Kevin Mui

Finding a community service organization was more difficult than a Google search.  We needed to make use of Baruch College’s database and subscriptions to generate batches of community service organizations that met our criterion. Although helpful, the databases generated hundreds of results.  What Google would never have been able to help us with is the evaluation of the types of services: how the experience was, types of people whom the particular service would cater better to, and the impact the service had on the parties involved.  For this information, we turned to our peers and peer mentor, Maria, to gather some insight of the types of services they’ve performed and their reactions to them.  Having been involved in numerous community service groups myself, I had a general understanding of almost every type of community service we found on the databases and was able to critique the service to help the group decide on which one to join.

This experience, overall, has been an enlightening and productive one.  Hearing others talk about their views towards particular services showed me how much community services have affected and influenced them.  Although I have yet to join a club full time, hearing them speak about community service makes me want to start being involved in it once again.  Now, however, I can make use of the databases in finding and joining one of my choice as opposed to one that a particular club/organization may want to be involved in.  By using databases, I became better associated with how they work as well as which ones to use.  The many resources in the library amaze me.  I hope that by doing more things like seeking out community service centers and looking for information, I can gain more in the years to come.

Throughout most of high school, I’ve involved myself in many service groups.  Some long term and others on days where I just happened to be free.  My two most notable clubs were Key Club and CPC.  Both were long term and had an impact on who I am today.  Before joining any of those service clubs, I had perceived community service as something people do just to make their transcripts looks good or to make others perceive them as caring about a community when they really just want to be accredited. When I first joined a club, I found this to be true for 80% of its members. Since Key Club was such a big club, it was easy for people to simply sign in and leave and just come back for the sign out.  Although this was a common occurrence, there was still the 20% who were dedicated and those were the people I decided to emulate when doing community service.  Over time, I realized that community service is more than just going to an event and helping out that particular person or organization for that particular day.  It was about developing relationships with people and learning new things about society and issues that society faces from them.  Each person or organization may be facing different issues that we, being young, had not noticed nor thought about.  In simpler terms, they showed us problems and we helped they solve them and in doing so, developed a relationship that lasted more than just one day.  Time after time, they call us when they need help and we call them so see if they need assistance.  This created a relationship in which they enrich our lives by giving us the opportunity to try and gain experience from things that we would later have to do in life and develop our leadership skills in that area.

My role at Baruch thus far has been that of a student.  However, as a member of the Honors Program and the broader community, I think that I should involve myself in organizations that give back to the community which has given me so much already.  I have not seen many clubs or maybe it is because there are so many of them, but I have yet to find one that would not conflict with my studies.  I hope in time, I will be able to find one and fully commit to it like I have for the past four years.  Committing would help promote leadership skills as well as networking with people and organizations from all over – a key agenda in the Honors program.  I am grateful to be in the Honors Program, where I have so many opportunities but hope that I take advantage of these opportunities soon to help not only myself but others as well.