SPS SPIRIT WEEK 2020

Our highly anticipated SPS Spirit Week 2020 kicked off with an Instagram Takeover by former School of Professional Studies Dean, Susan Greenbaum sharing her Apple Tarte Tatin recipe.

Students were invited to attend a virtual tour of one of the crowning jewels of the World’s museums located right here in New York City for School Spirit Day.  

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is Colloquially known as “the Met”. Our guide selected works of art from a range of cultures and time periods across The Met’s collection, which spans more than 5,000 years. The one hour tour was held virtually on the Microsoft Teams platform.

Wellness Day started with a Yoga "Energizing" Flow and Meditation Session facilitated by Jessica Estrada Watson from the SPS Office of Student Affairs and adjunct faculty member, Marissa Hou.

Yoga sessions started with a fun-flowing 50-minute beginner yoga Vinyasa class which included pilates, followed by a 10-minute meditation session. Two sessions were held throughout the day.

Fun Fact - Jessica Estrada Watson was almost 9 months pregnant at the time she facilitated these Yoga session. The following week, she give birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Listen to the Guided Mediation Audio

Spirit Week Mediation Guide

Also featured on Wellness Day were two Origami Cranes for a Cause! sessions led by student leaders, Aggie Dent and Shiqin Cao. The SPS Recreation Committee in partnership with the SPS Community Service Committee, challenged students to raise funds for the  CDC Foundation.

Origami cranes are linked to the belief that folding 1000 of them will grant you one wish-- long life or recovery from illness. The SPS community were encouraged to donate $5 on behalf of the SPS team to participate.  The event raised $616 for the CDC Foundation.  

Tutorial on how to create an Origami Crane

“How I Got Here: Speaker Lunch Series” session featured proud SPS Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies alumni and front-line worker, Michele Thorpe.  Since the outbreak of the pandemic in New York City, Michele has been working as a medical tech in the ICU and Med/Surg Covid-19 Nursing Unit at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.  Michele Thorpe shared her experiences amidst the pandemic and how she selected her career path.  

Michele was an SPS Dean's Scholar and is a member of the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honors Society, NYU's Delta Upsilon Chapter.  She has written a total of four pieces of poetry published in NYU’s Dovetail Magazine. In 2019, Michele received awards from the NYU SPS including Program of the Year and Most Valuable Team Member for her community service for children with cancer. Thorpe collaborated with NYU Elmer Bobst Library and curated an online collection for NYU 2019 World AIDS Day .

View Video of the Event

The day concluded with "Re-imagine the New Norm: Stepping Through the Semester with Confidence". Through this workshop facilitated by Vanessa Marquez, Life Coach & NYU Staff member, students learned how to embark on a journey of introspection, process, and exploration to assist students as they reimagined the new normal; while engaging their relationships to productivity, self-care, overwhelm, and resiliency. 

During this session, questions posed to students were:

• What has been your biggest challenge during this period of remote learning?

• What has been your biggest opportunity during this time of remote learning?

• What do you hope to get out of this workshop?

View Slide Presentation

View Video of the Event

Alumni Conversations: Spirit Week Edition featured alumni from across the SPS who recounted their on-campus and professional experiences. Students had the opportunity to pose questions and receive advice on how to make the most of your time at SPS. This event was facilitated by the SPS Office of Alumni Relations.

Panelist included:

Aditya Kashyap '16, | Alex Patterson '13 '16 | Amelia Wolf '13

View Video of Event

Alumni-Student Conversation for LGBTQ+ Community, hosted by the SPS Rainbow Alliance and the SPS Office of Alumni Relations, featured SPS alumni and students discussing their time on campus and engagement with the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. 

Panelists included:

Kody Christiansen '20 | Amanda Lehrer '17 | Mariano Gallego '12 | Susie Poore '22

The day was capped with another Alumni-Student Conversation for Veterans, hosted by the SPS Veterans Association and the SPS Office of Alumni Relations, featured SPS alumni and students discuss their time on campus and engaging with the veterans' community. 

Panelist included:

Grant Fox '11  | Kareem Paschal '22 | James Philips '21 | Allen McFarlane '92 | Sidney Covington '19

View Video of Event

Public Speaking and Interview Skills in this New Virtual World, featured Brian Rogers, an SPS Professor in Project Management. Brian led students on a journey to embrace the new normal.  Students learned how to craft a winning interview in the post COVID-19 economy,  practice their interview skills, and get instant success formulas to improve your performance. 

Brian Rogers is the author of "The 3x3 Interview Prep Method: How to Land Your Dream Jon on Wall $treet" and the founder of "theROGERSgroup nyc".

