The Community Service Project has encouraged me to talk more to other people at Baruch, be it students or professors. While it is easy to simply research sustainability on the Internet, I’ve realized it was always good to hear another opinion regarding the topic and to look at it from a different perspective, both of which can only be provided by another person. Perhaps there’s a solution we’ve simply never seen before. Perhaps there’s a different perspective that no one is paying attention to. Even if talking to others doesn’t provide a different solution or perspective, it still allows us to find something we share in common, and communicate in a way that’s more than just “Hi I’ve seen you before but I don’t know you so I’ll just walk away now.”

The project has also encouraged me and my team to join our efforts with Baruch’s own ECO club, and we might bring the Sustainability Task Force on board as well, assuming we can find any of its allusive members.

Using these resources for our project doesn’t really give me an edge in my other courses, as none of them relate to sustainability. However, this project has led me to consider courses related to sustainability, but nothing is definite in that regard. The project has, however, helped me improve some of my communication skills so far, and I hope it will continue to do so in the spring semester, as communication is key, regardless of which field I go into.

This project has led me to understand that when solving problems that affect the entire world, it is sometimes best to begin in your own community. While our efforts may not impact the grand scheme of things, it does have some impact on a much smaller scale. Assume no one in a community believes they can do anything to save the world from its environmental ailment. Based on that belief, no one in that community will do anything, since they believe it will have no impact. If that belief continues on, eventually no one in the world will believe they can do anything, and thus the problem is not only unsolved, but also exacerbated. If we can convince even one person to live a more sustainable lifestyle, regardless of impact, then perhaps that person can go on to convince another, and another, and another. Doing good is contagious, and perhaps one day, everyone will live a more sustainable lifestyle and mitigate climate change. Perhaps my team’s efforts won’t save the world, but if we can convince even one person in our community, then I would consider ourselves as successful.

I still don’t know where I will see myself in the next three years. Perhaps I’ll still be working with the Green City Challenge. Perhaps I’ll be doing something entirely different. What I do know is that I will be trying. I will be trying to keep up my grades and academics. I will be trying to help others. And above all, I will be trying to help my community.

The Community Service Project has encouraged me to talk more to other people at Baruch, be it students or professors. While it is easy to simply research sustainability on the Internet, I’ve realized it was always good to hear another opinion regarding the topic and to look at it from a different perspective, both of which can only be provided by another person. Perhaps there’s a solution we’ve simply never seen before. Perhaps there’s a different perspective that no one is paying attention to. Even if talking to others doesn’t provide a different solution or perspective, it still allows us to find something we share in common, and communicate in a way that’s more than just “Hi I’ve seen you before but I don’t know you so I’ll just walk away now.”

The project has also encouraged me and my team to join our efforts with Baruch’s own ECO club, and we might bring the Sustainability Task Force on board as well, assuming we can find any of its allusive members.

Using these resources for our project doesn’t really give me an edge in my other courses, as none of them relate to sustainability. However, this project has led me to consider courses related to sustainability, but nothing is definite in that regard. The project has, however, helped me improve some of my communication skills so far, and I hope it will continue to do so in the spring semester, as communication is key, regardless of which field I go into.

This project has led me to understand that when solving problems that affect the entire world, it is sometimes best to begin in your own community. While our efforts may not impact the grand scheme of things, it does have some impact on a much smaller scale. Assume no one in a community believes they can do anything to save the world from its environmental ailment. Based on that belief, no one in that community will do anything, since they believe it will have no impact. If that belief continues on, eventually no one in the world will believe they can do anything, and thus the problem is not only unsolved, but also exacerbated. If we can convince even one person to live a more sustainable lifestyle, regardless of impact, then perhaps that person can go on to convince another, and another, and another. Doing good is contagious, and perhaps one day, everyone will live a more sustainable lifestyle and mitigate climate change. Perhaps my team’s efforts won’t save the world, but if we can convince even one person in our community, then I would consider ourselves as successful.

I still don’t know where I will see myself in the next three years. Perhaps I’ll still be working with the Green City Challenge. Perhaps I’ll be doing something entirely different. What I do know is that I will be trying. I will be trying to keep up my grades and academics. I will be trying to help others. And above all, I will be trying to help my community.

Community is defined as a group of individuals who have a sense of connection with one another and share a common characteristic. Individuals within a community receive support from the community, and give support in return. It is a general rule that those within a community strive to better the community as a whole. A community that does not strive to be better is stagnant, and will fade over time.

At the moment, my role as a student is to achieve my career goals; it is expected of me to improve my knowledge of the world while at Baruch and to move on to obtain a successful and satisfying job. However, as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, my role is not only to learn and become an independent individual, but to become a better human being as well.

