Obviously as a student at Baruch, Honors or not, the main goal of most students is to graduate. But there’s much more to being a student at Baruch. You have to make a difference in some way, or really what is the point of being here. It’s not just to get a degree. Maybe when adults go back to school ten years after high school that is all they are trying to do, but going to college still as a teenager offers you a lot of opportunities. Next year when there are the next group of Baruch Scholars, I hope to have something to distinguish myself if they ask about my first year at Baruch. This means getting involved in clubs, this means exploring New York City and everything it has to offer, this means improving myself as a person and learning. After sharing my story of my first year, I want to not only distinguish myself in the minds of other people, but to be proud of my accomplishments and want to continue with them. I may not be sure of what these accomplishments are now, but solely going to class and doing nothing else at Baruch is not the way I will get to this point.
The Honors Program seems to promote giving back to the community in which you came from and/or are surrounded by on a daily basis, as emphasized by the community service hours required each semester. I hope that wherever I choose to donate my time in the next four years I truly see the impact I make on the people or animals I help. I don’t want to spend time doing something I don’t actually have a deep interest in, and it’s not about making myself feel like a better person by volunteering, but it’s about becoming a better person from the experiences you encounter while volunteering.
