Lauren Woo

Next Steps…

For the community service project my group had little to no trouble finding common interests in services we wanted to participate in. All of us wanted to find something involving children and it didn’t take long for us to find the non-profit organization we wanted to work with: the Ronald McDonald House. It also helped that Christine and I had prior experience volunteering for them so we were already familiar with the organization. Since it was easy for us to decide on an organization we didn’t need to really reach out to anybody for help or advice. Instead we took it upon ourselves to independently find an organization whose goal was meaningful to us.

My involvement in the Community Service Project taught me that when it comes to community service you have to find something you’re truly passionate about. If you choose to participate in a service that you have no interest in it won’t mean anything to you and you won’t be able to learn much from the experience. On the other hand if you participate in a service that means something to you you’ll not only have more fun doing it but you’ll also be able to take more away from it.

In terms of joining a club I still haven’t joined anything officially yet. I have socialized and gotten to know more about various clubs on campus but I’m still testing the waters and finding out which clubs I’m really passionate about. I’m involved with a lot of activities outside of school so my time for participating in clubs on campus is pretty limited. I’m leaning towards joining an honors society or something along those lines.

What does it mean to serve your community?

I always wondered what it meant to serve my community. Growing up I always questioned why it should matter to me to help out. Because what do I get in return? There was never any direct benefit besides fulfilling my community service requirement.

It wasn’t until I hit high school that I realized that serving my community meant much more than just fulfilling the minimum required hours of community service in order to graduate. I realized that helping out within my community made a difference in my life and in the people I was helping. I started volunteering as a teacher’s assistant for my ballet school and this experience really changed my views on community service. Although I wasn’t cleaning up a park or working in a soup kitchen what I was doing was just as important. I became an older sister and mentor to the girls that I was teaching. I still remember what one girl said to me after she watched me rehearse: “One day I want to be as good a ballerina as you!” I’ll be honest, it made me warm and fuzzy inside!

From my experience I would say that as a member of the Baruch community, and especially being in the Baruch Scholar Honors Program, we have a duty to give back. As Baruch Scholars we are getting the opportunity to attend college for free with a ton of amazing resources at our fingertips, an opportunity that very few people have. It not only benefits the communities that we are helping, it also gives us memorable experiences and helps us to grow as people.

Serving the community is related to the culture of service that the Honors Program promotes because the Honors Program is always stressing the importance of helping each other, whether its people within the Honors Program or the broader community. By helping other people you end up learning a lot about yourself.

Where have you been and where are you going?

“You can spot us out of town by the way that we walk, the way that we talk, cocky the state of New York.”

-“Welcome to Atlanta (Remix)” – Jermaine Dupri feat. Ludacris, Diddy, Murphy Lee & Snoop Dogg

You can tell when a person is from New York City just by the way they carry their self. I’m a New York City girl, born and raised, and I would never want to change that. This city has shaped who I am and will continue to shape the person I will become.  I take a lot of pride in being a New Yorker, because when you say you’re from New York City you always get acknowledged.

To narrow it down a bit, the neighborhood i grew up in is Chinatown. I take almost as much pride in being from Chinatown as being from the City. Spending my lifetime in Chinatown has reminded me to not forget my roots; it gave me a reason to stick with my cultural traditions. While I don’t play handball, I am part of a Lion Dance Troupe called the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute. Through lion dancing I’ve formed a lot of close friendships and I treat them like my family. Which brings up another important thing about me: I value family over everything because when push comes to shove the people who will be there for you will be your family.

As we’re on the topic of dancing, I’d like to make it clear that I love to dance. I’ve been dancing my whole life. Since the age of three I took ballet lessons and as I got older I branched out and took lessons in Modern, Jazz and Hip-Hop. Dance is a way for me to forget about my problems and just have fun; it’s also a great workout. I have no intentions of ever giving up dance, and at the moment I’m interested in getting better at Hip-Hop and learning Step.

“There’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York. These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you.”

-“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

As for where I’m going I don’t yet know. I have a lot of hopes and dreams. As for a possible future career I’m still debating, though I do keep the want to be an actress in the back of my head. When it comes to where I want to go physically, I want to travel around Europe and visit certain places across Asia. I feel like the possibilities of where I’ll end up are endless. I like to live my life to the fullest and with no regrets.