Baruch Scholars 2012

Servicing your community is when you use your talents to better the lives of the people around you. We are all members of many communities and we should do our best to make them as amazing as we can.

We can all do something. As a Baruch Scholar it is my responsibility to make the community that is our school and the community that is our city, our home.

It means more then volunteering a few hours here and there. It means living your life to better the lives of everyone. It means being a good citizen day to day and playing fair.

I will strive to achieve this by always helping my fellow classmates, and volunteering at various events both in and outside of school.

I think the culture in the Baruch Honors program is one of completely committing to service. Not just our 15 hours, its about actively seeking out opportunities and taking initiative to make it happen. We can all serve an hour here or there, even just by doing small things like saying hello to the man selling fruit on the way to school or giving up your seat for the women that just got on the train.

Baruch Scholars are also called to be leaders. Primus inter pares, first among equals; we are meant to lead, but not for recognition or reward, we are called to lead to help others.

“We are only as great as those we bring to greatness with us”

Servicing your community is when you use your talents to better the lives of the people around you. We are all members of many communities and we should do our best to make them as amazing as we can.

We can all do something. As a Baruch Scholar it is my responsibility to make the community that is our school and the community that is our city, our home.

It means more then volunteering a few hours here and there. It means living your life to better the lives of everyone. It means being a good citizen day to day and playing fair.

I will strive to achieve this by always helping my fellow classmates, and volunteering at various events both in and outside of school.

I think the culture in the Baruch Honors program is one of completely committing to service. Not just our 15 hours, its about actively seeking out opportunities and taking initiative to make it happen. We can all serve an hour here or there, even just by doing small things like saying hello to the man selling fruit on the way to school or giving up your seat for the women that just got on the train.

Baruch Scholars are also called to be leaders. Primus inter pares, first among equals; we are meant to lead, but not for recognition or reward, we are called to lead to help others.

“We are only as great as those we bring to greatness with us”

I believe we all have the responsibility as students to try our best in upholding our school’s reputation. It pertains to the loyalty and school spirit expected of us. Being a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, I should try even harder, knowing that I’m fully capable. I have to do my best in fulfilling my role as a student in school, mainly concerning the academic aspect. On a broader sense concerning the school’s reputation as a whole, I know that I’m powerless if I’m alone. Therefore, I should strive to work well with others. I can participate in clubs and other events to advance relationships among my fellow students.

This is related to the culture of service the Honors Program promotes because our service, our contribution, may come to define the community we live in. As everyone is encouraged to do his best in fulfilling his role in school, he should also fulfill his role in society. Everyone has a place in the society. If we can contribute to better the society, we should. And this is what the Honors Program promotes. Doing community service may not mean much to some people, however, knowing that I am helping people who may be less fortunate than me, those in need, and that I am contributing to my society, at least I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Simply put, if we have the ability to achieve something, we should make the most out of it. We should fully utilize our potentials to better our school and community. And that is what I consider to be our roles in Baruch and the broader community.

I believe we all have the responsibility as students to try our best in upholding our school’s reputation. It pertains to the loyalty and school spirit expected of us. Being a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, I should try even harder, knowing that I’m fully capable. I have to do my best in fulfilling my role as a student in school, mainly concerning the academic aspect. On a broader sense concerning the school’s reputation as a whole, I know that I’m powerless if I’m alone. Therefore, I should strive to work well with others. I can participate in clubs and other events to advance relationships among my fellow students.

This is related to the culture of service the Honors Program promotes because our service, our contribution, may come to define the community we live in. As everyone is encouraged to do his best in fulfilling his role in school, he should also fulfill his role in society. Everyone has a place in the society. If we can contribute to better the society, we should. And this is what the Honors Program promotes. Doing community service may not mean much to some people, however, knowing that I am helping people who may be less fortunate than me, those in need, and that I am contributing to my society, at least I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Simply put, if we have the ability to achieve something, we should make the most out of it. We should fully utilize our potentials to better our school and community. And that is what I consider to be our roles in Baruch and the broader community.

To serve my community means to donate my time and efforts to give back and help those around me.  Baruch Scholars are seen as capable young people who can contribute a lot to the world around them.  Their abilities and advantages must be used to help those around them who need help.  Those in the Honors program must do a certain number of hours giving back to the community each semester.  I think this teaches us good habits that we hopefully will continue with after we leave college.  It also exposes us to the benefits of giving back.  It is truly a great feeling to help others and to see a situation get better than it was before because of my contributions.  As a Baruch Scholar, I think it should be my job to set a good example wherever I go and to inspire others to give back as well.  It is important as a scholar to do my best in all areas of my like, not just academics.  I must live a balanced life and serving my community will help me with this.  Baruch Scholars are held to a higher standard and are often looked up to by others.  This adds responsibility that only motivates me to do my best always.  The Honors Program does an excellent job promoting a culture of service to all students.  Emails and flyers show us opportunities to help others and let us know that there is always someone in need of help.  The Honors Program has made me more self aware in the short time I have been in college.  The only hard part is deciding which organization to help since I feel strongly about  many different causes.

To serve my community means to donate my time and efforts to give back and help those around me.  Baruch Scholars are seen as capable young people who can contribute a lot to the world around them.  Their abilities and advantages must be used to help those around them who need help.  Those in the Honors program must do a certain number of hours giving back to the community each semester.  I think this teaches us good habits that we hopefully will continue with after we leave college.  It also exposes us to the benefits of giving back.  It is truly a great feeling to help others and to see a situation get better than it was before because of my contributions.  As a Baruch Scholar, I think it should be my job to set a good example wherever I go and to inspire others to give back as well.  It is important as a scholar to do my best in all areas of my like, not just academics.  I must live a balanced life and serving my community will help me with this.  Baruch Scholars are held to a higher standard and are often looked up to by others.  This adds responsibility that only motivates me to do my best always.  The Honors Program does an excellent job promoting a culture of service to all students.  Emails and flyers show us opportunities to help others and let us know that there is always someone in need of help.  The Honors Program has made me more self aware in the short time I have been in college.  The only hard part is deciding which organization to help since I feel strongly about  many different causes.

