The Community Service Project taught me a lot about utilizing my resources here at Baruch. First and foremost, I had no idea that Baruch’s library was so vast and could offer so many different branches of information. After the session we had with a Baruch librarian, I have used the online databases for almost all of my class projects. In fact, at that very session, the librarian gave us a link on the Baruch library website that had a full layout of our Business Recitation company summary and several research links for each section of it. This proved to be tremendously helpful and saved me a lot of time.

As a result of my participation in the project, I learned that while it is important to know what you want to do, it is also important to know what you don’t want to do. This applies to community service as well as broader ideas like a career. In terms of the project, every group started by eliminating ideas that they didn’t like – whether it was working with animals or children. This is important because while the quantity of time spent volunteering may be the same, the quality is what really matters. If someone is volunteering for an organization they dislike, they may not put as much effort into the work which would result in a less meaningful experience. A person who is passionate about the community service he/she is doing will be able to give much more to those in need and will find more meaning in their activity. In terms of a career, knowing what you don’t want is also important. It can be very difficult to pinpoint what you want to be for the rest of your life, but weeding out what you don’t like can help you along the way.

I personally know what I don’t like. I know I don’t want to be a doctor or a lawyer. Or an astronaut for that matter. This is why I know that in 3 years I won’t be majoring in History or Biology. I hope that in 3 years I will be finishing my second or third actuary exam, and will have either an internship at an insurance company in New York City. Hopefully, I will even have a full time offer awaiting me when I finish my final semester. While it seems very far away now, I know these 3 years will fly by, and I am excited to see where they take me.