What does it mean to serve your community?

Part of my identity is associated with the communities that I am a part of. I have a community where I live, a religious community, a community of the schools that I’ve been a part of. I am now proud to call myself part of the Baruch College community. This also means I am part of the community of New York City.

Being in a community comes with privileges, and of course, responsibilities. I am fortunate to benefit from each of these communities, and thus, it is my responsibility to give back what I can, so that others can benefit as well.

I have been very involved in community service and volunteering since the beginning of middle school. I’ve visited nursing homes, packed food boxes for donations, volunteered with blind teenagers in New York City, visited hospitals, volunteered for Chris Christie’s campaign, and my favorite- volunteered with Special Needs people of all ages.

What I’ve come to learn from all of this is that in giving back to others, I end up gaining way more than I am giving. Volunteering has given me a greater appreciation for what I have been blessed with, for what I am fortunate to have that others aren’t. I have also learned so much from the people that I have volunteered with, both the volunteers, and the Special Needs children.

My high school had community service hours requirements- and so I had to choose an organization to volunteer with. Earlier in middle school, I had been involved with the Friendship Circle, an organization for Special Needs children. They come to recruit volunteers all of the time, and it’s sort of the thing that everyone does, just because everyone does it. But I fell in love with it. It wasn’t just a volunteering ‘job,’ it was an amazing experience. And so, for the entirety of my high school, every Saturday afternoon, I went to visit my friend Tehila.

What started as a requirement turned into something that I looked forward to. Every week, I yearned for the week to end, and for my precious opportunity to go “volunteer.” I put in in quotes, because although that is what it was considered when the checkbox on my report card that i fulfilled my hours, it didn’t feel like that to me. Going to see Tehila was exciting, it was my once a week date with my friend.

I’ve come to believe that we are given everything we have in order to be able to help out others. We go through life with our experiences and stories, and when we take that- along with our skills, we are able to help others immensely.

I think it’s befitting that my group has chosen to volunteer with the Pajama Program. Everyone in the Baruch Scholars program has been given a gift- education. We are fortunate to be able to not only be literate, but academically achieving, and we are extremely blessed to be able to attend this college without cost. Therefore, volunteering with the Pajama Program is an ideal way to give back. It helps shine light on how lucky we are, and helps us utilize what we have to help others.

I am looking forward to this experience, and to becoming part of yet another community.

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.

To serve your community it means to stand up and actively try to make your community better. Most people only do good things in society because there is an incentive like profit. The only reason to  to do the little things through volunteering is because you genuinely want to help your community. Or if you have required volunteer hours but hey at least you’re still helping out. I once volunteered at a charity organization called God’s Love We Deliver. They made and delivered food just to help people with serious illnesses like AIDS. I helped bag the food which isn’t as simple as it sounds. Each bag has an order of specific food and you have to make sure you put the right food in the bag. At first I volunteered there because I thought it would good on my college resume. But after going a few times I realized that I kind of liked volunteering there. I met friendly people and I had a good time working with them. I guess that was kind of serving my community and clearly me and the other volunteers contributed to the improvement of people’s health. There’s no money incentive for doing its because it’s just volunteer work and thats pretty cool that you can have a big organization just made of genuine and charitable individuals. So once again to serve your community means to actively help the society that you live in. Charity and volunteer work are two ways to help people from the bottom of your heart.

To serve your community it means to stand up and actively try to make your community better. Most people only do good things in society because there is an incentive like profit. The only reason to  to do the little things through volunteering is because you genuinely want to help your community. Or if you have required volunteer hours but hey at least you’re still helping out. I once volunteered at a charity organization called God’s Love We Deliver. They made and delivered food just to help people with serious illnesses like AIDS. I helped bag the food which isn’t as simple as it sounds. Each bag has an order of specific food and you have to make sure you put the right food in the bag. At first I volunteered there because I thought it would good on my college resume. But after going a few times I realized that I kind of liked volunteering there. I met friendly people and I had a good time working with them. I guess that was kind of serving my community and clearly me and the other volunteers contributed to the improvement of people’s health. There’s no money incentive for doing its because it’s just volunteer work and thats pretty cool that you can have a big organization just made of genuine and charitable individuals. So once again to serve your community means to actively help the society that you live in. Charity and volunteer work are two ways to help people from the bottom of your heart.

