Serving my community means reaching out to the people around me, learning about them, and helping those in need. While it is easy to only think of ourselves, I think it is important to help the people around us better themselves as well. This is how we can build a more unified and tolerant society. It is also important to remember that there are many people within Baruch who are struggling and deserve our respect and support. I believe that by raising awareness of this fact, I can encourage more people to want to serve our community as well.

As a Baruch scholar, I should be giving back to my community. Baruch is one of the most diverse universities in America, with students from all social and economic backgrounds. The honors service project and requirement reminds me that it is my responsibility to integrate myself into the Baruch community and help out those who could benefit from whatever knowledge or skills I could pass on. As a scholar, I believe I should be an example for others by showing them that it is also important to volunteer and to help others who are less fortunate. Everyone deserves to have basic necessities like clothing, food and a safe place to live. For my community service project, I am volunteering at a soup kitchen that provides people not only with a decent meal, but also clothes, social service aide and advising, enrichment programs and some free medical examinations. There, I will be doing something will have a bigger impact on society than if I was just doing something to serve myself.

While there are many moments in my life that have shaped me in some way, I can honestly say that my experiences on my high school Track and Field team have had the most impact on me. This does not come as a surprise to those who know me, since I still often refer back to my time on the team. I was a jumper and sprinter, and my special events were the long jump, the 55m and 300m dash, and the 400m run. I got to travel to different states and compete with teams from foreign countries. I met my best friends on this team. It was honestly the best and the wildest of times, and I loved every minute of it. From doing speed drills in the snow to running miles in the pouring rain, it was on this team that I truly got to understand the value of hard work, integrity, trust, respect, leadership and most importantly, teamwork. Track made me a stronger person. Being an athlete could get very frustrating. Better results come slowly and injuries flare up at the worst times, but track taught me the value of patience and perseverance. Being a student-athlete was even more difficult, and it forced me to learn how to manage my time – even if that meant studying between my events. What made my team particularly special was the bond we had, we truly were (and still are) a family. The team’s motto was “not for school, but for life”, and I truly believe that we all took this motto to heart.

I couldn’t have asked for a better high school experience, so naturally I worried that I would not be able to find the same close-knit community at Baruch. However, since starting classes, things have just clicked and I am settling in pretty seamlessly. I think being in such a small program that gives their students so much personal attention has really helped me make a smooth transition from a small high school to a large college. By the time I started classes, I felt like I already had a place at Baruch, #ScholarGang! I am looking forward to taking classes that actually interest me and studying abroad! I also want to get more involved within the Baruch community and I am applying to T.E.A.M Baruch to become a peer mentor or an orientation leader.