Community Service Self-Evaluation Assessment

Name: Krystal Hernandez

Freshman Seminar Course #.FRO 1000 FMA

Name of Community Service Organization/Activity:NYU Joint Disease Hospital

 

Since I didn’t go to an actual community service event, I wrote the 4 page essay. So  I’ll just blog about a past volunteer experience.

 

1. How did your community service work help the community?

 

I was assisting in a hospital, mainly putting together informational pamphlets and also packets that patients had to fill out.

 

1. What were your initial reactions upon hearing that you would be engaging in a community service project?

 

I wasn’t too excited, it isn’t that I see it as a waste of time but i rather be doing things I enjoy with my time.

 

1. How did it make you feel to give your time and energy to others?

 

It did feel like a waste of time once again because I wasn’t doing something I enjoyed. And I also remember how boring it was. having to do something like volunteering and it be mandatory takes the fun and enjoyment out of it. It just makes it another tedious task.

 

1. What stands out as the best and/ or most trying experiences that occurred while engaging in your community service project? What did you learn from these experiences?

 

The best experience was just getting the credit for high school, it was a requirement. 

 

1. How did engaging in this project relate to your education and the larger issues in society?

 

I just got to see a lot of people that are turned away for treatment because they didn’t have insurance, so that was really sad and made me think a lot about what the country considers a priority and health doesn’t seem to be a top one.

 

1. How did your community service experience relate to the “Leadership and Service” session?

 

It taught me about the different positions of leadership and the many roles one must fit at once.

 

1. How has your community service experience changed your thinking, attitudes, and actions towards others, yourself, the community, and community service work as a whole?

It changed my attitude towards those doing office jobs like the one I experience since I know have more respect for those jobs because I know how boring and dull they can be.It changed my attitude by making me realize I don’t want a job like this. Ever. Now I know if I ever participate in community service I will take part in an event whose purpose I believe in or that at least includes work in it that I would enjoy.

 

1. How has your community service experience impacted you personally? What is the most important thing you learned about yourself throughout this experience?

 

Once again as stated before, I have realized what I want to do with the rest of my life, and it doesn’t involve a tedious clerical job in the medical field.

 

1. Were you satisfied with your experience overall? Why or why not?

 

No I was not. I had to work with some very miserable and grouchy people that obviously didn’t enjoy their job very much. So just having negative people around me ruined my overall experience as well.

 

1. Do you see yourself staying involved in the community during your college and adult years? Why or why not?

 

I definitely would love to participate in more community service but I will now be more aware as to which type of events I choose. I thick it is a great opportunity to meet people and help and give back to the community overall. Community service although in my past has not been very pleasing it has taught me a lot so I will continue to take part in it.

 

1. Sum up your service-learning experience in a one-two-sentence headline.

 

If you find joy in helping others and participating in community activities it doesn’t seem as long or time-consuming.

            My name is Zahava Bar-David, I am nineteen years old and a freshman here, obviously.  I went to a Jewish private school for High School, and then spent a year abroad in Israel last year. It is a common thing in my High School and in other Jewish High Schools to spend a year in Israel after graduating and before going into College. It was a really hard decision for me to make, I did not want to go and did not think there was a reason for it. The reason that many kids do it is because it is supposed to be a year of growth, religiously and independently.

            There are so many schools and one year programs available for the Americans that come, and the first step is deciding which school to go to. Some are coed programs, some are single sex schools and they are each different religiously. Some more strict, with more rules and some with less rules and a lot more freedom.

            Before I went to Israel for the year, I was not very involved with Judaism. I did not feel a strong connection to my religion and thought of it in a negative light. It seemed like a set of rules about things I couldn’t do. I couldn’t eat milk and meat together, I couldn’t drive on Saturdays because we keep a sabath, and the thought of going to a religious school in Israel for a full year made me nasueas. I wanted to just be a regular high school graduate and go to college the next fall. I thought I was ready for it, and wanted to live in the city and party every weekend. My older sister went for a year 3 years before I did, and when she came home she kept a strict dress code and did not wear pants anymore. That scared me and turned me off to it as well. I fought with her over it, and did not understand why she was becoming “more religious” and it changed our relationship in some ways, which hurt me as well.

