Author Archives | Talha Qureshi

CSU-Pueblo, an experience of life time

File photo

Talha Qureshi has only been a CSU-Pueblo student since the third week of the fall 2012 semester. File photo

While coming to Colorado State University-Pueblo as an international transfer student, all the way from Pakistan, I was both excited and nervous as in what this experience was going to be.

In one sentence, I can summarize this whole experience as turning out to be way better than what I would have imagined.

Due to visa issues, I came to Colorado during the third week of the fall 2012 semester, and was very lucky that I not only got registered into desired classes, but also ended up finding work.

The day when my employers told me that they believe in my skills and abilities to carry out work at their office, I realized that this truly is the land of opportunities.

It was only a month after I came to the United States, when I heard that the vice president of the United States was visiting Pueblo, Colo. for his political campaign for the 2012 presidential elections.

I don’t have words to explain my feelings when I met Joe Biden personally and he ended up wishing me a very happy stay in the United States.

It was also an honor when the director of the Center for International Programs offered me the position of president for the CSU-Pueblo International Students Association. This position was a lot of work and required commitment in bringing international students on campus closer to the local students and Pueblo community members.

I am happy that, as I complete the position of CISA’s presidency successfully after a year, I have accomplished organizing events such as, international movie nights, outdoor trips, game nights, fund raisers, karaoke nights and the 75th Annual Food and Cultural Extravaganza.

It was definitely an honor and source of pride for me to receive the recognition at the extravaganza for completing the term as the 75th President of CISA successfully, and receiving all the appreciation for the hard work and dedication.

However, the most important part of this year came when I received the selection letter from the United Nations Cultural Committee for being selected as the liaison officer for the United States at the New York Model United Nations to be held at U.N headquarters, over spring break.

The experience of being at the U.N. headquarters as an American ambassador was itself the biggest honor I have ever received in my life.

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75th International Food and Cultural Extravaganza

International food and cultural extravaganza

The 75th Annual International Food and Cultural Extravaganza will take place on April 12, from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Occhiato University Center Ballroom. Photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com.

The 75th Annual International Food and Cultural Extravaganza will take place on April 12, from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Occhiato University Center Ballroom.

The Colorado State University-Pueblo International Students Association, an organization at Center for International Programs at CSU-Pueblo, organized the event.

The 75th International Food and Cultural Extravaganza will celebrate the 75 years of international students’ diversity at CSU- Pueblo, and contributes in bringing international students, local American students and community members in Pueblo close to each other.

The theme for this year’s extravaganza is “international fashion and entertainment industries.” Guests are required to dress fancy in accordance with the theme.

For the first time in 75 years, there will be a red carpet entrance, where visiting international and American students, CSU- Pueblo faculty and staff and the Pueblo community members will walk on it, in accordance with the themes and will get their pictures taken.

Later in the evening, guests will have a chance to meet the international students representing their respective countries. The students will be available for questions related to their home countries.

There will also be an open mic talent show in which the students and the audience members will have a chance to present their respective talents.

Although visiting families are encouraged to bring a potluck dish, the theme for this year’s extravaganza food is German, and food all be provided by CISA.

There will also be an international fashion show in which both international and American students at CSU- Pueblo will model in different international dresses from India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Nigeria, China and South Korea.

In addition, the CIP staff will honor Madeline Casus with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” for her utmost services to the international students as a CIP staff member, until Dec. 17, 2012, when she lost her battle with cancer.

There will be a recognition for the “Volunteer of the Year Award,” and will be awarded to that one ‘Friend and Family’ member in Pueblo who has rendered utmost services to the international students at CSU- Pueblo during the 2012-13 year; and has also received strong recommendation from the international students for this award.

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Tiffany Haddish visits CSU-Pueblo

Photo courtesy of http://content9.flixster.com/photo/14/08/53/14085323_ori.jpg

Tiffany Haddish visited CSU-PUeblo on Friday, March 20. Photo courtesy of http://content9.flixster.com/photo/14/08/53/14085323_ori.jpg

Tiffany Haddish, the famous American comedian, who has performed on famous comedy shows like, ‘The Comedy Show’ and ‘The Improv,’ performed at Colorado State University-Pueblo on March 20.

The event was organized by the Office of Student Activities and took place at the Hoag Hall from 7-9 p.m.

The show started with a great introduction of Haddish by Jason Prescott, a representative of the OSA, followed by a great entry dance by Haddish.

“I was so excited that finally some female comedian has come to CSU-Pueblo, as we haven’t had a female comedian for a very long time,” Brielle Byrd, a student at CSU-Pueblo said.

