As a Baruch Scholar in the Honors program, I understand that community service is very important. To serve your community means to give back to what surrounds you, whether it is people or the earth itself. Serving your community comes in many shapes and sizes. It can range from reading to children to feeding the homeless to planting a tree. Whatever the activity is, it must focus on you giving time and effort into what surrounds you. While some my say that you are serving your community if you donate money, I believe that time and effort are much more valuable to both the individual and the community. Money may help the immediate cause, but dedicating yourself to your neighborhood allows many more people to benefit. Actually going out into your community and doing something to help others will enrich your life with new experiences and people you wouldn’t have met otherwise.

Since I am a Baruch Scholar, I am fortunate enough to get a free education and a laptop on top of that. I am very grateful for this and see that I must give back to my community. My community has given me financial aid in order to further my education, so I must give back my time and energy. I believe that I play a small role in a much larger chain. The community service I provide will make my neighborhood and its people better. These small changes will create a ripple effect and create bigger changes in the community. Eventually, my service will allow others to get better educations, to possibly get the same scholarship, and continue the everlasting chain.