In my previous years, I have consistently volunteered over 100 hours every summer. Most of the time I was simply working as a teacher’s assistant in my summer camp and I had one year of volunteering in a Queens Public Library shelving books. There is actually one more volunteer opportunity that I took and that was volunteering in an ambulance corps. I do not really like to talk about it much and I will explain that later. So what does it mean to serve your community? Above all, it means to devote your time in building relationships and choosing to help others grow over your own needs.

As I said earlier, I worked in a summer camp as a teacher’s assistant and volunteered at the Queens Public library for over 100 hours each year. Honestly, these two don’t look that great on your resume. You volunteered, sure, but that’s what a ton of other kids do as well. It appears that those volunteer hours were simply accumulated to fulfill the requirement. However, I learned that those summers truly represent what it meant to serve your community.

For most of my summer camp experience, I was assigned to focus on 1 child (a year). Only one. Of course, I became friends with the other minions, but that experience with focusing on one child became very entertaining. I was given one child because that one boy was the nightmare of the camp. He couldn’t sit still. You couldn’t reprimand him or he would cry till no tomorrow. He could even speak English that well. I mentored Ricky in 2012 and Stanley in 2013. Those boys were just ridiculous. But I loved them. For two months, my pastor/camp director told me my job is simply to love them. I gave them my undivided attention. I helped them one step at a time. I did scold them on several occasions but after 100 hours of working with those kids, I knew that I made an impact. After working through all his pouting and inability to sit still, we learned that Stanley was actually a genius. He was at least one year ahead of his grade and his comprehension skills were top-notch. Ricky stopped his crying and began to speak English more fluently but is still quite naughty which is not always a terrible thing.

There isn’t much to say about my Queens Public Library experience except for the fact that I had to shelve books. Lots of books. Lots of fairy princess books which were taken down by little girls a minute after I reshelved them. I guess that counts as serving my community? they will never understand the pain of watching a perfectly organized shelf torn apart in a matter of minutes. But books aren’t meant to stay on shelves and I’m glad that my organizing was beneficial to them as it made it much easier (I take pride in it sometimes) to find.

My last experience was with the volunteer ambulance corps. Wow! That sounds cool! looks great to put down on your resume right? I actually took a class there and was a CFR (license expired). Sadly, I confess that I simply went there for a friend. Also for the experience. Who knows whether the medical field suits me? It didn’t. It turned out that I honestly did not like to go. I clocked in so few hours and only did so when my friend was there. I had made no long lasting relationships. It is definitely an example of not serving my community.

Through my volunteer experience, I learned that serving my community really involves creating relationships and investing TIME and ENERGY to make a difference. Doesn’t matter if it’s one little boy. Investing time to take part in someone’s life and impacting it, I believe, is what it means to serve my community. In Baruch, I hope to invest time in one or two clubs and not because they look good on a resume but because I am genuinely interested in it and want to get to know others who share my passions. As a Baruch Scholar with numerous privileges, I want to make a difference. I will be extremely disappointed in myself if I wasted my privileges to simply get a safe job and good retirement plan. With what I have been blessed with, I hope to give back to my society and like what the Ephebic Oath (which my high school Townsend harris made us memorize, but I forgot everything)  says, “leave my city better than I found it.”

(I’m sorry this turned out to be so long)

In my previous years, I have consistently volunteered over 100 hours every summer. Most of the time I was simply working as a teacher’s assistant in my summer camp and I had one year of volunteering in a Queens Public Library shelving books. There is actually one more volunteer opportunity that I took and that was volunteering in an ambulance corps. I do not really like to talk about it much and I will explain that later. So what does it mean to serve your community? Above all, it means to devote your time in building relationships and choosing to help others grow over your own needs.

As I said earlier, I worked in a summer camp as a teacher’s assistant and volunteered at the Queens Public library for over 100 hours each year. Honestly, these two don’t look that great on your resume. You volunteered, sure, but that’s what a ton of other kids do as well. It appears that those volunteer hours were simply accumulated to fulfill the requirement. However, I learned that those summers truly represent what it meant to serve your community.