Her show started by talking about an Indian doctor named Gupta, saying how hard Indian people work to become doctors.

The show also consisted of humor that was based on different ethnicities, and personal habits associated with those ethnicities. Haddish targeted audience members associated with that ethnical background to add more practical humor to the evening.

It wasn’t all about making fun of members in the audience, but Haddish also wished happy birthday to an audience member, whose birthday was on March 22. She sang the birthday song in English, Japanese and Spanish.

“She is awesome, as she wished me happy birthday in so many different languages,” Melissa Bates, a student at CSU- Pueblo said.

In addition to using words to convey the humor, Haddish also used a lot of actions, especially when she mentioned the pain women go through by dancing in high heels and later an automatic energy comes into them, when someone offers them a drink.

“Out of all comedians, who have come to CSU-Pueblo, I believe she was the most funniest and special,” Joel Johnston, a student at CSU-Pueblo said.

The audience members were college age, suggesting that Haddish possesses a large market share among youth.

Later, Haddish made jokes about the expectations of men from women and how it helps women to get what they want.

“She was funny and I thought it was a great show,” Prescott said.

During her last part of the evening, Hadddish asked the audience members to follow her on Twitter and got back to them at the very same moment, calling their names on mic, along with funny tag lines.

“I thought she was hilarious and my eyes were watering, which is inappropriate but still it was too much fun,” Edye Goman, a student at CSU Pueblo said.

At the end of the show, Haddish thanked the audience members for appreciating her and supporting her with all her effort.

“It was really fun, I enjoyed a lot, and I would like to thank everybody to allow me to be me,” Haddish said, while meeting the audience members in the hall.

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Annual Pi Day observed at Colorado State University Pueblo

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Alpha Sigma Alpha booth on Pie Day. Today photo courtesy of M. Talha Qureshi

The annual Pie Day was observed on March 14, at Colorado State University-Pueblo, in regard to the number pi.

The event was organized by the Office of Student Activities to support both student organizations on campus by providing networking opportunities and Relay for Life for serving cancer patients.

“It helped facilitating networking to other organization and brought in new members. The pudding pies for this event relate to our chapter, as it relates to our chapter zeta pie,” Ally Sepulveda, chapter president Alpha Sigma Alpha said.

“This experience was definitely worth for our organization as we are new on campus, and needed to aware people about ourselves,” Lauren Bartoll, president of Golden Key Honor Society, said.

OSA had their table set up at the front, where the office representatives gave away pie fillings, so that students and other visitors can take them and fill them up while visiting booths of different student organizations.

“This event was not only fun but also easy for recruitment for our purple pump event, as we recruited members for the event through purple cup cakes and all cakes were gone by the end of the event,” Elizabeth Woods, lead of programming at Diversity Resource Center, said.

“This is for the catholic youth organization campus and we are here to advertise for Jesus and we are promoting our event for mass coming up this spring break. We introduced people our organization and planted our seeds and resulted in people joining social justice and masses,” Andrew Westhoff, music minister at Catholic Campus Ministry, said.

Illuminate bags in the memory of cancer victims, who had lost their battle against cancer. Today photo courtesy of M. Talha Qureshi

Pie Day also featured illuminate bags in the memory of cancer victims, who had lost their battle against cancer. Today photo courtesy of M. Talha Qureshi

There was also a fund raiser done for Relay for Life by selling illuminate bags to those, who have lost their loved ones in the battle against cancer and the pictures of victims were placed on those bag and their names were announced at 1 p.m., to honor their struggle with cancer.

“I thought it was a good experience and it helped us outreaching to those who helps or are devoted to us, and also allowed us to know new students on campus,” Adam Ward, member of Prizm said.

Throughout the event there students, staff and faculty members and people from the community continued visiting, and their main attraction besides pie fillings was the free photo booth organized by OSA.

“The toppings and pies were a really good way to recruit member for the organization,” Zachary Goldsberry, president CRU said.

The attendance received this year, was considered much bigger than last year’s and the social cause connected to this event made it a much bigger success than expected.

“They had about hundred students coming up and it went way better than last year with a lot more traffic. Besides, partnering with programs on campus helped a lot and the student organizations felt more supported by the university,” Alexis King, a work-study student at OSA said.

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CSU- Pueblo Community Networking Mixer

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Students, alumni and local business representatives from Pueblo networking at the Community Networking Mixer. Photo courtesy of Talha Qureshi

Colorado State University- Pueblo Alumni Association and the Career Center hosted a networking reception for graduating students to get a chance to meet the business and leaders in the community- including many CSU- Pueblo alumni.

