S1 / Episode 2 – Making connections by exploring spaces

The podcast episode features an interview with Brian Ortiz, a talented music major at BMCC. He discusses his interests, including caring for others and sharing his creativity. He also mentions being allergic to chocolate. Brian talks about his journey in finding a music program at BMCC and the challenges he faced during the pandemic. He emphasizes the importance of in-person learning and exploring the campus and surrounding area. He feels connected to the school and appreciates the college experience it has provided him. Welcome to Student Voices, a podcast that presents awesome stories of BMCC students. In this season, we are launching a series of interviews about the challenges in developing a sense of belonging and creating a community as a BMCC student. In this episode, Ikra Shaikh from the Open Lab team interviews Brian Ortiz. Brian is a talented jazz and pop major, songwriter, dancer, and guitar player. No more talking, let's just jump to his interview. Let's start off with who you are, what school you go to, you know, which is, we already know what school, but let's just start out with that. Well, hello world, from wherever sees this in the near future, which probably hopefully a lot of people, Brian Ortiz here, I go to BMCC, 22 years old, but yeah, also a music major, I didn't even sit down, but yeah, there's that. Okay. All right. In a few sentences, how would you describe yourself and share your greatest interests and one fun fact about yourself? Okay. So in a few sentences, in a few sentences, how I would describe myself, I would say I'm a very caring and protective person, especially when it comes to friends and family, in any way whatsoever. I'm very caring. I'm also very open to listening. I'm like a POV. I always hear it from two stories, I don't take one side or the other, it's always both ways. And yeah, I'm pretty considerate towards others. How do I share my interests? Well, if you go through my Instagram, that's pretty much all I can really do at the moment is just take the camera, sit in front of the camera and whatnot. And yeah, that's what I do. I'm an open book, so I just share it all out in the world for people to see. It's fun. I love it. Some people like it. Some people don't. If they don't, that's them. I'm just living life to the fullest. And as long as I'm happy, that's all I can ever ask for. Yeah. That's all we can ever do in this planet is just be happy for what we got in the time that we have. And what was the last question again? And share one fun fact about yourself. Oh yeah. Actually, no. This is going to shock everybody. I can't, I'm allergic to chocolate. Like I can't eat chocolate. Any piece of chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. When I was obviously searching through colleges in high school, which was 2019, 2018, because I was a junior, 18 years old, I always was looking for something, music. I always wanted to be in a music major, and the schools that were, they were very expensive, and they were serious. I was like, no, can't. We've got to start very small. And not a lot of CUNYs have opened doors for music that I know of, that I knew of at the time, because I was always in a, I was in a high school full of like athleticism and academics, and that was just not me. Obviously academics, I was pretty smart, but I wasn't as smart as all the other brainiacs apparently, but I knew music was my thing. I knew creativity was a part of me and would always be a part of me, and that was something that I wanted to explore more out into the world, share more out into the world. And I'm glad that I took that step, because I kept searching and searching until I found here, and I was like, oh, something small, something simple, and the music program is great in BMCC. Like, it's fantastic. So I was like, you know what, this is the first step, and I just kept going from there. I knew that it was going to be a start to a wonderful journey, and it has been. It's been wonderful. Besides the pandemic, that's when I had to like shut it down, and then I was like, I can't come back to the school because I can't focus doing this, like what we're doing online. You know, it's hard to receive information and process it, and it's better in person to do that than over the phone. But I mean like learning-wise. Like, you know, learning-wise, things that we needed to learn, we couldn't really do. Keyboard, like a keyboard class. We had a keyboard class. I can't go ahead and buy a keyboard for a small apartment in the Bronx and then expect to find a place to put it away. I was like, you know what, I'm going to end up failing all my classes. I'm going to have to just drop them. And then I came back when school reopened and they did hybrid, and I said, you know what, I'm going to do the same thing, and I did it. So I came back 2021, 2020, and yeah, like 2021, basically. Yeah, like when COVID hit, I was still at BMCC, and that was in 2019, right? Yeah. No, no. It was beginning of 2020, because I was in spring semester of 2020 when that occurred. I remember 2019, because in 2019, I had literally just been fresh out of high school. It was literally my first year. Oh, yeah. The COVID pandemic imposed real challenges, especially for students and teachers. Ikra reminds us of the things that she experienced during 2020, a story that represents what many of us had to go through. Yeah, 2020, I was still at BMCC, and I remember when COVID, you know, when it was in the news, I didn't really think much of it, and