Baruch Scholars 2011

What does it mean to serve your community?

Just to set things straight, I understand that this journal is 2 days late, but I hope that fact does not cause my readers to think that I did not put any effort or thought into this post. Alrighty so here goes!

First of all, before talking about being a Baruch Scholar I think that it’s already important that I’m a part of Baruch College! It’s such an honor for me to say that I’ve had the opportunity to seek higher education where so many people are not able to. Through my completion of college I will be able to give back to my community in being able to find a job to benefit my society and support myself and my family.

In the few months already that I’ve been a part of the Baruch community, I’ve noticed a drastic split among the students. Maybe this is just my personal opinion, but I see students fall into one of two categories:

1. The students who are involved–they join a club or a team; are involved with community service or volunteer work; have school spirit; enjoy life!

2. The students who are not involved–commute to class; commute home; repeat forever.

Hopefully all of the students in the Baruch community (myself included) will fall into category 1 soon! I also think it’s important for all of us at Baruch College to recognize just how significant it is that we have the honor of calling ourselves college students. This is especially important for me as a scholar as well because it means I have distinguished myself from other students in my academic pursuits to achieve a higher standard of excellence. In order to show our appreciation for the notion of higher education and idea of scholarship, I think it is our duty as students to give back to the community–whether it be through getting involved with school or taking part in community service. I think the goal overall as a scholar would be to take part in community service or some other form of giving back because we want to rather than just because it fulfills some credit requirement or that it’s mandated in the program etc. I think that we should be grateful for having such a wonderful opportunity for education and would want to help contribute back to the society around us in order to make the world a better place!

What does it mean to serve your community?

Just to set things straight, I understand that this journal is 2 days late, but I hope that fact does not cause my readers to think that I did not put any effort or thought into this post. Alrighty so here goes!

First of all, before talking about being a Baruch Scholar I think that it’s already important that I’m a part of Baruch College! It’s such an honor for me to say that I’ve had the opportunity to seek higher education where so many people are not able to. Through my completion of college I will be able to give back to my community in being able to find a job to benefit my society and support myself and my family.

In the few months already that I’ve been a part of the Baruch community, I’ve noticed a drastic split among the students. Maybe this is just my personal opinion, but I see students fall into one of two categories:

1. The students who are involved–they join a club or a team; are involved with community service or volunteer work; have school spirit; enjoy life!

2. The students who are not involved–commute to class; commute home; repeat forever.

Hopefully all of the students in the Baruch community (myself included) will fall into category 1 soon! I also think it’s important for all of us at Baruch College to recognize just how significant it is that we have the honor of calling ourselves college students. This is especially important for me as a scholar as well because it means I have distinguished myself from other students in my academic pursuits to achieve a higher standard of excellence. In order to show our appreciation for the notion of higher education and idea of scholarship, I think it is our duty as students to give back to the community–whether it be through getting involved with school or taking part in community service. I think the goal overall as a scholar would be to take part in community service or some other form of giving back because we want to rather than just because it fulfills some credit requirement or that it’s mandated in the program etc. I think that we should be grateful for having such a wonderful opportunity for education and would want to help contribute back to the society around us in order to make the world a better place!

For the past four years, writing a book has always been a notion I have entertained.

I write this post with the request that if anyone has any literature, be it thesis, non fiction, fiction, discourse on some topic, etc.- That you would recommend, I ask that you list them below as a comment. Be it short story or a work that spans over 1000 pages, I plan on reading them all. Just no young adult works such as Harry Potter, twilight, and the like.

As of right now, I feel as if I have minimal to no role in the Baruch community. School spirit could be a little stronger. The lack of people in costumes during Halloween kind of shot the spirit of Baruch for me. Yes, I do enjoy the loud music playing every Thursday on the second floor. However, I feel that there is a need for stronger school-wide events, in contrast with small group commitments, as seen by the many sorority and fraternity logos everybody carries around. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the school and I commend our Bearcat mascot for walking around randomly, but I do want to see more school spirit.

Based on the Baruch Scholars community, however, I feel a little more in place. The idea of the learning community at first seemed a bit of an elementary school thing, but I have to admit that I like it. It becomes a bit like a family since we see each other frequently and at the end of the day, we always know who we can turn to if we need anything related to school. Everyone says that being a Baruch Scholar is working hard in college, but I see it more as a live blog of our college life. My friends are always telling me to work hard, and I am always reminding them to take a breather and relax. If your in college, you know that you have to work hard, so a Baruch Scholar is just like any other student. The difference is that we are able to share the opportunity together.

