Hello again Bearcats! We’ve finally made it through our first half of the school year and are officially entering finals season.

This is a super hectic time of the year, with final assignments and exams, and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. But despite finals week approaching, club life was more vibrant than ever in the past couple of days.

USG partnered with the Baruch Counseling Center and the Office of Student Life to host two events which revolved around equipping students with tools to recover from intergenerational trauma and better their daily lives.

Dr. Lynn Kaplan, associate director of the counseling center, moderated the meeting and even provided her professional input.

USG also held a discussion led by The Office of Student Life’s Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Jan Martinez to foster conversations around the topic.

Representative Senators Karina Ordóñez and Dani Kitaygorodskiy spearheaded these two events and helped provide students in attendance with the resources that were discussed.

Additionally, USG has officially passed the STEM code resolution. This action will hopefully advance the administration’s process of updating course code designations to ensure an extra year of optional practical training is available to international STEM students once they graduate.

Baruch student Likhon Roy is credited for bringing this issue to USG’s attention and guiding the initiative. Vice President of Academic and Legislative Affairs Jason Galak and Ashley Chen were also instrumental to organizing this resolution and bringing it to fruition.

Lastly, President Wu hosted a Bubble Tea Event, catered by Yaya Tea near Gramercy Park, to help students de-stress during finals week. The event took place in the Bearcat Den on Dec. 5 during club hours.

It’s safe to say that college isn’t easy, with some of us being in our first or final year, or somewhere in between. Finals week is the last stretch before making it to the next semester.

Ending the semester on a strong note is important, especially with a well-deserved break just ahead. I hope that everyone has a great holiday season. Until next time, Bearcats!