Serving your community is a series of gestures you make in order to give back to the place you can call home. These actions can range from small acts of kindness to larger attempts at trying to make it a better place. Everyone should feel obligated to do something for their community, whether it be helping the elderly or simply not worsening it with litter, graffiti, or things of that nature. As a student, I have a duty to use my role as an educated individual to help others take on those tasks and lead them to making better choices. As a Scholar, I should have the responsibility to motivate my peers and help them realize their potential in their community. The kind of service that is promoted by the honors program definitely helps with the process of enlightening and encouraging students; by setting a requirement, it ensures that students fulfill at least a part of their duty to their community. Additionally, there are many opportunities within the school that help students find places to volunteer. However, I don’t think that service should be limited to mandatory hours for school. It is essential to a persons growth as an individual to give back. By helping the less fortunate we expand our point of view beyond ourselves & take a moment to realize how much it is we really have been blessed with. In general, though, it is important to understand what is going on in your community. Which is why, as a Baruch Scholar, I feel that I have more of a responsibility to help others see the benefits of giving back.Ever since my freshman year in high school, I’ve been doing my very best to make the difference. From joining teen advocacy, helping out at a soup kitchen, cleaning parks, tutoring children, to an even broader range of actions, I’ve gone out of my way to look for opportunities to do something for others. In fact, I may one day join the Peace Corp in order to take that mindset and expand it to the fullest. Because of that, I understand how truly necessary it is and believe everyone should have a similar motivation to do the same. As Mohandus Gandhi once said, “Be the change you wish the see in the world.” And I hope that I, as well as my peers, can be that change.

About a month ago, a friend jokingly called Baruch Scholars and Honors students the “bourgeois” and “noble” classes of Baruch undergraduates. A few seconds later, she also called herself and other non-Honors students “peasants.” Clearly, this is a reference to the distinction in scholarship grants given to different types of students – for me, it means full tuition and for her, it literally means no money.

Full tuition does not come “free” though; there are certain requirements that Scholars and Honors students have to meet to remain in the Honors program. As Scholars students, we have to take at least ten Honors classes, maintain at least a 3.3 or 3.5 GPA (depending on credits), as well as meet other requirements. In a sense, we have relinquished an air of freedom for an air of seriousness. Instead of playing a game of Mafia during freshman seminar (what my friend’s class did during one class), we were discussing information regarding our presentations on non-profit organizations.

The air of seriousness is necessary, in a way: we are students first and we represent the Baruch Honors program as well as the Baruch community. As students, our first goal is to graduate and as Scholars/Honors students, we want to make sure we graduate with Honors. However, our college journey does not stop at our student life. The Honors program places a large emphasis on volunteering with non-profit organizations. Through this volunteer service, we are giving back to our community and fulfilling a role that pertains to both the Baruch community and the Baruch Honors program. Time and effort is given to a specific cause that benefits not just us (by helping us fulfill the requirement), but others as well. Additionally, both Baruch and the Honors program emphasize cultural events. It is through attending these events that help us fulfill a role in the community in general: becoming open-minded people. A cultural event is a learning experience and may just captivate our minds. Through all the aspects, the Honors program and Baruch community are trying to help us develop constantly and grow as people.

I believe that my role as a Baruch Scholar is to be the best. Whether this is in the Baruch community or in the larger global community. We are the best Baruch has to offer academically and culturally. We have all come from a variety of backgrounds and by working together we will become the best group of people in our society.

I have been given the opportunity to attend college for almost nothing. Since I was given this chance I need to use to not only better my life but also to give back to the people around me. This means giving myself in service to others. It is very easy to simply donate to a good cause, but service is more than that. It is giving yourself to others. There is nothing more you can give than your work. This is especially true of us Baruch Scholars. We are the best that New York City has to offer and our work is also the best. There is nothing more honorable than to give yourself in work to others. Our work in the community will hopefully not only help improve things for the organization and the people the organization serves in the short term but also in the long term. Service also goes beyond the eight or fifteen hours we are obligated to work for our scholarship program but even past graduation. As the best people in our society we have to work to better our society. It is our duty to help those below us reach the same excellence that we are able to achieve seemingly naturally.

The most obvious answer at the forefront of most people’s mind when they hear the words “community service” is a popular sentencing alternative to jail time.

I jest.

For most of us, community service is synonymous with volunteer work. In high school, I volunteered with my best friend at a nursing home for two summers. It was an unforgettable experience, to say the least. However back then, we volunteered mainly with the intention of gaining an edge in our college applications. It was really just a means to an end. Now, as a Baruch Scholar, volunteer work may still technically be required, but it has a different, perhaps more enlightened, rationale behind it.

Of course, on the most basic level I might simply volunteer my time to some worthy cause simply because I wish to remain in the honors program, since it is a requirement. That would be similar to the way i volunteered in high school; still helpful to society, but not as meaningful for myself. I hope that my experience this time around does not end up like that. Being a Scholar is an opportunity I have been given that I will always be humbled by and grateful for. I know that there are countless other kids out there who could use the same kind of help in pursuing their education as well. I want my time doing volunteer work to be my act of gratitude for the opportunity I’ve been given, and I want it to help better New York City society in whatever small way it can.

I think that the honors program does a great job in fostering an attitude of gratitude (yeah, you can quote me on that one) for what we have by implementing a community service requirement. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”