What does it mean to serve your community?

As a Bearcat, I’ve had one central objective; to try and make the lives of as many people as possible better (and to make the lives of my close friends a living hell). In all seriousness, though, as a Baruch student and Scholar, my goal is to promote the belief that together, we all succeed. Baruch is well-known for being a very competitive and no-nonsense school, and some students may try to mold themselves to this sort of stereotype. If folks like us go against this sort of toxic mentality that divides us as a community, we can create real change with the privilege of being in the honors program. It starts with us, as well. Some people may put themselves in a “holier than thou” mindset because of their honors status compared to regular Baruch students, which only adds to the separation. It’s my obligation to acknowledge my status as someone who gets priority over others and will support my friends outside of the Scholars or Macaulay programs in every way possible, whether it’s encouraging them to take honors classes in the future or studying with them. The Honors Program promotes a culture of service focused on being selfless and caring for the people around you. By understanding that working with, and not against each other, is what produces the most progress, we are doing a great service to the people around us.