I agree with what all the adults say about all the smart kids in our school (Although, when they keep repeating it, it becomes pretty irritating). Many of us have been “honor” students for our entire educational careers and we’re all used to being handed good grades. We have always been surrounded by so many intelligent and fortunate people and given so much opportunity that we forget that there is an actual world out there. Being a Baruch Scholar brings us back to reality. All our education since our birth finally has a reason and a meaning. With college, we are only beginning our true lives where the Baruch Scholars are expected to take the place of leaders in the real world. So, there is no better way to start than going back and giving back to the source of our great education and opportunities through volunteering at local not-for-profit organizations.

Giving back to the community has always been something I’ve always believed in. For the past four years of my life, I have spent countless of hours working with different organization, countless of weekends participating in walks and workshops that help people in need. My job was to make sure everyone in my club were serving their community because they genuinely want to help and not because it would look good on their resume or give them credits. When I became a Baruch Scholar, I quickly realized that the Honors Program advocates a culture of service that is similar to the one I’ve been accustomed to in my club. Although not all of us are driven to do community service because of intrinsic satisfaction, it is always the first step that needs to be taken that always pushes people to continue their participation in volunteering. As Baruch Scholars, we are  entitled to so many opportunities that many will not get the chance to experience. What this means is, we have more reasons to give back to the society and more reasons to help the people in need. It is not about what will look good for our resumes, but instead it’s about our duty as human beings that we should seriously consider.

As a Baruch Scholar, I think that many students like to believe they are on a higher level than the rest of the Baruch student population- on an intellectual, social, and motivational level. It’s so easy to assume that because you have higher grades than someone else, it means you’re better than them. Throughout my high school experience, I have learned that that is not the case. It’s not what you do for yourself that determines what kind of person you are- it’s what you do for others. The Baruch Honors Program gives us opportunities on an academic level- but with that in mind, we as students should go far and excel on a social level- through volunteer work and the bettering of the community that surrounds us. This community is not limited to only Baruch at its students, but the general New York community as well. The expectations that the Baruch Honors program puts on us as students are appropriate, because we have to set an example for the rest of the student population. My high school required 40 hours of community service a semester, and by the end of high school I found that after doing volunteer work, I felt a lot happier and I felt better about myself.  I’m glad that Baruch expects us to do volunteer work, because in the past, I have found that volunteer work betters the lives of the one who volunteers just as much (if not more than) as the people being helped by the one who volunteers.

My role as a Baruch Scholar is to be giving back what I have received from the college.  A full tuition scholarship is a privilege and I am very lucky to have gotten it.  I know many people from my high school in Pennsylvania who are paying tens of thousands of dollars each year for tuition whereas I am paying practically nothing.

Since I have been granted such a privilege, I have also been granted the responsibility that comes with this privilege.  There was assuredly a lot involved with my obtaining of this scholarship; to make somebody’s college tuition entirely free, many donors have been involved.

I feel it is very important to reimburse these donors’ grants through acts of charity to the New York society.  If I am financially stable I will, in addition to volunteering within the community, donate back to Baruch College.  I feel strongly about doing this because I know my money will be well-spent on kids like me who have an interest in education but don’t want to spend thousands of dollars.

The culture of service which requires Baruch students is somewhat unnecessary in my point of view; I think filing paperwork really takes away from the volunteer experience of helping people out.  On the other hand, I understand many people need the spark of the culture of service project to start them off on volunteering and giving back to the community.   I look forward to volunteering in the future, for this project, and for fulfilling my desire to help fellow Americans in my free time; this project is a step to take to know where the right place to volunteer is for me and, although I hate filling out paperwork, it will be a good introduction.

As a Baruch Scholar, my role at Baruch is to gain as much intellectual and practical knowledge as my brain can absorb and soak up. I look forward to taking insanely difficult courses with intimidating professors and learn from my outrageously smart peers in order to be the best student and ultimately employee, I can be. However, my role as a Baruch Scholar does not stop with just the intellectual aspects of being a student. Instead, being a Baruch Scholar means that because we are so unbelievably fortunate to be educated without having to pay a cent for it, it is our duty to become students who desire to give back to others less fortunate along with our local community at Baruch. As scholars, we are not entitled to have this amazing free education just because we all studied hard in high school. However, because we are given this unique opportunity, we should desire to help those in need, who are less fortunate than we are. My perspective on our role as Baruch Scholars is similar to the culture of service the Honors Program promotes. I also believe that not just the Honors Program at Baruch but  colleges across the United States should have this emphasis on community service and on giving back to others around us. Considering that most of the world does not have this opportunity to go to college and achieve higher education, I believe our role as college students as a whole, should donate some of our time to serve our community.

