, you know, recommend. But in the same time, it was just how smoothly every class flowed with the next. Iqra: Nice. Yeah, the last students who I was just talking to, they also said that it's the community, and I agree, you know, community helps you to keep going. — COMMENT 1: RAQUEL: IN THIS INITIAL CONVERSATION, BENITA SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO RETHINK OUR PERSONAL BELIEFS WHEN CHOOSING A MAJOR. SHE ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE ROLE THAT HER COLLEAGUES AND PROFESSOR PLAYED IN HER DECISION, AS THEY MADE HER FEEL CONNECTED AND MOTIVATED IN HER STUDIES. HAVING A GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM CAN REALLY HELP YOU STAY ON TRACK AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY THROUGH COLLEGE. NEXT, BENITA SHARES SOME ADVICE FOR NEW STUDENTS. ___ Iqra: If there was an advice you would give to your future self entering BMCC, back when you were a freshman, what would the advice be? If there's any. Like there's no advice, no advice. Benita: Oh, my goodness. I think that I've made so many mistakes, and that's the beauty of being here at BMCC. If you were in any other institution besides BMCC or besides CUNY, when you make a mistake or if you choose the wrong class, the price you pay is hefty. Versus being here at a community college, you know, especially BMCC, being in New York City, you do get a free flow of a melting pot of all the different students, the world at your front doorstep, I would say. But really in the same step, I would say that if you make a mistake here, you're able to learn from it, and it's not costing you much. Or if anything, you always have the chance to redo your mistakes or learn from it or better from it before you go to a four-year institution. So one thing that I would definitely say is take your time. You're not at any race with anyone else or with yourself. It's not a next step. It's really more of a journey. So really understand what you're doing, really understand where you're at, and how it flows into your life. And also I would definitely say project in as far as thinking about the future and how it flows into the next step. Iqra: Okay. And are you transferring anywhere after here? Benita: Yeah. I'm hoping to transfer to Baruch. It's not set in stone yet, but I'm definitely hoping to transfer to a human resource major or something along the line of labor studies as my next journey, all for the end point of being a labor and employment lawyer or attorney. — COMMENT 2: RAQUEL: BENITA'S THOUGHTS EMPHASIZE THE FREEDOM THAT BMCC OFFERS TO MAKE MISTAKES AND LEARN FROM THEM. SHE ALSO APPRECIATES THE DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY AT BMCC, SEEING IT AS A PLACE TO GROW AND FIGURE THINGS OUT AT YOUR OWN PACE. HER ADVICE IS CLEAR: DON’T RUSH, COLLEGE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A RACE. HER TRANSFER PLANS TO BARUCH ALSO SHOWS HOW BEING PART OF A COMMUNITY COLLEGE CAN BE A GREAT LAUNCHPAD FOR FUTURE GOALS. IN THE FINAL PART OF THIS INTERVIEW, BENITA SHARES HOW BMCC HELPED HER ACHIEVE ONE OF HER GREATEST DREAMS. — Iqra: Big goals to achieve in life, and that is what we should always strive for. And the last question is, if there are any changes or things that you would like to see at BMCC, what would they be? Benita: Yeah. I was actually talking to another student outside who I went abroad with to Paris, and that's all with a partnership with CIEE and BMCC just recently this year in 2024. And one thing that we wanted to say is that all the resources such as honor students or any student just going through their academic journey, you don't know what is available to you. BMCC's model is start here, go anywhere. But at the same time, when you start here, I don't think that you understand how much resources are provided to you as a student. And it's so easy to think that, you know, you just go to class and you go home. But unless you really ask the right question, then are you given the right opportunity? So I think that having that highlighted to every student, what is here? What is available to you? What resources can you use to your advantage to get to the next step? That's something I do want on display. Iqra: Very cool. Yeah, I didn't know BMCC had this. Was this like an exchange program in Paris? Benita: Yeah, it's an internship program to allow minorities or just students in New York City to get the privilege of interning abroad or to gain cultural awareness and experience. And until you actually know that program exists or until some other student recommends it to you, you're kind of left in the dark not realizing that. Iqra: Right. Yeah. So what was the internship like? Like what did you do for the internship? Benita: Yeah, it was an interview process with, like a French company. I would definitely say a Parisian company. So for me specifically, I would be interning in the hospitality industry as a communications major. And my position was really aligned, was geared towards events and partnership. And so that's what I was working with. I was helping to open a chateau abroad in the countryside of France. And it was just an experience for sure, but also being able to see Paris. It was a dream of mine, but being able to be there and live there for two months and interact with the natives, but also, I mean, with other students who are going through the same experience as you. — Iqra: Wow. Yeah. So definitely, you know, the highlights of this is like there are a bunch of resources out there for BMCC students. And BMCC should do a better job by putting that on display in the forefront so more students can have an awareness of this. Benita: Absolutely. Iqra: Okay. Well, that advice, you know, I think we can do something with that and with this podcast. Hopefully, we'll see the changes needed. Yeah. Thank you so much, Benita, for joining the Season 3 of the Open Lab for Student Voices. Benita: Thank you very much, Iqra. Lovely to be here. — FINAL COMMENT: RAQUEL: START HERE, GO ANYWHERE. AS WE COULD LISTEN IN BENITA’S STORY, THIS PHRASE IS NOT JUST A NICE TAGLINE, BUT A REALITY FOR THE STUDENTS THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RESOURCES THEY HAVE ON THEIR HANDS. IT IS ALSO A WARNING FOR THE COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION, SINCE IT IS BMCC’S RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE STUDENTS AWARE ABOUT THEIR OPPORTUNITIES WHILE AT COLLEGE. THIS EPISODE IS PART OF OUR THIRD SEASON CALLED FINDING YOUR PATH THROUGH COLLEGE, IN WHICH WE FOCUS ON THE JOURNEYS OF STUDENTS WHO’VE EXPLORED, QUESTIONED, AND ULTIMATELY DISCOVERED THE PATH THEY WANT TO FOLLOW, BOTH AT BMCC AND IN LIFE. IF YOU HAVE A STORY YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE ON A FUTURE EPISODE, WRITE US AT BMCC.OPENLAB.PODCAST@GMAIL.COM. YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT. I WILL SEE YOU IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF THE OPENLAB STUDENT VOICES PODCAST.