            I made the decision to go anyway, mostly because all of my friends were going and I had nothing to lose. I was going to a school with two of my best friends that did not have such a strict schedule and was known for giving the kids a lot of freedom. This was the best decision I have ever made. It wasn’t easy leaving my family, and leaving New York, and my boyfriend who was staying in the city, but all of these challenges helped me grow as a person and mature every day that I was gone. For the first time, I was living on my own with friends in a different country, with tons and tons of other Jews. I began to love it and by the end I learned enough about the positive aspects of my religion and no longer thought of it as a set of rules. I found that the rules and the customs were not meant to restrict me from having a regular life, but to help me maintain a balanced mindset and be a good person. We did community service once a week, stayed at strangers houses for the sabath and met tons of new friends. We had tons of fun also, the drinking age in Israel is 18 so we were able to party on some weekends too. I realized that I could be connected to my religion and also remain a regular college aged kid.

This experience for me was life changing and although now I’m starting college a full year later than I should be, I grew and matured over the year that I was away much more than I think I would have in a year of college in the city. I didn’t come home wearing only skirts or obsessed with praying, I’m still the same girl just with a much greater appreciation for life and for religion.

One of the things I like best about myself is that I am understanding towards other people. I am independent. I think I am openminded because I like to hear others opinions and consider every point of view. I am a student, a worker, a child, and a friend. The things I like least about myself are my indecisiveness and shyness. I would like to be more firm and confident in myself when interacting with others. I believe that if you want change you have to physically do something about  it rather than just talk about it, and thats the only way change will happen. The most important things to me are my family, myself, my friends, my dogs, my grades, money, and my future. A moment I felt guilty was when I lied about where I was and who I was with and I got caught. I felt empowered when I did a job interview and found out I got the job. My biggest challenge at Baruch is using my time effectively and organizing myself. I am enjoying the freedom and independence of college. It is much different than the all girls Catholic high school that I went to. In the future I hope to be a more successful and well rounded individual.

Me and my puppy 🙂

This assignment was really difficult, because I honestly had no idea what I wanted to say. Plus I waited until the absolute last minute to start this assignment; hey at least I’m being honest. I guess I’ll tell you a little about myself, college, and what I plan to accomplish in the future. Hey, my name is Jason, I was born and raised in Queens and I’m of Italian, Polish and German descent. I went to Martin Luther High School. I couldn’t wait to go to college, just like everyone else in my High School since we all believed it was such a shitty school. I can’t believe that I’m already in college; life is going by way too quickly. College so far is the complete opposite of what I thought when I was in High School. Two words can describe college perfectly so far and those are “hectic and stressful.” I had an idea that it was going to somewhat difficult but all this responsibility is beyond overwhelming and sickening. Two months into college and I already can’t take the workload given. I blame most of that on myself since I am such a lazy person, but seeing everything piling up just tells me that this is not a game and it’s time to get serious. Procrastination is no longer an option, and you will not survive long in this college scene if you continue to remain lazy. I no longer can mess around giving only half effort like in high school and still produce good grades; college takes a lot of determination and dedication. I have quickly realized that, after falling behind with everything so far. I guess maybe it’s the fact that we didn’t get to pick classes our first semester, so I don’t have much interest and I’m just going through the motions. The end of this semester I will tough out and deal with, but this upcoming semester I need to completely change my attitude towards school and put effort in to my schoolwork, studying etc. Once I’m back on track with everything, I intend to go into the Zicklin program because I have an interest in business, accounting and marketing though I don’t know specifically where I want to go with that just yet. I also am interested by broadcasting, so I am going to minor in communications. Well I hope I didn’t bore you too much, thanks for listening.

