Blog #3

Now that we are at the end of the semester, when you look back the workload could have been much worse than it actually was and the amount of research necessary for our assignments could have been heavier. However, we’re not done. This is only our first semester of college and we have many more ahead of us and as, those of us that were not so involved in extracurricular activities, begin to venture out and leave our precious Room 1003 in the 23^rd Street building, we’ll need help. That being said, we’ve had plenty of help this semester in order to gain success from a variety of people including: Mr. Medina, Sam, and Mr. Francoeur. Throughout the semester, Mr. Medina and Sam were there for us at every instance of need: especially the dreaded time of registration. That stressful November day proved to be worse for some than for others and for some of us, especially those of us that got lucky and got into amazing classes later on like myself, have changed our schedules multiple times since. Each Wednesday they provided new insight and advice into what makes a successful college student and from them, I learned how to appropriately formulate an e-mail and most importantly, as our advisor likes to say, “time management.”  Mr. Stephen Francoeur guided us in the library through both our research as well as providing us with effective websites in order to work well in groups, which will likely be incredibly useful later on. As a result of this project, I’ve learned that when participating in community service, it’s not just about giving back to the community that makes it important. There is a deeper meaning involved in the service. Imagine we were all simply small fish in an ocean struggling to help ourselves without concern for others, what would we learn? What would we produce?  Now, imagine we were an army of ants, all working collectively for a common cause. We’d be efficient, effective, and helpful. That is how my ideology of community service evolved. I no longer simply consider the need to help, but why it’s important and why what I’m doing is important. In the next three years, I see myself graduating with a high GPA and an incredible amount of experience from clubs, internships, study abroad, and a commitment to a community service organization.