For most of my summer camp experience, I was assigned to focus on 1 child (a year). Only one. Of course, I became friends with the other minions, but that experience with focusing on one child became very entertaining. I was given one child because that one boy was the nightmare of the camp. He couldn’t sit still. You couldn’t reprimand him or he would cry till no tomorrow. He could even speak English that well. I mentored Ricky in 2012 and Stanley in 2013. Those boys were just ridiculous. But I loved them. For two months, my pastor/camp director told me my job is simply to love them. I gave them my undivided attention. I helped them one step at a time. I did scold them on several occasions but after 100 hours of working with those kids, I knew that I made an impact. After working through all his pouting and inability to sit still, we learned that Stanley was actually a genius. He was at least one year ahead of his grade and his comprehension skills were top-notch. Ricky stopped his crying and began to speak English more fluently but is still quite naughty which is not always a terrible thing.

There isn’t much to say about my Queens Public Library experience except for the fact that I had to shelve books. Lots of books. Lots of fairy princess books which were taken down by little girls a minute after I reshelved them. I guess that counts as serving my community? they will never understand the pain of watching a perfectly organized shelf torn apart in a matter of minutes. But books aren’t meant to stay on shelves and I’m glad that my organizing was beneficial to them as it made it much easier (I take pride in it sometimes) to find.

My last experience was with the volunteer ambulance corps. Wow! That sounds cool! looks great to put down on your resume right? I actually took a class there and was a CFR (license expired). Sadly, I confess that I simply went there for a friend. Also for the experience. Who knows whether the medical field suits me? It didn’t. It turned out that I honestly did not like to go. I clocked in so few hours and only did so when my friend was there. I had made no long lasting relationships. It is definitely an example of not serving my community.

Through my volunteer experience, I learned that serving my community really involves creating relationships and investing TIME and ENERGY to make a difference. Doesn’t matter if it’s one little boy. Investing time to take part in someone’s life and impacting it, I believe, is what it means to serve my community. In Baruch, I hope to invest time in one or two clubs and not because they look good on a resume but because I am genuinely interested in it and want to get to know others who share my passions. As a Baruch Scholar with numerous privileges, I want to make a difference. I will be extremely disappointed in myself if I wasted my privileges to simply get a safe job and good retirement plan. With what I have been blessed with, I hope to give back to my society and like what the Ephebic Oath (which my high school Townsend harris made us memorize, but I forgot everything)  says, “leave my city better than I found it.”

(I’m sorry this turned out to be so long)

Being a Baruch Scholar provides many advantages. One these advantages that should not be understated is the fact tuition is paid for. Many people go to college and along with the regular stresses of college and classes are responsible to pay for school as they learn. The lack of financial stress I am provided with ensures for the time and stress free environment to ensure that as a Baruch Scholar I can maintain my grades but more importantly get involved and explore my interests around campus. Being as I am still getting acclimated to college life and the responsibilities that come along with it I have yet to actively and in full intensity join any specific organizations but plan on it as I begin to get the gist of college. Serving the community means that when you are good at something or have the capability to contribute to the greater good and whole that you will be willing to do that. It is about giving back some of what you were fortunate enough to be bestowed with and creating a better place to live for those who come after us. Some believe that once one dies he is lost from our world, no longer in existence. These individuals fail to acknowledge that one who contributes to the community has an ever lasting effect. You helped someone who will help someone else and so on, in some way or form your existence will continue to live on. With that said, what is the purpose of existence without contributing to the larger community?

Being a Baruch Scholar provides many advantages. One these advantages that should not be understated is the fact tuition is paid for. Many people go to college and along with the regular stresses of college and classes are responsible to pay for school as they learn. The lack of financial stress I am provided with ensures for the time and stress free environment to ensure that as a Baruch Scholar I can maintain my grades but more importantly get involved and explore my interests around campus. Being as I am still getting acclimated to college life and the responsibilities that come along with it I have yet to actively and in full intensity join any specific organizations but plan on it as I begin to get the gist of college. Serving the community means that when you are good at something or have the capability to contribute to the greater good and whole that you will be willing to do that. It is about giving back some of what you were fortunate enough to be bestowed with and creating a better place to live for those who come after us. Some believe that once one dies he is lost from our world, no longer in existence. These individuals fail to acknowledge that one who contributes to the community has an ever lasting effect. You helped someone who will help someone else and so on, in some way or form your existence will continue to live on. With that said, what is the purpose of existence without contributing to the larger community?