I believe that my role as a Baruch Honors Scholar is one of responsibly. As I have been given the privilege to attend college at no economic cost it is only logical to give back to my school and broader community. Foremost I aim honor my commitment to be an active student:to participate in clubs, get good grades,and contribute to a positive school environment. Once I’ve met my responsibilities as a student I would like to adjudicate time in my schedule to volunteer. To volunteer one must be willing devote time and energy to aid organizations or charities that need assistance. I believe some of the reasons the Baruch Scholars program promotes volunteering are that through working with people with different abilities and backgrounds than ours students become more accepting,knowledgable, and compassionate humans. We also develop “an attitude of gratitude” by working with those less fortunate than us. It is empowering to be able to feel that we have bettered others day, whether it be by distributing food in a soup kitchen or reading to little kids. In high school I volunteered at an after school program for special needs children. This was a rewarding experience as I was able to connect with the children and learn from them. My freshman seminar group is hopefully (not as yet finalized) going to be involved with feeding New York Cities hungry. Although I haven’t volunteered for this cause yet I am excited to see how my fellow group members and I can have a positive impact on our broader community.

There’s two different ways of defining a “community.” You can look at a community as a neighborhood, so a bunch of people living in the same area. Or you can look at a community as a group of people coming together with common interests and goals. I prefer to think of a community as the second definition. In Baruch my role is to eat a big breakfast, go to my classes, eat lunch, go to more classes, read on the train on the way home, then power nap, do some homework, eat a smaller dinner, and finish my homework so I can get at least 7-8 hours of sleep because Mr. Medina told me verbatim to do all of this. But in reality, at Baruch I can just go to my classes or I can focus and participate and really retain and learn the information. That is my goal and my role in my community here. As a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, I’m sure most of us have similar goals of wanting good grades. And we want them and we will probably get them because we are a group of students who genuinely care about our grades and work hard in our classes. Also, thanks to being a Baruch Scholar, I feel lucky to be given the opportunity for full tuition here. I think this idea a this benefit motivates me to do more and work harder, not only for myself but for my community. This is also a great reason why the community service project is incorporated  because it is the perfect way to give back! So within our Baruch community we have our own Baruch Scholars community and we’ll all be giving back thanks to the opportunity Baruch has given us.

There’s two different ways of defining a “community.” You can look at a community as a neighborhood, so a bunch of people living in the same area. Or you can look at a community as a group of people coming together with common interests and goals. I prefer to think of a community as the second definition. In Baruch my role is to eat a big breakfast, go to my classes, eat lunch, go to more classes, read on the train on the way home, then power nap, do some homework, eat a smaller dinner, and finish my homework so I can get at least 7-8 hours of sleep because Mr. Medina told me verbatim to do all of this. But in reality, at Baruch I can just go to my classes or I can focus and participate and really retain and learn the information. That is my goal and my role in my community here. As a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, I’m sure most of us have similar goals of wanting good grades. And we want them and we will probably get them because we are a group of students who genuinely care about our grades and work hard in our classes. Also, thanks to being a Baruch Scholar, I feel lucky to be given the opportunity for full tuition here. I think this idea a this benefit motivates me to do more and work harder, not only for myself but for my community. This is also a great reason why the community service project is incorporated  because it is the perfect way to give back! So within our Baruch community we have our own Baruch Scholars community and we’ll all be giving back thanks to the opportunity Baruch has given us.

My current role Baruch is simply a student. Although I have been to two club fairs and a career fair so far, I do not feel as involved with Baruch as I would like to be. As a student who’s a part of Baruch Scholars, I believe that I should take advantage of all my benefits. Free tuition, among other things, has been the greatest benefit I have received from Baruch. Of course, I will not only be taking from Baruch. There has to be some balance between give and take. As a student with so many benefits from Baruch, I feel that it is only proper to get involved with the Baruch community. When I say get involved, I do not mean going crazy and joining all the clubs that are out there. In my first semester of college, I believe that I should be finding my place and welcoming new connections with people. I do not plan on becoming an active participant in many, if any, clubs because I’m still not used to the work load and expectations yet. Furthermore, I would like to get a good feel for what goes on in Baruch and the type of events it holds. Later on, however, my role should be that of a more active student. I plan on attending more club events and maybe even help out at a department here at Baruch.

In the broader community, I have both volunteered with children before. Every summer, I try to look for a place to work at to use my time productively. I can say that I enjoyed working with these children in different organizations. What I love most is taking these children on field trips where they actually experience something new and interesting. Going forward, I believe that I should volunteer in a different field. Although there are many children out there, there are others who can also gain from my help. Already, I’m going to contribute to the community as a part of FRO. I believe a big part of community service is helping others benefit whether it’s directly or indirectly from your work. The service that the Honors Program promotes does not end at just servicing Baruch; The Honors Program encourages servicing the community.

-Jennifer