Journal #2 – What does it mean to serve your community?What is your role in the Baruch and broader community as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program and what do you think it should be? How is this related to the culture of service the Honors Program promotes?
I have always seen serving community as part of my life. It does not have to be doing volunteering regularly, but as simple as helping an old lady crossing the street. Everyone should help others in our community, especially young adults. As a young adult and a student, I feel obligated to serve and give back to our community. As the Baruch Scholars Program promotes and emphasizes the importance of community service, my commitment to change our society grew. From give back to our community, it can be beneficial to both the helper and the person who needed help. From contributing, we gain experience and skills; we can develop insights into lives and become more responsible. Personally, I don’t volunteer regularly, but I often helped my neighbors. Since I live in a dominant Chinese neighborhood, my neighbors, due to language barriers, often have bills or letter that they don’t understand or cannot reply in English. I try helping them by translating and replying or calling if necessary. Even though it takes part of my time, I still enjoy it because I have had experience of how hard it is to live in United States without knowing English. It was often rewarding to me not only because they gave me discounts for where they work at, but also because the skills I developed and the satisfaction I fulfilled from helping people. My neighbors, on the other hand, were also thankful for someone to help them assimilate into a new society. I would continue helping others in various ways because I believe little contributions could shape our community into a better place.
