Baruch Scholars 2016

John D. Rockefeller was known to be one of history’s wealthiest men and a major philanthropist. After retiring from Standard Oil, Rockefeller donated more than half a billion dollars to educational and scientific causes. This included establishing Rockefeller Institute, the General Education Board, and giving land to the United Nations.

Why did he do such a thing? Was it because he felt like giving away money? Was it because he wanted to foster his reputation? Maybe, it was because he wanted to serve the community, the one that was with him through his times.

My role, here at Baruch, is still being discovered. Right now, I’m still trying to find out which clubs to join, how to get involved, and what Baruch has to offer. Although I’m not exactly sure of my role, I know for a fact that my role can and should have an impact on the community. Serving the community is a rather eclectic phrase; it isn’t necessarily done in one way. Serving the community can include philanthropy, volunteering time, fighting for a cause, and even helping a stranger. In the case of Rockefeller after experiencing immense financial success, he gave back through large donations. For any common man/woman, it doesn’t have to be done in the same manner; it can be done in any method of contribution possible. Sometimes, even the smallest act of kindness can be a great help to the community.

Being enrolled into the Baruch Scholars program, we have been given privileges, opportunities, and resources that will make our Baruch experience run a little smoother; we have also been given community service guidelines to abide by. To be honest, my initial thoughts were that I was going to fulfill the requirement and that would be it. I know that this train of thought isn’t correct. I should continue to serve the community even if the requirements have been dealt with because no amount of service will suffice for what the community has done for me.

Obviously as a student at Baruch, Honors or not, the main goal of most students is to graduate. But there’s much more to being a student at Baruch. You have to make a difference in some way, or really what is the point of being here. It’s not just to get a degree. Maybe when adults go back to school ten years after high school that is all they are trying to do, but going to college still as a teenager offers you a lot of opportunities. Next year when there are the next group of Baruch Scholars, I hope to have something to distinguish myself if they ask about my first year at Baruch. This means getting involved in clubs, this means exploring New York City and everything it has to offer, this means improving myself as a person and learning. After sharing my story of my first year, I want to not only distinguish myself in the minds of other people, but to be proud of my accomplishments and want to continue with them. I may not be sure of what these accomplishments are now, but solely going to class and doing nothing else at Baruch is not the way I will get to this point.

The Honors Program seems to promote giving back to the community in which you came from and/or are surrounded by on a daily basis, as emphasized by the community service hours required each semester.  I hope that wherever I choose to donate my time in the next four years I truly see the impact I make on the people or animals I help. I don’t want to spend time doing something I don’t actually have a deep interest in, and it’s not about making myself feel like a better person by volunteering, but it’s about becoming a better person from the experiences you encounter while volunteering.

I’m currently a student in Baruch. My role in being a Baruch scholar is not only to accept the rewards that come along with this program but to give back. This year I would love to give back to my community by doing the community service we are assigned to do in our groups. I’m still
not sure where my group will choose to
give back.

During my high school experience I did a lot of community service, I did a more than 200 hours. I volunteered at Manhattan Beach Day Camp for one summer. I also volunteered in JCH during my school breaks. I did filing, data base entry, and translating for people who didn’t speak English. I loved giving back to my community. I did it from the end of freshman year to the beginning of senior year.

This is related to the culture of service the Honor Program promotes because I helped out my community and know I wanna help out my new community, here, at Baruch. I could also help out by joining clubs and next year promote the clubs I’m in, so more people would join and have a better college experience.

Another thing I could do that fits in with the culture of service that Honors Program promotes is advise people to vote and stand in the lobby giving out free stuff to those who sign up. This will help our community because more people need to express their voice, now more then ever, and vote! The concept of “one vote doesn’t count” isn’t true, because all those votes pile on and it becomes a large sum of votes. A large sum that DOES count. So those are some things I would do in my community to give back.

The common misconception that most people have about honor societies and scholars is that they are just academically gifted students that seek to gain good grades and nothing more. A true scholar, however, is much more than a person who vies for a number grade on their test. The characteristics of a scholar is someone who is not only academically gifted, but also, displays the willingness and ability to take leadership and strive to give back to the community in any way possible. Whether it be on a local, national, or even global scale, any form of service is key to defining what a scholar portrays. Therefore, as Baruch scholars, it is each of our responsibilities to not only focus on maintaining our GPA for our scholarships and future success. We must remember the true definition of a scholar and embody this in our everyday lives within every opportunity that we are given. We should not have to be forced to do community service because the school mandates it, but rather, do it from our own will. A perfect example of this would be to volunteer with no reward or assignment attached to it. Instead, we do it in order to give back to the community that in its own special way had provided for each of us, even if it was only one instance. When we are blessed with a life and abilities that people wish everyday they had, it becomes our obligation to spread the blessings that we have received as well. Therefore, a true scholar uses the gifts and blessings that she or he has received and carries the blessings on to the next person.

