Author: a.lai

 

Generally, my pride gets in the way of me asking for help. As an Asian American, I feel social pressure to just breeze through subjects such as Math or Science; if I do not, I am a disappointment to my culture. This pride comes as a detriment when achieving education’s end goal of learning. However, my participation in the Community Service Project played a big role in humbling myself. I realize how fortunate I am to have these resources: Peer Tutoring, Starr, the Writing Center -all at my disposal. The people there are so knowledgeable and willing to help, all you have to do is take the initiative and ask for help. While I have not yet used any of these, participation in the Project led me to open up to them, as did listening to the Panelists from their respective help center during class.

Having seen firsthand how extracurriculars improve school experience tremendously in High School, I wanted to be just as active in college. As a part of Baruchesa, the esports club, I am three matches away from a trip to California and a College Scholarship for the game Hearthstone. Through this club, I was able to establish connections outside of my block with people sharing a common interest, while getting a sense of school pride beating other colleges. As a member of Ascend, a club for Asian professional development, I learned a lot of professional soft and hard skills. From Excel and creative/stock pitches, to public speaking and time management, I was able to develop as a person and become more confident. These skills have been applicable in my presentations and when completing school work, and I know that I will continue to reap the benefits of these essential skills.

Hopefully, in 5 years, I will have figured out my passions through dabbling in different internships and have a full time job where I can give back to my parents. If my passion requires graduate school, then so be it; I realized that I do much better at things I fully enjoy. For example I went the extra mile in Handball and Hearthstone, but getting Eagle Scout proved difficult. Hopefully I can push away my pride and become a more motivated student who is very willing to learn.

 

Journal #2 – What does it mean to serve your 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?

Serving in my community means doing anything to help others. Community has a loose definition in that you can help people on a local or global scale and still be considered serving it. Examples can range from helping someone cross the street to ending global warming; although these actions vary in impact, both better the community, showing that no effort is too small. As a student in Baruch, we go to school at essentially the center of the world. No other location can get you the same internship and networking opportunities that comes with going to a New York CIty School. Although I do not believe that we owe anything to the city, we should still be grateful and serve whenever we can, no matter the scale. As a Baruch Scholar, the bar is set higher as 15 hours of service for a non-profit are compulsory. I think the service is meant to put things into perspective for us and make the scholars grateful for their opportunities, allowing us to get insight on life for the less fortunate. Being that the Honors Program allows us to attend college free of tuition; that was Cuny and Macaulay’s way of serving the community – through giving affordable education. As a member of the Honors Program especially, after being on the receiving end of such generosity, we can continue spreading philanthropy down the line to try to reciprocate the opportunities we got. If you look at all the most successful people, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, they all made a lasting impact on the world community. Even though we may not be able to change things on such a large scale, having the drive to change the world can only help you be more successful.

Help us get to know you. Describe experiences that have shaped who you are. How have they defined your values and your beliefs? What are your expectations as a college student? What are your hopes and concerns for your first semester?

 

Hi guys my name is Alex.  I’m from Queens, but I dorm at Baruch.  After taking 7 APs in high school and getting a 3 or lower on all of them besides statistics, I decided that statistics would be my major.  

I would say that being a Boy Scout is a defining characteristic for me.  Going on camping trips and struggling through hikes brought me closer to my brothers.  The environment where boys can teach each other and do activities with older and younger scouts is truly amazing.  For that reason I rushed for a business fraternity to try and recreate a similar experience.

I also did acting and dancing in high school.  Although I’m generally pretty shy, but after going out of my comfort zone I realized that I enjoy being on stage, and find that there is no better feeling.

Out of such experiences I learned to value teamwork and learned how hard it is to be a good leader.  Ergo, I value the traits exhibited in the scout law, which are to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

As a college student, I expect to take responsibility for my own success, find jobs and internships, become more confident and become a more social person.  I expect to be taken out of my comfort zone at parties and give presentations.  During the first semester, I hope to meet new people and develop a routine for myself.  I’m also hoping to do better in school than I did in high school and work harder and procrastinate less.