The event took place on Monday, March 5 between 5-7 p.m. at the Hearthwell Lounge of Occhiato University Center, with no cost to attend.

All current students, alumni, employees of the University along with the members of the Pueblo Community were welcomed to attend the event, in their business dress attire.

“The reason behind the Alumni Association putting on a networking event for students was to showcase the students, who are the employers in the area of Pueblo,” President of the CSU-Pueblo Alumni Association, Chad Heberly, said.

“We believe that these opportunities are best fit by the talent produced by CSU- Pueblo, as students here are community’s greatest asset and we want to create opportunities for them,” Heberly said.

The evening had a good attendance, with members of the CSU-Pueblo Alumni Association showing up. The evening was filled with socialization among different groups of current students, members of Alumni Association and representatives from local businesses in Pueblo.

“The event has turned out to be ok, but I would have liked to see more businesses than alumni in order to network more with the business organizations regarding my career opportunities,” Alexis King, a student at CSU- Pueblo, said.

The Associated Students’ Government provided refreshments for the event, and representatives from ASG were present to assist with the evening’s festivities.

“Tonight we had different alumni to come over speaking and networking, and we also gave away free iPad mini. Students met different people on and off campus and advises were given to the students regarding networking, and really looking forward for the career day tomorrow,” ASG representative, Vanessa Emerson, said.

For some people that were present, the evening turned out to be a great lead for the Career Fair, which took place on March 6.

Den Weber- Schulz, a student at CSU- Pueblo, said, there hadn’t been any company campaigns, but was really looking forward for that at the career fair.

The hospitality of the representatives from local businesses in Pueblo assisted the students with their questions, and offering advice.

“I believe students should never underestimate the importance of networking to increase their chance for job opportunities, by meeting new people and putting themselves out there, and most importantly having fun,” Vice President of Marketing at Power Credit Union, Jennifer Mravich, said.

The event ended with a thank you note from the president of the CSU- Pueblo Alumni Association, to the all the members of the audiences for their support and encouragement to make the evening productive.

 

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Bollywood actress to debut in Hollywood through singing

Priyanka Chopra, one of the top Bollywood actresses, made her singing debut, in Hollywood, by recording an album titled “In My City.”

Priyanka Chopra – In My City ft. will.i.am from PriyankaChopraVEVO on Youtube.

Chopra, who is 30 years old and a celebrity in India, won the Miss India World and the Miss World crowns in 2000, at the age of 18, becoming the fifth Indian woman to win the pageant.

After completing her term as Miss World 2000, Chopra debuted in Bollywood, where she won four Filmfare Awards (considered equivalent to Oscars in Bollywood) and one National Film Award (the highest honor an actor can receive in India) for her outstanding performance in the film “Fashion.”

“These Bollywood girls are so pretty and Priyanka being Miss World and top Bollywood actress has definitely shown that she’s worth it by launching her debut album internationally, being a big success,” Shunsuke Tanaka, an international student from Japan attending Colorado State University- Pueblo, said.

The album is scheduled to release in early 2013. Her first single, “In My City” debuted in the U.S. on Sept. 13, 2012, on the NFL Network’s “Thursday Night Football.” The single features rapper Will.i.am.

Within a couple months of its release, the music video has reached more than 2 million views on YouTube. This single is inspired by Chopra’s unsettled childhood, and her journey from the small-town life, to a celebrity.

“My album is the reflection of my personality and it makes me as an artist, more wholesome, whether it works or not but I have given my best,” Chopra said in an interview with Wall Street Journal.

The song was also a commercial success, as it sold more than 130,000 copies in the first week after its release, and was certified triple platinum in India.

A look from the music video of Chopra's first single "In My City", showcasing her dancing on her own song for the first time. Photo courtesy of http://news.ournet.in

A look from the music video of Chopra’s first single “In My City,” showcasing her dancing on her own song for the first time. Photo courtesy of http://news.ournet.in

It’s very catchy. It’s pretty positive that the song is about welcoming everybody to a place, Allison Gigliotti, a CSU- Pueblo student, said.

Chopra was also acknowledged at the 2012 World Music Awards with three nominations.

“She comes across as a very passionate singer and determined artist,” Vanessa Emerson, a student at CSU-Pueblo, said.

In 2012, Chopra became the first Bollywood star to be signed by Creative Artists Agency, which is a prominent entertainment and sports agency.

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