Everyone goes through a time in their life that changes the way they live. For me, my Uncle completely made me change the way I look at life.  When he was 37 years old he was working on a roof doing construction and someone moved the ladder when he was getting down and he fell two stories and is now paralyzed from the waist down. If this ever happened to me I don’t think I would ever be able to change my life back around. But he didn’t let this stop him. His attitude towards life is so positive and he always seems so happy. Whenever I feel down or mad because something doesn’t go the way I planned I think of him. He obviously didn’t plan on being paralyzed and he doens’t let it get him down so why should i sweat the small stuff. At first he was depressed and upset because he could no longer do the things he loved to do. But then he came to realize he has family and friends who love him no matter what. Before the accident he was very athletic. When he realized he would never be able to walk again he felt like he wouldn’t be able to do anything. He now plays on a wheel chair basketball and softball team and loves it. He also love d building and architecture. He obviously can’t build on houses anymore so on his spare time when he isn’t working he builds small stuff like decorative bridges, wheelbarrows and arches for houses. While he was in the hospital my dad and his three brothers built a workshop on the side of his house so that he could stay at home and do what he loves. Also when he was in the hospital they took the time to make the house handicap acessable. When he came home he was so overjoyed by what his family has done for him and how much support they were giving. I think this helped him to emotionally recover. When you go through a time like   this you need support and by his family and friends showing support it made him feel likehe can get better and feel happy again. He always tells me that by seeing me smile it helped him to finally feeling happy. It makes me feel really good knowing that I helped someone I love so much feel better. I look at him as a role model and I look up to the way he looks at life. Life may throw many obsticles but what ever you do don’t give up.

First post

A)
I think I am a nice and caring person. Like every
other college student I’m living life to the fullest and just having fun!

B)
My top three concerns about freshman year are
that it’s going to be heard for me to balance out everything.  I need to realize when it’s time to study and
time to have fun. Another concern is the workload. In high school I really didn’t
have that much work to do so I think it’s going to be tough for me to get used
to all the work. My last concern is that I will fall out of touch with my best
friends from high school. So far we have kept in touch but I feel like once the
work starts getting harder and I have a lot more things to focus on its going to
be hard to stay in touch with everyone.

C)
Hopefully college won’t change me. If it does
change me it will probably change me in a good way. Hopefully I will become
more independent.

Alina Wang
Freshman Seminar

 Sleep

 One of my biggest passions is to sleep. I’ve always thought, wouldn’t it be incredible if sleeping could help you make money? Have you ever met up with one of your friends who are just cranky as heck from the moment you meet them? Chances are, they’re acting that way cause they’re sleep deprived. Sleep is one of the greatest things in the whole world. It always feels great to sleep, no matter how old you are, where you live or what you’re hobbies are—actually like most people, sleeping is probably one of your top favorite hobbies. Sleep is an activity that intertwines us as human beings. No matter how different our personalities are, there’s something that we all share in common—and that is to sleep. I like to think of it as the best gift that Mother Nature’s given us. Regardless of all the bad things that surround us when we’re unfortunately conscious in our daily lives—completing tasks such as homework, writing monologues (HA), tests, work, etc, we can always forget all about them when we finally go to sleep. Sleep is such a babe—it’s like when you see the girl or guy of your dreams walk past you in slow motion on the beach—that’s what sleep feels like to me. And sleeping is also very popular; it’s an activity that everyone loves. Also sleep is wonderful in another aspect because it enables us to have dreams, and dreaming is mostly awesome (except for when you have nightmares of course)

Now its time for some statistics and fancy definitions. Ready?

According to Wikipedia: “Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. Sleep is also a heightened anabolic state, accentuating the growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. It is observed in all mammals, all birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish.”

“Furthermore, sleep difficulties are closely associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression, alcoholism, and bipolar disorder. Up to 90% of adults with depression are found to have sleep difficulties.  Hence we should always make sure we get enough sleep. “

So all in all, sleep is great—it’s all encompassing great—it doesn’t come with any twists and turns. As long as you sleep, I guarantee you’ll be a happy camper.

