As a Baruch Honors Scholar, I have been granted a wonderful academic opportunity here in New York. However, this great opportunity comes with great civic responsibility. Baruch College has invested money in the Honors College with the expectation that we scholars will in turn help our surrounding community with the same enthusiasm we do towards learning. Not only is this community service our responsibility, it is the right thing to do. We help improve the community, help the common man, and our experiences while serving the community will stay with us forever. These experiences will also teach us how good it feels to help others. It truly is our duty as a citizen of the world and as a Baruch Honors Scholar. In our freshman seminar classes, we have been grouped with other Honors Scholars to create a community service project to jump start our civic engagement. My group will be volunteering at a soup kitchen. We are especially lucky to be able to be up close and personal with those less fortunate than us, as we will be serving them their food. Baruch College has given all Honors Scholars a wonderful way to extend our knowledge beyond the classroom.
In addition, this wonderful opportunity comes with great academic responsibility. It is our responsibility to set the example of a model student on campus. It is expected of us to present this image so that we inspire academic achievement in all Baruch students. However, our responsibility does not end there. We also must be there for students who need academic advice. If Baruch College was an army where our professors were captains and the general student body were privates, we Honors Scholars would be its lieutenants.