View Slide Presentation

View Video of Event

Professional Headshots x Setting Up Your Desk Workshop, facilitated by Afua Preston, SPS staff and Elena Olivo, NYU Photo Bureau.  Afua, gave lessons on working from home. Students learned how to properly setting up their virtual workspace. Elena showed us how to take LinkedIn-level professional head-shots from our own home. 

View Slide Presentation

View Video of Event

Maintaining the right balance of the 5Ls has helped individuals from all stages in their life. The 5Ls - The Gift of a Balanced Life, featuring Mike Mannix & Sal LaGreca, Founders of Unparalleled Performance, taught us the science-supported 5Ls program which provides guidance to achieve an effective personal and professional life. From students to high-level leaders, the 5Ls has given them the pathway for sustainable success personally and professionally, especially during stressful times. 

Sal LaGreca brings over 40 years of executive leadership from billion-dollar global businesses to middle market companies and start-ups.  Mike Mannix brings 28+ years of business experience spanning multiple industries, advancing to become an Executive Board Member of a Global BPO organization. 

Read Full Presenter Bios

View Slide Presentation

View Video of Event

For students who were curious about Graphic Design, the Graphic Design Masterclass: Beginner Edition, facilitated by Patrick Kosmowski, showed students the Tech Industry's best design tricks in a live demo! 

Patrick Kosmowski is a NYC-based Product Designer.

View Video of Event

Throughout October 2020, 16 interdisciplinary teams of SPS students had been working on their solutions to a business challenge:  Scaling Without Compromising on Culture. 

This event hosted by the NYUSPS Wasserman Center for Career Development (Sponsored by EY), was held live as the Five final teams presented to a panel of judges from EY and Lair East Labs.  The winning team was selected in the NYUSPS Innovation Challenge Grand Finals. 

Congratulations to Team Totum (Rachel Hui, Linxuan Li, Nianrou Liu, Weiyao Lyu, Tania Mishra, and Roxy Yang) from the MS in Integrated Marketing and MS in Management and Systems on their winning solution: a cloud-based platform that utilizes gamification strategies to facilitate growth and retain corporate culture by using artificial intelligence to intuitively inform and evolve the onboarding and learning process.  Team Totum's prize was a meet and greet with the Head of Innovation Americas at EY.

View Slide Presentation

View Video of the Event

Spirit Week 2020 was unlike any other--we were together, but virtually from different places all around the world. The Recreation Committee and SPS International Club hosted Global Get Together.  This event offered an experience of performances from different cultures, test your prior knowledge, and connect with fellow students from across the globe!

This event featured a Culture Spotlight session. Students represented their home country by introducing their culture through various formats.  Attendees were encouraged to sing in their mother tongue, do a traditional dance, wear traditional costume and/or talk  about their traditions. 

We hosted an IG Live Cooking Class  with Chef Perry Kwok, International Culinary Center graduate, aka "SPS Celebrity Chef".  Students were given a cooking class on making Curry Chicken Puffs and learned knife skills.

Cuisine has a magical way of transporting us around the world and even back in time! Chef Perry Kwok takes us back to memories from his childhood eating Curry Chicken Puffs with his parents at MeiMei bakery in Chinatown.  Attendees knife skills, French terms & techniques, and of course how to make Curry Chicken Puffs (vegetarian substitutions available) just in time for your next get-together!

Curry Chicken Puff Recipe

View Video of Event

The SPS Recreation Committee and SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management for SPS students) held a Karaoke Social Mixer to bring together SPS in a fun way.  Students enjoyed a fun night of networking, socializing, and karaoke! 

2-in-1 Comedy x Drag Night, sponsored by the SPS Recreation Committee and the SPS Rainbow Alliance, was a perfect way to wrap up Spirit Week 2020!  This FABULOUS event brought the heat and featured comedian Avra Friedman and drag queen Ritzy Bitz.  

Avra and Ritzy each performed a 30-minute set, with some fun improvised dialogue between the two. 30 minutes didn't seem long enough though, so of course we had to demand an encore. Laughs were shared, audience members were roasted, and this was certainly a night to remember. We can't wait to hopefully bring Avra and Ritzy back to SPS in the future to make even more hilarious memories!"

Avra Friedman is an NYU Tisch alumna and graduated in 2013 with a bachelors in Theatre. Currently, she can be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s newest comedy series, Now Apocalypse, on STARZ, playing the recurring role of Magenta.

Ritzy Bitz is the definition of fabulous. After graduating from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, she established herself as “NYC’s drag brunch queen” and has since been described as the “renaissance of drag brunch.”