When you first hear about the requirements for the Baruch Scholar Honors Program it seems like a lot. However, once you take a step back you realize that it’s really what we should be doing anyways. I think that everyone, not just Baruch Scholars, should be helping out and doing community service and not just so it looks good on paper. I think its everyone’s civil duty to give back and help make the community better. Going off this idea, joining clubs helps make this possible. A lot of clubs get you involved and helping the community in and around Baruch. We were picked to be in Baruch Scholars because we are the best and brightest of Baruch minus the MacBooks. This means that we are supposed to be the role models to everyone and lead the way. We have these requirements but realistically they should be done without asking. I also think that we should help out our friends when they need it whether it be tutoring them or lending a textbook or PDF. Of course, our first job without having to be said is be outstanding students and just try and settle in because it is a big school and an enormous city. Once we are settled in we can then help others do the same because I believe we were put in this program to lead others and be outstanding role models.

I remember after hearing all the things Honor students had to do at the night of orientation. I was like man, that’s a drag. It was understandable, but it was still a drag. I still have the same mentality to this day. As a new student at Baruch, I need to settle in. I need to find friends and people I can rely on. I need to explore what Baruch has to offer. I need to have fun and go on adventures before I can calm down and ask myself: So, is this worth it? If the answer is yes, I will then try with my utmost intention and effort to give back to the Baruch Scholars community. I’ll sell my text books at dirt cheap prices. I’ll pass along my PDFs for those who are in need of them. Maybe I’ll become a mentor just like Tamara! Maybe in the future I will donate money back to Baruch! For now, however, I’m just a kid figuring out his place and role. My only contribution to the Baruch community as a whole is my involvement in joining clubs and exploring my areas of interests.

When I hear the question about my current role in Baruch community as a scholar, I find it really hard to answer this question due to timing. I feel as though we are still just getting used to things and haven’t really had time to create a role in the school. However, I feel as the month’s progress by that my answer will change because I think that we should have more of an understanding in our sense of community and a responsibility of involvement.

The schools has given us things such as a free tuition in the Honors program, so we should as part of this program do the same and give back to the school. It may not just be financially in the future that we could give back, but rather we can give back by becoming more involved in the school. We could join clubs, take advantage of all the workshops and free help they offer now to help become very successful people in he future who can give back more then. My idea of what our role of what our role as a Baruch scholar is very similar to the things we need to fulfill as a requirement in the program. For example, as an honors member we are required to do community service in our freshman seminar class and we also have to attend a cultural event. Those our events that not only help give back to the school, but to the diversity of the city.

Volunteer work is related to the culture of service of the Honors Program since it all relates to a form of giving back to the community. In high school, I found giving back an important aspect to my school because it boosted school spirit and helped put a smile on people’s face especially during periods of trouble such as after Hurricane Sandy hit. However, not only is volunteer work good for the culture of the program, it can help us grow individually also.

In senior year of high school, I thought of myself as a real leader. I was a head of a couple of commissions/clubs and felt like a real contributor to many others. I knew almost everyone in my school and even if I didn’t know them, their faces always seemed familiar and I was confident that they knew me. Now, I am back to square one. I feel exactly how I did four years ago. I’m a little “freshie” in such a large community. Even if I try to get involved I would never be the same contributor I once was. The only difference between now and four years ago is that I am now titled as an “honors student.”

When I hear the phrase “Baruch Honors” I immediately translate this to mean “Baruch Leader.” I feel as if I am responsible to be a representative of the top Baruch has to offer this world. I am aware that this title is a great honor but I also know that it comes with a price of great pressures. As an honors student, I am always expected to outperform the average Baruch student and will always be looked up to as the honors kid. If I don’t live up to these expectations I feel like I am letting down my high school for not being able to do much with the great education that they handed to me on a silver platter. I also would feel like I let down the Baruch admissions office by showing them that it was a mistake to give me this honor. Because of these reasons, I am determined to prove that they did not make a mistake and that I can truly become a Baruch Honors student.

I cannot believe how fast time has flown since last fall when I attended a Baruch Honors Program information session. I did not know then that Baruch would ultimately become my first college choice, but I remember still feeling excited about what the program had to offer. My attention was particularly drawn to the aspects of the balanced college experience put forth by the honors program: academic excellence, research and creative inquiry, international experience, cultural exploration, and leadership and service. I believe that my role as a Baruch Scholar is to actively seek new opportunity and hence new experience in these areas in order to chart my own path. I must ask myself with an open mind, “What can I make of the resources available to me?” In fulfilling my role I shall strive to uphold my values of integrity and reward through hard work. Equally important, however, is to also find appreciation and meaning in what I set out to do.

When I think of my passions, community service quickly comes to mind. Throughout high school, volunteer work was never merely a graduation requirement with a minimum number of required hours, but also- and much more important- a duty and means to grow for me. Over time, volunteering both helped me to grow individually and allowed me to realize one of the roles I want to have as a person for years to come: serving the community. For me, this does not mean giving back out of mere requirement but instead giving back out of willingness, understanding, and appreciation.