Monthly Archives: November 2010

Serving my community means to make it a better place. I think it means to bring new ideas and to act upon something that feels right. For instance, I don’t feel as though I am “serving my community” if I am just visiting a forum in which people talk about what needs to be done, but don’t actually go out and do it, or implement ways to accomplish their goals. I think giving back to the community is doing something selfless and is hopefully done as an instinct. And if not an instinct, done often enough that it becomes one.
Helping someone carry something heavy down or up the stairs, returning something lost, or just making a friend feel happier or more welcome are all things that I view as most important to brightening up the world. Even just creating something beautiful in my mind improves the world.
I know people may look at me as an idealist in that sense, but I don’t really care. I don’t believe that I as an individual can do that much, but if anything, at least I am helping a few individuals feel as though someone cares about them or cares about things outside of my own self. Doing a good deed not for an outright benefit, and not because you are forced to is really the only way that I think you can serve your community. It could be related to the services in the honors program in that the honors program tries to brighten up students’ lives by giving them the opportunity to explore themselves and possible futures without as much of an emphasis on finances, which can sometimes get in the way of focusing.

Right now being in the Baruch community is like being a newborn. At one point I thought I had been abducted into a college where diversity and success are linked and appreciated; and now I consider myself privileged to be in this bubble of reaching my maximum potential. Overall, to reach success in our day in age, a Baruch Scholar needs to feel for others and act in the community through volunteer services. My role as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program is to work in a team of other students from my Freshman Seminar group and decide on a volunteer project to help our community through a non-profit organization. To be honest, the easy way for me is to continue volunteer work I have done in the past at a non-profit religious organization that sends out food packages on a weekly basis because continuing something you are used to is a lot simpler than working with people. It is difficult to come up with something that the entire group is comfortable in doing. I think the Baruch Scholars program should change the way their conditions on this group work. Instead of having a group of 4 people, the team should consist of 2 people where it is easier to find a volunteer project. At the end of the day, one sees that the more work put into a team, the greater the reward so I also believe working with these people jsut to decide on an organization to volunteer at will be helpful for my experience in general.

The Honors Program has many services it provides its inhabitants with. Many services include technology assistance by providing the students with a laptop, our own librarian, our own department in advisement, study abroad grants, and other services like a large amount of lectures that eventually provide us with tips for success. By receiving these commodities, an Honor student feels like he/she needs to give back to the Baruch community in some way. This is why it is definitely logical to add the community service/volunteering requirement for Baruch Scholars. When one enters the Honors program, he becomes a member of the volunteering world.

As Baruch Scholars, we are given a lot of opportunities that are usually not available to students and people in general- from free tuition, to laptops, to special attention and amazing professors. I think that because of all the benefits we receive we are expected to use what we learn to serve the greater community and to share our talents and knowledge with others. I think everyone should, in some way, give back. Whether it is offering tutoring in a subject we are particularly good at, even if it is just to our friends within the program who might be weak in the subject, or serving food in a local soup kitchen- we should find something we are passionate about and share that with others.

I also think that to fulfill our roles as Baruch Scholars more fully, we need to take advantage of all we are offered. It is important to not be ignorant, but rather work towards finding everything available to us, taking full advantage of it, and then sharing it with others. All the services and opportunities that are available to us shouldn’t just be ignored, but rather used to enrich our learning

The project, in a way, promotes and cultivates the spirit of service by giving us a base with which to start serving the community. It introduces us to the idea of becoming more involved and sharing our talents. It serves as the springboard for future endeavors in serving the community, both within and outside of Baruch.

When I first think of “serving your community,” soup kitchens, town fairs, and meetings come to mind. When it comes to my community at home, I help by organizing events, attending these events, and being a good person to the people around me. However, in the Baruch and broader community as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, my role is to be a good student academically and socially. I came into this program believing that it would just be about doing a lot of work and having class all day. It is about that, but there is more to it. Attending a school with a highly diverse community, I must push to meet new people and learn about their lifestyles in order to appreciate the true Baruch experience. By joining clubs and being a leader, I will truly take advantage of what the Honors Program has to offer. A Baruch Scholar must be a role model to other students because of our great opportunity. This program promotes leadership and active involvement with the school’s culture and student life. Therefore, I must step up to every situation, whether it involves academics, social events, or helping other peers out.