Three things about me, First, I don’t care what you think unless you’re relevant to me. Second, If I have headphones in, DO NOT pull them out for any reason. Seriously, my music is way more important than you at the moment. You’re the kind of person who keeps making me rewind the song a million times. Just tap me or something, I’ll take them out myself. Last, Leave your drama at the door because I really don’t care. I’ve dealt with way more than my share of drama in high school and I don’t need anymore here. Drama doesn’t impose itself on you, you choose to accept it into your life. This is why you’re stressed and why I’m calm. I wish I could speak for everyone or at least a large portion of us, but I simply can’t. No true hardships here, I’m as relaxed as they come but I guess it just means I know how to deal with my problems. A friend isn’t a punching bag for your problems to be unleashed on them. Trust me, the last thing they want is more stuff going on in their already “hectic” life. Hectic my ass, you’re just lazy an unmotivated dude. The sooner you realize that, the sooner I can make some convoluted excuse as to why I don’t answer your calls or give good advice. What I’m trying to say is I usually deal with my problems by myself. I don’t seek any sort of independence, being lonely isn’t cool or mysterious. Being lonely just means you’re… lonely. However, dealing with your problems by yourself is really a form of protection to your friends who have “hectic” lives. If only you knew what happened to me last week buddy. The difference is… I don’t bitch about it every three seconds to compensate for the fact that I have absolutely nothing to talk about. I’ll tell you what I will do, I’ll put my headphones in now. Not because you’re boring but because I’m in a good place and not much is going on. I would probably ask you what is up but I’m craving music right now. I don’t really know right now. Just don’t take my headphones out or God help you. And if you need to talk that’s fine, just tap me. If you give me a reason to listen, I will.

I’m not sure exactly what to write. So I’ll start off with Hi my name’s Ashley. So I’ll just write about High School because it’s the first thing that pops into my mine and I can’t think of anything else. I went to a High School called Baruch College Campus High School. Which is exactly an avenue up. I really loved High School. My school was small only 100 people per years so it was about 400 people in the whole school more or less. Probably more. But since it was so small I knew my whole graduating class and even the juniors and sophomores. It was really really small. The only problem with it being small was that news traveled fast. Even the teachers knew about everything. My teachers were gossipers too. Wait, my whole school was pretty much gossipers. But anyways I miss high school it was so much easier. There was last homework and I didn’t really do anything in High school. But in college I actually have to study and I actually have to touch a text book. Which sucks. I miss all my friends because most of my closest friends moved to upstate. And not upstate like Albany which is only about 3 hours away. But upstate like Ithaca which is 6 hours away or Syracuse or Binghamton which is so far away. And going up there actually cost sort of a lot and I don’t even have time to visit so the next time I’ll see them is probably thanksgiving break. Which is short. It sucks that I really don’t have time it’s school, studying, and work. If I was back in high school it would just be school which was nothing. Anyways I like Baruch because there are a lot of breaks which I didn’t have in high school where I could sleep or study or whatever…. I don’t know how to end this monologue so I’m done =D.

Zev Yefet                                                                    Freshman Orientation Seminar

 

“It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in.” ~Earl of Chesterfield

 

Procrastinating – the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. I would say I’m pretty good at Procrastinating. I can procrastinate the hell out of anything. Is it something I’m proud of? Not so much. Is it fun? Hell yeah. I think everyone procrastinates in some way. Life is hard and life isn’t going to get any easier. So use the time now to live a little and procrastinate. Like this monologue I’m up here talking about procrastination for God sakes. Its not like I couldn’t write about something more interesting its just whatever. I procrastinated to do this project so I might as well talk about it. Or last week I had to do a whole PowerPoint project and it literally took us about 2 hours to do. However, it began with 3 hours of procrastinating and it probably would have been longer if my partner didn’t yell at me for being so lazy. I just like doing other things as long as everything gets done who cares when it’s done. I like to think as myself as a good student academically and I have done well so far at Baruch College but I do like throwing it off sometimes and take my time to work on things. (I gotta be in the zone to work just the zone isn’t always there) I’m not endorsing not to do work I’m just saying enjoy life now. Soon hopefully we will all be working and procrastinating wont be an option but now it still is. Let procrastinating interfere with your life its really so much fun. All right, what else can I talk about? Its sad how this whole monologue I wrote is just to waste 2 minutes of time. It should mean something but I don’t really care. Why put the effort into it, I don’t want to do this. But we do things we don’t want to that’s just the way it is. That’s why I would rather do nothing and waste time until I can figure out something to write about. Not to mention I’m procrastinating right now, I’m just talking about nonsense up here and taking up time from others who definitely have much more interesting things to talk about. And for that I apologize to whomever’s time I took away from. I look forward to my next monologue were I will discuss the importance of being lazy. Procrastination, my friend in crime together till the end. By the way, this was all written in my Political Science class today, fun fact.