Participating in the Community Service Project is an interesting experience to me. Unlike other projects, this one allows us to choose the organization we like to work for and we would stick with it for a considerably long time. As fun as it sounds, we were just equally clueless at the beginning. Us group members rarely discussed about it, but in fact, we didn’t even know each other well when this group was formed. However, we all had the passion helping the community and we knew we would devote as much as possible to get this done.
Choosing the right organization was a rather easier step. It didn’t take long for us to agree on choosing one that is close to Baruch. After we were introduced to www.idealist.org in one of the FRO sessions, NYC Audubon caught our eyes. Not only is it near Baruch campus but it also meets the area we are interested – animal protection – in this case, birds specifically.
When researching about this organization, Internet became the primary source of what we were looking for. Their website provided lots of information regarding what they had achieved and what they seek to gain in the future. After seeing the beautiful pictures of birds on their site, we were more committed to NYC Audubon.
At the same time we had developed good friendship among the group. Sometimes we would chat online to check on each other’s progress and give advices. As time went by we obtained more and more information and divided the tasks. As we were instructed, we should look in depth into the organization and tried to examine how it operated. This was when their website couldn’t fulfill our need anymore. The information we found seemed vague without detailed addressing
So we turned to the library database, intending to verify its reputation. Also we looked into the funds and acts they mentioned in their annual report to see if they really exist, and if yes, what exactly are they. For times we also contacted the members of the organization, trying to make our task concrete and find out what we are going to do next term. Sadly, we were told that we wouldn’t be directly working with birds as we expected but to work on a publication for educational purpose.
Throughout the process I feel that communication is the most important “resource” ever found. What is written down is dead and reading will become boring. However, once we started to exchange ideas and asked each other opinions, the whole thing just came to life and everything seemed to work right again. And isn’t it true that college is not about what we learn but how we learn? “How” certainly includes communication, which I think is the most precious resource in Baruch, because Baruch has so many bright, innovative students. Working with them, success comes with no doubt.