then later it got to a point where I had to take classes online, and it was hard. Definitely, at some points, I felt like I wasn't even learning. I was just writing just to write and to get by and not, you know, but I changed. Like, I look at it now, and I'm like, you know, I did try my best, you know, and everyone was going through such a hard time, you know, especially, like, the schooling system. Like, my little brother, who was five at the time, his school was online. Everyone was going through such a hard time, and, oh, yeah. Anyways, just saying, like, I totally agree with you. It was, you know, being super hard to, like, feel like you're in school when it's all online. But, oh, yes, I wanted to ask, like, so what kind of music, like, is that the right answer to ask, like, a music major? What kind of music do you make, or, like, what instrument do you play? Yeah, there's a lot of different players of instruments here. You have a lot of piano players, guitar players, clarinet players, trumpet players. The list will go on. I'm not going to stop there. So, what do you play? My main instrument is voice, and I do play a little bit of guitar, because I do have guitar classes here. By the way, if anyone from DMC is watching this, and you are a psych major, or just letting you know you want to learn an instrument, and as an elective, take guitar 101 or 102 for music. Very important. Just saying, you want to learn an instrument, you want to learn guitar, that's the class for you, 101 and 102. So, could anyone just enroll into those classes? It's an elective, so, yeah, it's an elective. Wow. I wish I knew that when I was a student. ♪♪ Brian also shares his story of attending classes in person. And for him, curiosity in exploring DMCC buildings and their surroundings was key to leveraging his learning experience. ♪♪ Oh, dang. You're lucky you didn't make me. I was like the guide. I was the guide. Anyone who knows me and actually hangs out with me will tell you, this kid knows the building inside and out. And I did it since 2019. When I first arrived freshman year, I was curious. I was in Manhattan by myself. For the grace of God, I was like, wait, I'm alone in the world? Finally. And so I said, I'm going to take it upon myself to explore the city. In doing so, I explored the buildings. I found shortcuts to get to spots in the building. I would make different routes for myself to get around the buildings, Chambers, Fitterman-Murray, and all of it. So, basically, now I'm like a walking tour guide for anyone new coming in. And it's fun. It is fun. And then I would go out to different places in the city near the school, and I would find, like, ooh, there's a bagel shop here. Ooh, there's Chinatown not so far from here. And I found so many cool places. And I was like, you know what, I will stay here forever. But not the school, but, like, near the area. But, yeah, there's that. Do you feel connected to the school? Does BMCC give you that college experience you want? Yeah. You're nodding your head, yes. I would say, yes, 100%. I mean, obviously, in the beginning, not. Because, you know, you're fresh out of high school. You're still feeling like a child. You still kind of have those tendencies to act like one. But then later on, you get a little older. You start to process things a lot more easier. You start to see things for how they really are. You're like, wow, this is how it is to be an adult, you know, coming out to work. You got to come out here. I know leaving the house all the time, I got to come out with a certain amount of money. Because if not, I'm not eating for the day. You know, you learn different things. You learn different things. You learn how to read people, perceive people. That's one thing. You learn how to move around, you know, alone in life, which I don't think a lot of people can do nowadays, especially now with the youngsters nowadays being behind the computer. They don't really go out and perceive the world. And it's fun to do that. It's fun to go out and see who are the people that are well-intended and who are not. It's fun to learn that. So you're saying because you had the experience of attending BMCC in person, you gained a lot of value from that. You know, you learned how to literally go outside in the world alone, because you have to go to school alone, into a neighborhood that is not near you. So, like, you're doing that extra leap, you know, to have to continue your life, which means traveling to a whole different borough, you know, and then learning that neighborhood. But other than that, do you think that school as, like, an academic system, is providing you with the needs that you want for a college experience? Like, you can answer yes or no. It's an open-ended question. Do you feel a sense of belonging? Like, when you are in BMCC, do you feel like, yeah, I belong here? I'm welcomed here. Literally, when I'm, like, right across the street from Bidderman Hall, I'm home. So, yeah, I do. I'm like, I'm back. Every semester when it ends and then we reopen, I'm like, I'm home. Yes, yes. And I get very excited to come back every time, because not only do I get to see the people I care about, I get to see the teachers that, like, taught me so much that I've learned from. And, you know, even if it's on an everyday basis, and, yeah, there are days where you're like, oh, I don't want to go to school. I have those days, but I still come to school, and I still come with the biggest smile on my face, because it's a joy to just come here, to just be able to just learn