What is your role in the Baruch and broader community as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program and what do you think it should be? How is this related to the culture of service the Honors Program promotes? [250 words]

I believe that being in Baruch as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program I should be taking full advantage of all the resources and opportunities I’ve been given. As a Scholar, I should be striving towards the best I can be. Moreover, the way I define the “best I can be” should be continuously growing. I shouldn’t be limiting myself towards a goal that can be easily obtained. Every time I succeed in reaching one of these goals, there should be something else for me to work towards. By taking these steps, I can further grow into the type of person I wish to become. By taking full advantage of all the resources and opportunities offered by Baruch, I am certain I’ll be able to reach each of my goals. I’ve been blessed to be offered this program, and I think that my role is to not take this program for granted and use all the benefits I’ve been given.

The culture of service the Honors Program promotes is related because it comes from the idea of giving back after receiving. Since we, the Baruch Scholars, have been given so many opportunities and resources, we should be returning our services to the community. If everyone in the community was given an opportunity to succeed, our whole community as a whole would grow and develop. I understand that I’m lucky to be able to receive this program. Even if I worked hard, this would not be possible if the city and Baruch did not have this program. Now that I’m here, I have to give back to the community as well.

What is your role in the Baruch and broader community as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program and what do you think it should be? How is this related to the culture of service the Honors Program promotes? [250 words]

I believe that being in Baruch as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program I should be taking full advantage of all the resources and opportunities I’ve been given. As a Scholar, I should be striving towards the best I can be. Moreover, the way I define the “best I can be” should be continuously growing. I shouldn’t be limiting myself towards a goal that can be easily obtained. Every time I succeed in reaching one of these goals, there should be something else for me to work towards. By taking these steps, I can further grow into the type of person I wish to become. By taking full advantage of all the resources and opportunities offered by Baruch, I am certain I’ll be able to reach each of my goals. I’ve been blessed to be offered this program, and I think that my role is to not take this program for granted and use all the benefits I’ve been given.

The culture of service the Honors Program promotes is related because it comes from the idea of giving back after receiving. Since we, the Baruch Scholars, have been given so many opportunities and resources, we should be returning our services to the community. If everyone in the community was given an opportunity to succeed, our whole community as a whole would grow and develop. I understand that I’m lucky to be able to receive this program. Even if I worked hard, this would not be possible if the city and Baruch did not have this program. Now that I’m here, I have to give back to the community as well.

As a Baruch Scholar, I believe that my role in the Baruch community is to be committed to learning and my studies, but also at the same time know that it is necessary to give back. I was lucky enough to be selected to be a Baruch Scholar and I know that I have beaten out a lot of other people, along with the other 20 or so people in our Seminar. With this, I know that Baruch believes in my ability which means that I should be doing my best to help better Baruch’s community. I can do that by participating in school events, looking for volunteering opportunities around the school, and just overall being a good person. To the broader community of NYC, I know that what I do also in some way represents Baruch. Baruch chose me as a respectable student that is part of their image in the community. If I were to be a not so great person who does messed up stuff and ends up on the news, it would reflect poorly not only on myself obviously, but also Baruch. With that, I think it’s important that I present myself in an according way that not only matches with my standards, but also Baruch’s.

The Honors Program promotes giving back to the NYC community by doing a Community Service Project. We give back to the community with our time, by doing various easy tasks that take up little of our time. This reflects positively not only on us as students, but also on Baruch as a whole. We look better as people, and Baruch’s image does too.

As a Baruch Scholar, I believe that my role in the Baruch community is to be committed to learning and my studies, but also at the same time know that it is necessary to give back. I was lucky enough to be selected to be a Baruch Scholar and I know that I have beaten out a lot of other people, along with the other 20 or so people in our Seminar. With this, I know that Baruch believes in my ability which means that I should be doing my best to help better Baruch’s community. I can do that by participating in school events, looking for volunteering opportunities around the school, and just overall being a good person. To the broader community of NYC, I know that what I do also in some way represents Baruch. Baruch chose me as a respectable student that is part of their image in the community. If I were to be a not so great person who does messed up stuff and ends up on the news, it would reflect poorly not only on myself obviously, but also Baruch. With that, I think it’s important that I present myself in an according way that not only matches with my standards, but also Baruch’s.

The Honors Program promotes giving back to the NYC community by doing a Community Service Project. We give back to the community with our time, by doing various easy tasks that take up little of our time. This reflects positively not only on us as students, but also on Baruch as a whole. We look better as people, and Baruch’s image does too.