While getting ready for the Community Service Project, my group and I got the chance to utilize some resources available for our use. The first was the use of the library databases to research about possible nonprofit organizations to volunteer for. Although I had an idea of where I would want to volunteer, my group and I still wanted to explore our options and read up on the organization I’ve chosen. The use of library resources was useful since it was practice for when I needed to write a research paper for English class, which required the use of databases. Other resources, which I found helpful in the library, were the writing center and study rooms. The writing center helped improve my essays and the person who was helping me also gave me a lesson in thesis making, a lesson I will need in the next couple of years. The study rooms were also amazing. My group used them to rehearse for our project presentation and then I used a study room for a group meeting for a business presentation.

Another resource I found extremely helpful in having the community service come together was the volunteer fair. Fortunately, a representative from our organization, Citymeals-on-Wheels, was present and I got the chance to ask all my questions first hand. Later on I found out that the volunteer fair was organized by the Honors Student Council, an organization I have joined.  Another organization that I joined is Hilel, and immediately felt welcome. I’m also in the process of joining Team Baruch to get better involved in school.

In participating in the project my notion of what community service is has evolved. I have volunteered in the past and worked with children. Now my work is going to be on a new scale. It will be about helping someone who is in need and appreciating someone who has a lot of life experience.

In the next 3 years I see myself moving forward and evolving. I already feel like I see a possible life path in front of me and I hope that I find something I’m passionate about. I definitely see myself in Europe for a semester and have even went to the Study Abroad office to find out my options.

A community is a place where one belongs, it’s a group one is able to identify with. Currently  I belong to the community of New York and more specifically a community of Russians.  As a Russian I went to Big Apple Academy, and when I graduated I gave back to my community by volunteering in the Day Camp, being a counselor for kids who were very much like myself.

With the start of Fall 2013, I become part of a new community, a part of Baruch. It is going to take some time to find out exactly how it is that I belong here. With the club fair it is safe to say that I have a good idea. I plan to join the performance arts club as well as some honors societies. I also want to give back to the Baruch community by joining Team Baruch.

As a Baruch Scholar I am given a lot, courtesy of the Baruch community, and the city. In return for the free tuition and laptop, it is my duty to give back to the community. The volunteer requirement we are given should be an obvious factor of what we Scholars can do for our community. It is a way to say thank you to the community that has done so much for us. For my volunteer project, my group and I will be delivering food to the elderly. This is a project I wanted to undertake out of free will back in high school when I was the leader of my organization and I am excited to get the chance to do it now. I am excited for all the opportunities Baruch presents for me and can’t wait to see where this journey takes me.

Life as it is at the present moment is the result of all the choices, little and big, that lead up to that point in time. What has shaped me most is my Russian heritage and the learning environments I have been exposed to. Learning gives me the chance to expand myself as a person, and helps me think in new ways. Another aspect of my learning environments is that they exposed me to people whose ideas have influenced my own thinking. An example of this is my learning career at Stuyvesant High School where I was first exposed to people of different ethnicities and got to know more about different cultures.

My passions shape me as a person. In high school I learned to play a lacrosse, which is a team sport. It helped me learn how to be part of a group setting. I also love to dance because it serves as a form of expression to me.

As a college student I expect to be learning a lot of new things that will be useful in my career. I hope to expand my horizons and learn things that I have never heard of before. I expect to meet people who share my goals, and who will help me get on the right path towards a bright future. I hope that my first semester, as well as those to follow, are successful and that I achieve my goal. I hope that I will make new friends and that I won’t slack off.