I believe that in a community, the community provides support for the individual, while the individual uses that support to make the community better. The community can begin to plant trees, but it is ultimately up to the individual to keep watering those trees and ensure its growth. The community can build a library and provide its books, but it is up to the individual to request more and better books. The community can provide solutions, but it is up to the individual to ask the questions. The role of the individual is to recognize a problem, and help the community find and carry out a solution; that is the role I believe my role as a Baruch Scholar is.

Service is defined as the action of helping someone else. The Honors Program promotes a culture of service that does not service the individual, but the community around them. By engaging students in community service, the Honors Program helps students recognize a problem not just because it’s on the news channels or because some expert said so, but also because they can see the problem and even experience the problem. Through this recognition, students can help continue to carry out the solution to those problems or even provide an entirely new solution. In this process, students become part of the community. By giving back to the community, students help improve the community as a whole. In return, the community helps the students to become better versions of themselves through human interactions; that way, we don’t grow to become robots whose only concern is a job. Communities provide support, hope, and a network of social interactions that define humans as human. Through this process, students become more than just better versions of themselves, but better human beings as well.

Community is defined as a group of individuals who have a sense of connection with one another and share a common characteristic. Individuals within a community receive support from the community, and give support in return. It is a general rule that those within a community strive to better the community as a whole. A community that does not strive to be better is stagnant, and will fade over time.

At the moment, my role as a student is to achieve my career goals; it is expected of me to improve my knowledge of the world while at Baruch and to move on to obtain a successful and satisfying job. However, as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, my role is not only to learn and become an independent individual, but to become a better human being as well.

I believe that in a community, the community provides support for the individual, while the individual uses that support to make the community better. The community can begin to plant trees, but it is ultimately up to the individual to keep watering those trees and ensure its growth. The community can build a library and provide its books, but it is up to the individual to request more and better books. The community can provide solutions, but it is up to the individual to ask the questions. The role of the individual is to recognize a problem, and help the community find and carry out a solution; that is the role I believe my role as a Baruch Scholar is.

Service is defined as the action of helping someone else. The Honors Program promotes a culture of service that does not service the individual, but the community around them. By engaging students in community service, the Honors Program helps students recognize a problem not just because it’s on the news channels or because some expert said so, but also because they can see the problem and even experience the problem. Through this recognition, students can help continue to carry out the solution to those problems or even provide an entirely new solution. In this process, students become part of the community. By giving back to the community, students help improve the community as a whole. In return, the community helps the students to become better versions of themselves through human interactions; that way, we don’t grow to become robots whose only concern is a job. Communities provide support, hope, and a network of social interactions that define humans as human. Through this process, students become more than just better versions of themselves, but better human beings as well.

I grew up in a very traditional household. My parents hailed directly from Wen Zhou, a prefecture-level city in the Zhejiang province in China. They brought their traditions over when they moved to the States, and raised their children to value these traditions. However, these traditions value patriarchy and emphasize gender roles. By the time I began to understand my parents’ values, I had accepted the idea that I might never be as important than my younger brother, and that the world is a terrifying place.

However, in high school, I joined Tech Crew. This group of individuals were in charge of the technical aspects of the school’s performing arts shows. This group is actually where I made some of my closest friends. It taught me to be more open minded, and that I didn’t need to accept things for what they were. They taught me that everyone has the potential to do anything, as long as we allow it. Tech Crew’s motto is “Luceat Lux Vestra” or “Let Your Light Shine.” It is with this motto that I graduated from high school, and it is with this motto that I want to live my life.

As a college student, my parents expect me to spend my time studying and passing my classes, moving on to get a good job and earn a lot of money. As a college student, I expect me to learn more about what I can do, and discover who I want to be. I hope to use my first semester to pace myself and branch my interests. I hope to learn to take the initiative, instead of following other people’s instructions. I just hope I won’t be overwhelmed.

I grew up in a very traditional household. My parents hailed directly from Wen Zhou, a prefecture-level city in the Zhejiang province in China. They brought their traditions over when they moved to the States, and raised their children to value these traditions. However, these traditions value patriarchy and emphasize gender roles. By the time I began to understand my parents’ values, I had accepted the idea that I might never be as important than my younger brother, and that the world is a terrifying place.

However, in high school, I joined Tech Crew. This group of individuals were in charge of the technical aspects of the school’s performing arts shows. This group is actually where I made some of my closest friends. It taught me to be more open minded, and that I didn’t need to accept things for what they were. They taught me that everyone has the potential to do anything, as long as we allow it. Tech Crew’s motto is “Luceat Lux Vestra” or “Let Your Light Shine.” It is with this motto that I graduated from high school, and it is with this motto that I want to live my life.

As a college student, my parents expect me to spend my time studying and passing my classes, moving on to get a good job and earn a lot of money. As a college student, I expect me to learn more about what I can do, and discover who I want to be. I hope to use my first semester to pace myself and branch my interests. I hope to learn to take the initiative, instead of following other people’s instructions. I just hope I won’t be overwhelmed.