Since beginning college, I have taken the initiative to seek out many of the resources which Baruch students are fortunate enough to have available to them. I have experimented with resources ranging from the Writing Center, to SACC, to attending office hour appointments with specific professors. I have discovered that the Writing Center and office hour appointments are the two most useful tools Baruch students could and should take advantage of.

My participation in the Community Service Project has given me a broader perspective on college as a whole. I, like many other students, initially believed that in commuter colleges such as Baruch, interaction only occurs in the classroom setting and not in the campus. However, the community service project has led me to discover that this is not true. It has led me to believe that Baruch is interested in having their students participate in both the classroom as well as out of the classroom. At the end of the day, only a minimal fraction of a person’s life is spent in a classroom. Therefore, other than the community service project itself, I have become much more involved out of the classroom particularly with the organization referred to as the Hillel. I started attending almost all their events ranging from speakers on the topic of finance, to speakers on entrepreneurship and even speakers on political issues. I have taken a liking to the way the Hillel attempts at creating a community rather than simply an organization. The way I am personally starting to take an approach to college is almost directly correlated with the way the Hillel takes an approach; that is, going above and beyond.

My understanding of community service has also increased and evolved as a result of my participation in the project. I previously looked at community service as away to give back whether or not you are enjoying your time. However, discovering the extremely broad range of volunteer opportunities has led me to realize that community service can also be about discovering your strengths, weaknesses, and potential.

It is not very often that people feel a natural and instinctive sense to give back to their community. Although it is important to always be giving back to our community, it is specifically in privileged situations that people begin to take a stance on helping others altruistically. Privileged situations almost immediately bring one’s attention to the fact that most people won’t experience the same experiences. I believe it is that same principle that applies to our role as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program. In fact, the Honors Program advocates for and encourages us, the students, to partake in a community service assignment. I believe that the Honors Program is looking at this particular assignment as more than just a few hours of required community service. Rather, the Honors Program is trying to ignite a spark in each of us so that we partake in more community service activities especially when it is not a requirement. It is easy to help the greater good when you are required to do so for class but I think the true test is whether or not we will partake in a similar activity on our free time. In high school, I had a similar requirement for graduation. I personally decided to join my school’s peer tutoring society. By the end of the year, I was fairly surprised, yet proud, that I had far surpassed the required number of community service hours. The Honors Program is, in a sense, introducing us to the idea of community service in the hopes that we will continue this long lasting relationship with service and it is precisely that long lasting service which will help our community.

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