The Honors Program acts as a parental figure for Baruch Scholars, placing high expectations to create leaders. As a Baruch Scholar, we have responsibilities such as, keeping a high GPA, being involved in school functions and volunteering for the community. These obstacles challenges our ability to multi task and help us discover our potentials.

No matter how much we complain about our lives; we are lucky compared to many people. It is common to hear people complain about schoolwork, but at least we have schoolwork to complain about. In many countries there is a struggle to obtain education therefore, being able to attend college is a privilege. In addition to the many people who don’t have an education, there are many people who have to pay for their education. As Baruch Scholars, we are able to graduate without debt. Being so lucky, the least we can do is give back.

The Honors Program pushes Baruch Scholar to be active in their communities. Although, the community service requirement may seem like an assignment now, it is slowly shaping our future. When we graduate in 4 years, we will volunteer on our own. Our community service experience will become a part of our life styles. Not only does it encourage us to be good people, but also it exposes us to different views. It allows us to see how privileged we are, and how we should be grateful for everything around us. By understanding differences and being able to manage time will make us effective leaders.

Amidst this cold, self- oriented, fast- paced society, where do we as humans stand? Have we together created such a self- concerned world, or have we merely been born into it? Should we simply go with the flow, or should we attempt to redefine it through our actions? Should we live a life, ignorant of the people and world around us, or should we broaden our horizons enough to acknowledge all that we have been granted with and attempt to show our gratitude?

Attempting to count all of my blessings, I have indeed failed to find a number, for the list keeps stretching far and wide. There is so much I been endowed with as a result of my birth, including food, clothing, and shelter, the three basic needs of life. However, without asking I have been blessed with much more than that. Most of us, including me, get even more than that, with necessities taken for granted, and pleasures being deemed as necessities. Having a wonderful family and friends, I have been showered with love all around me. Having more than just shelter, I have been blessed with a place that I can call home. Having responsible, employed parents, I am able to get much more than the minimum amount of food needed to survive. Having been born in America, I have been given the privilege of attending public schools and receiving a free education. Residing in NYC, I have been given access to experience the many rich cultures of the world, in the ‘melting pot.’ As I said before, the list can keep on going. As of now, the most important blessing in my life is that of receiving the opportunity and ultimately a part of Baruch’s honors program.

With much of the world living in ignorance and without the means to receiving a proper education today, I feel extremely blessed to be able to receive an amazing education and even more blessed, if possible, to be receiving a full scholarship and a mac! The honors program greatly relieved the financial strain I would otherwise have to carry around with me. I am truly grateful for having received this and acknowledge how lucky I am in comparison to the rest of the world. There are many hard- working, smart people out there, but a lack of opportunities hinders them from receiving such amazing support. With this in mind I consider it of utmost importance to give back to this world, in which I was so lucky to be blessed with so much. Because the world has given so much to me, I feel as if I have to give back to this world as well.

Still attempting to find a place for myself in Baruch and indeed in the larger realm of the world as well, and trying to carve out a path, on which to walk, I am still trying to immerse myself in the ‘community’, be it the smaller or the larger. With the speed at which the world is advancing today and at the rate at which the emphasis on one- self and materialistic goods is increasing, it becomes far to easy to lose yourself to that selfish part of society, and ignore all that you are blessed with. In this, it becomes even more important to foster a sense of belonging to your community, to reinforce the idea the idea that you were essentially given all that you have, and should give back to those who were not so lucky as you. Being a Baruch Scholar, I am grateful for all the extra privileges I am entitled to, and feel as if it is my responsibility to attempt to do all that I can to add to Baruch’s life and use my knowledge and skills to aid others, becoming an example for people to follow. Nothing is perfect in this world, and always can be improved upon, be it my community, or Baruch itself. To help improve Baruch and make it an even better place would just be the first step; it would be the stepping-stone in the long path needed to improve the world. I will begin by trying to be a better person, help others, and trying to ‘spread the love.’ I hope one day I will be able to take a larger role in Baruch, getting students to ‘spread the love’ outside of Baruch’s doors, thus carving out a path for a happier world.