Coming into Baruch, I never before did any community service with a philanthropic attitude. I had to fill certain requirement in high school to graduate and I volunteered here and there just so I can receive the credit. I had the mindset that community service isn’t for me and I wanted to focus on school and on my job. However, as I grew a little bit older, I realized that helping out others can actually make your own life better. That life has a “what goes around comes around” policy, and focusing only on yourself would actually not yield the results you want.
I am now approaching this community service project as an opportunity to finally give back with the right intentions. We were all given an opportunity to go to school and get an education for free, so I think that it is only right that we somehow give back to those less fortunate than us. Even spending time with a kid and helping him with his homework can easily transform into a stronger bond where the child will look up to us and try to improve. One of my favorite quotes is “If you are not making someone else’s day better, than you are wasting your time” by Will Smith, and I truly believe that now. We are all here to better ourselves but also be responsible for improving our community.
This new attitude really made me reconsider what I want to do with my life. The idea of a non-profit doesn’t sound so foreign and repulsive as it once did, and my favorite class Pub 1250 is also gearing me in that direction. I think in a few years I will take a number of other interesting and life changing courses so that I can decide what I want to major in and how I want to live my life.
