In doing the research necessary for the community service project I learned how important it is to utilize the different school resources that are available on campus. Before my group had a concrete idea of what exactly we would be doing, we saw a presentation by Professor Francour in the library. He provided a few Internet sites that proved helpful in looking for a possible project. Also, I started looking at the Baruch Honors blog, which in the end was where we found the volunteering opportunity. It was only because I decided to subscribe to the site’s RSS feed that Karim and I were able to find out about the CCVIP conference.
In my high school in Israel we really didn’t have so many resources to take advantage of. There were no databases, and the library staff consisted of two people, one of which I think hated anything that breathes. There weren’t many extra-curricular activities either, and those that were available weren’t too serious either. I wasn’t expecting for there to be so many things at my disposal coming to college. Learning how to take advantage of the helpful staff and technology available at Baruch was a bit difficult, but doing the research to find out about the CCVIP definitely helped break me in.
My understanding of the importance of community service grew even more when I saw how many opportunities and organizations are available. So many people are in need of so much help in all aspects of life, and usually we don’t realize this. I realized even more so how we’re not so great and important as we think we are, and our plights and problems aren’t the only one’s that exist in world.