There are numerous resources around campus that can aid in the Community Service Project. I would say the major resources would be the library, the library data bases, and the computer labs. Both the library and the computer labs contain computers with internet access which all serve as pivotal tools in researching organizations. The internet is a medium where you can both find an organization that meets your preferred service category, get contact information for that organization, and find out information and history on that organization. In addition, the library databases serve as a source where further information on the organizations can be found and reviewed.

Going forward I do wish to get involved on campus and as of now I did join the student government and look to get more involved in it going forward. However, this did not contribute to my community service project.

By using the aforementioned resources for the project, me and my group were able to to become familiar with resources and resource exploration tools around campus. This can aid in future classes who need similar resource proceedings.  The research done for the Community Service Project served as a bit of an ice breaker in order to get involved with and familiar with these research tools. These tools and methods will need to be used again in the future of my own and all of our studies at Baruch.

Before this project, I had a very in depth understanding of community service through the involvement I had in Campus Ministry service events at my high school. This project has not served to heighten my understanding, but has provided a medium for the already instilled understanding to continue here at Baruch.

In the next 3 years, I see myself working hard to positively benefit myself by advancing my knowledge of the world and its interactions with the people that inhabit it. Overall knowledge is the goal; however, I wish to be able to do this while still maintaining good grades and gaining acceptance into my choice of law school in order to go forward into the next step in life. A step that would lead to my career and thus into the rest of my life.

Community service is a task at the heart of citizenship. As citizens, we have an obligation to contribute in some way to benefitting the society. However, some of us do it in drastically different ways. When you think about it, the possibilities of serving the community seem endless. The only dictation being your day job and how much time goes into that, but in reality that day job may fulfill community service. City employees: parks, police, fire department, sanitation, other city agencies; Doctors, lawyers, even just attending a community board meeting is serving the community.

As a student, time is limited and the vast majority of time is, rightfully so, towards educating oneself and maybe more importantly attaining and maintaining the grades so that one can get accepting into the graduate school or profession/career of his or her choice. However, is this as selfish as it may sound? Especially since many of these careers may benefit the community. So in reality by studying to become doctors, lawyers, or even accountants and business majors, we are gaining the skills needed to serve the community. We are even serving every day by making ourselves into the best we possibly can be so we can do these jobs at the maximum efficiency and to the maximum benefit to not only ourselves (direct impact), but the entire community (possibly direct and indirect).

Some of us though have extra time, or want to contribute in ways other than our day job. Here is where the opportunity to volunteer time or even start an organization arises. Baruch wants us to learn about and be able to share this experience. Although the former paragraphs of my post may lead one to believe this possibly may be a waste. In reality it is not. You have to start somewhere and if you never get involved , you won’t get involved. Simply put, if you start early you might like it and want to continue contributing in this way even when you are not forced to do so. On top of that, the experience is generally priceless. You never know what you may run into and what revelations these experiences may bring. Some places you go, you may feel that you stepped into a different world. “People don’t live like this in America.” Well guess what? They do. To save everyone from one of my (very long) political rants on poverty in America, I’ll just say this. Despite what the official census report tells you, at least 30% of Americans are in “poverty” (US Census has a pretty misleading definition of it) and at least 60% severely struggle day to day. Not even mentioning the unemployment rate that has been “shrinking.” A.K.A people stopped looking for jobs. So there are a lot of opportunities to help these people and seeing this side of society that many of us have trouble fully wrapping our minds around that people actually live like this in America, can have a drastic impact on an individual.

The honors program wants you to have such experiences. We will all go out with the skills needed to contribute to society during our day job, experiences from other service, and possibly the will (if time permits) to continue volunteering spare time in such ways. Having been heavily involved in campus ministry throughout my four years in high school, I can definitely vouch for the Honors Program’s culture of service as a truly proper policy that should be in place. Volunteering can be a blessing or a curse. Don’t do the obvious. Help someone who really needs the help, somewhere where you skills can be put to effective use. Not the easiest place, but the best place to be. Don’t do it just to do it, do it with a purpose. This all starts in your choice of an organization/cause. If you just pick something at random or out of convenience you honestly might hate it and it will turn into a chore. Take this seriously. You never know, it just might change your life.

When I was younger I attended grammar school at St. Stanislaus Kostka in Maspeth, Queens. It was a small Catholic grammar school where there was one class in each grade. Moving on from this environment I attended Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School, a Catholic high school in Easy Elhurst Queens. McClancy was a small all-boys school with a strong sense of community. Here I was incredibly involved. I played sports such as Track and Baseball on both the Junior Varsity and Varsity level. I also participated in clubs ranging from Student Government, where I was the President, to Campus Ministry, where we volunteered to help both around the school and in the community. I have to say, Student Council was where I had the largest impact. I was able to accomplish much for the school community including adding a Junior-Faculty Volleyball game, getting a school mascot, organizing a school concert, getting a new water fountain, and many more beneficial additions. My experience at McClancy definitely played a major role in making me who I am today. Between the people that I met, the friends I made, the teachers I had, and the strong moral values I was able to attain I definitely appreciate my choice choosing McClancy and couldn’t imagine high school any other way at any other school. Now as a college student, I expect to be able to pursue larger things on a larger scale. Instead of just helping to change things in a small community of 300-400 people, I want to be able to instill positive change to greater society. It is this passion to help and make a difference that drives me forward. This first semester I hope to maintain a good GPA and begin to get involved around campus. This is a great time to get acclamated and set a trend for the next few years of my life.