Daniela Calabro

Throughout the semester, the availability of resources around campus has been tremendously helpful. My participation in the Community Service Project encouraged me to look at the broader picture and really think about the community and figure out a way to improve it. My group decided to work at a soup kitchen at the Father’s Heart Ministries and I am very much looking forward to following through with this decision next semester. Preparation for the project presentation has allowed me to learn more about what makes a good presentation, which is extremely helpful for the future.  One of the main resources we used for the Community Service Project was the library, especially the study rooms. Finding a spot in the library for a group of four or more to sit is not so easy and so the study rooms came to be of great help. I definitely intend on using more of the study rooms in the future.

I have not been very active in student clubs but I hope to change that during the next three years. I went to a couple of meetings for Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and it seems like something I would want to become more involved with in the future. I also hope to join Women in Business. In the next three years, I hope I will figure out what to major in and what career I would like to pursue. I hope taking a range of different classes and going to club meetings and workshops at Baruch will help me figure out what direction to take. I also hope to get an internship to gain some experience for the future. In addition, after we fulfill our requirement for community service I still hope to remain involved in the community somehow and continue giving back. My main goal during the next couple of years is to gain perspective and determine what I would enjoy spending my life doing and then go after it.

I think serving your community is all about giving back. Each person has his or her own talents and abilities that they can use to help the community. It is not enough to just use your skills to only better yourself. Skills should be used to help out others as well. As a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, I have been given so many resources to help further my education and I think it is important to use the education I am receiving to help others and better the world. In the Baruch community, I can serve the community by taking part in events that promote a good cause or help raise money for charity. I hope to take part in these events in the future. I think the community service project is a good idea to promote service because it allows students to say thank you for their scholarship and all the other resources that are made available to them. I am looking forward to volunteering in the soup kitchen and doing something that will help others. In high school, I would cook meals for the homeless but I never actually got a chance to personally meet the homeless and serve them face-to-face. I think the world in general would be so much better off if all the privileged and wealthy people would use their abundant resources to help the unfortunate. People tend to always want more for themselves and soon they have more than they will ever need, while others are struggling. If people were less selfish and put more effort into community service, the world would be a very different place.

The past two summers have been full of experiences that have helped shape the person I am today. Starting with last summer, the summer before my senior year, I had to make a choice between spending the summer in Italy with the rest of my family, or staying home and working at my first job. After much deliberation, I decided to stay home and work. I was working as a summer camp counselor during the week and at a pizzeria on the weekends. Since my family was going to Italy for the summer, I had to take care of myself during the time they were away. This meant I would have to do my own laundry, cook my own food, take care of my dog, and get to work on time without the benefit of having my mom to drive me. This was all very new to me but in the end, it proved to be a great learning experience. By the end of the summer, I had this newfound independence that would follow me throughout everything I did.

This past summer was the total opposite of the summer before. I did not work at all but instead travelled as much as I could. Going to Europe with my school was an amazing experience that allowed me to see the world in a new way. I especially enjoyed seeing London and hope to return there one day. Going on this trip also made me think of possibly doing a study abroad in the future. As for this current semester, I just hope to balance my time well so that I don’t get overwhelmed with all the work. I intend to focus on adjusting to the schoolwork this semester and then getting more involved with clubs and such next semester.

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