As a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program, I feel as if my role in Baruch and the broader community should be, simply put, to do well. Doing well not only means getting good grades, but it also entails the development of the personal self and professionalism. Through the Honors Program’s service culture, Baruch Scholars are much closer to understanding this concept of usage of role in the broader community. The way the Honors Program has set up the Baruch Scholars community, has indirectly promoted our roles as students who inspire other students. By igniting this inspiration between Scholars, the effect will bounce towards the rest of Baruch’s broader community.

My role in the Baruch community that I am currently undertaking as a first semester freshman Scholar, is exactly to build Baruch community. As the Honors Program’s service promotes honors students to research community service projects, do them, and even write about what it means to serve our community, we are influenced by these experiences and influence others with our molded views.

In broader terms, what does it mean to serve my community? To serve is to have responsibility, so I have a responsibility to support the environment around me by creating the culture itself. Creating culture is to initiate action, so to serve, I act. Initiating action means doing service for your community. Thus, serving my community means being responsible for creating culture and taking action. The Honors Program helps us to do this by requiring community service in organizations which leads to doing “community service” for the rest of Baruch’s community.