the things I need to learn. And you know what? Make your schedule, you know, around, you know, make yourself have a little bit of break here and there. That way you can explore, just to let the people know, and let them, you know, just see how to make it work. But, yeah, I would say, yes, I would. I feel very well connected, especially the couple of times that, I believe it was when, before it was like last fall? No, last spring, last spring semester, SGA had a lot of different events, and I performed at a few of the events, you know, singing-wise, and dancing-wise, and it's fun. It is fun to like, you know, be one of the people that are like, you know, oh, you know that guy. He's been done, he's done this, and that, and the third. I would say for myself, and I think for a lot of people that know me, this one right next to me in particular, would say, I know I'm pretty much famous at the school, quote-unquote, because I've been told I can't be around a person for 10 minutes without me being recognized around the school. And I'm like, hmm, is this true? But then again, it has happened. Funny story, I was with a friend in Shake Shack. You know, there's two. There's the one near Battery Park City, and then there's one right here in the Fulton Center. And me and my friend Clarice, who goes to the school as well, we're going to get Shake Shack, we come back. We had received four people. And it was literally the time frame of, like, maybe five to 10 minutes. Had noticed me coming and going back. I'm like, wow, she's right. You can't go 10 minutes without me saying hi to somebody, at least. Yeah. It sounds like you definitely have a community. Yeah. You have your people. You're not alone. You're literally not. There's so many different people coming here of all ages. When I first got here, I saw a very, very, like, you know, old lady. You know, that's not how I got to say it, old lady, because I thought she was very old, taking a voice class. And I was in shock. I was like, what is happening? Because I didn't know at that age you could still keep going to college. And it's very cool to see that. It encourages me to, like, keep going. Like, yeah, I can keep going, you know. Who knows, I can go for, like, more and more, you know, degrees if I want to besides music, I believe. Also, yeah, I had another classmate who's 36 years old. His name was Sam. He came back to VMTD twice, the reason being he already graduated, but then he came back for another degree, which was the music degree. And I was like, oh, I did not know that. That's cool. Like, I was in shock that you could – I didn't even know you could do that. And also, for my dear freshmen, when you get here, it's exciting, but please go to your classes. Like, I know you're like, oh, it's like a shiny new toy, you know. You're like, it's new, it's wonderful, it's amazing. I have to explore, which, yeah, you do. But, like, make your schedule, make it to that. So make it like that, you know what I mean? Make it that you have that time to, like, explore, but also have that time to go to your classes and also to learn. Because, like I said, when you come out of high school, you still have those childlike tendencies. You still have those, you know, childlike habits. You're like, oh, I want to skip class today. Don't do it because you could miss something very important. I remember I got sick and I missed a class. I had missed a very – I missed so much information. I got lost within one class the rest of the semester. I was just lost. Wow. I was lost. I didn't ask for any notes because I was like, maybe I can just catch up. Nope. That was not ideal at all. Maybe this can also be something like some type of advice for you, you know, ask your classmates for notes, you know. That's awesome. Okay. Yeah, and, like, I also wanted to say how I found your Instagram was because the SGA had an event, you know, where it was like a talent show, I think. And then I saw, you know, like the video of you singing and dancing, and I was like, oh, nice moves. And then I, like, went on to find you, and that's how I messaged you. Okay. You are doing everything that you can to really be acknowledged in this school and to really take part in every activity that the school is offering you. Okay. I think that's it. Yeah, we've covered all of the questions. Yeah, I also want to say thank you so much for, you know, giving me the time to talk to you and to, like, ask you if you want to be in this podcast series. And you were really helpful and just very outgoing. And, yeah, and I feel like I really appreciate that because there's not a lot of students like that. Not a problem. It is nice to, like, you know, talk about the school, able to talk to people about the school, let them know, like, hey, you can come here. It's amazing. It's fantastic. Just push yourself to learn, and you'll love it more and more every day. ♪♪ Explore the campus and its surroundings. Make your schedule. And give value to classes. In this interview, Brian makes us think about how the college experience is unique and that every student should take this opportunity to the fullest. This episode is part of our podcast series about the challenges in developing a sense of belonging and creating a community as a BMCC student. Thank you for listening to this interview, and please share your thoughts with us. You are also invited to share your experiences in our podcast. Your voice is important. I am Rafael Neves from the Open Lab team, and I will see you in the next episode of the Student Voices podcast. ♪♪