FRO was an unconditionally invaluable resource in itself for us entering freshman. From the people at the Student Counseling center to everyone at SACC, the student facilities that Baruch offers are so varied in scope that to not have been introduced to them head on would have made the process of discovering them that much longer. That being said, the offices of which we are now aware are just a small fraction of the bigger picture of whats on our plate at Baruch. We in the FRO class have ad an entirely new dynamic added to our undergraduate experience: service. The project completely opened my eyes to what it means to be a student in the city. Now, we get to break through the mundane getting to school and going home and instead are given the chance to make connections-perhaps the most valuable part of college aside from the degree.

As to what happens in three years, I have a roughly cut image of whats going to happen. We are young. We like to be entertained and we like to entertain ideas. I’m entertaining the idea of graduating in three years to keep up with everyone from Aviation who graduated on time and decided not to do the fifth year program. Of course, this would mean possibly taking 18 credit semesters and summer or winter courses, but hey, the financial obligation is out the window, and so is any obstacle to me being a student and nothing but a student. After all, as everyone says, we commuters at Baruch have the best room and board plan here at home.

During one of my last business lectures, my Business professor spoke about the different kinds of economies. Since our’s is a capitalist economy, there exists more inequality than in other economies; since there is more inequality, there exists more people that might need a helping hand. And that’s where our role as Baruch Scholars comes in to play. We have been shown good fortune in receiving our scholarships and other benefits associated with the Baruch Honors College, but the lives of other people may have been deprived of such luck. Some may have lost their homes, their jobs, or their families. While we can’t help these people get these things back, we can help them in other ways, like volunteering at a local soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or even a simple park clean up can go a long way and signify that there are kids out there who care about their place, and everyone’s place in society.

As to the culture of service that the Honors Program promotes: some might only do the 8 hours and then call it quits. As for myself, when I reach the 8 hour threshold, I will not stop service. That’s not what it means to service one’s community. People live in community’s for extended amounts of time, and for this reason, I feel that it is necessary to serve community’s for extended amounts of time.

We all know the feeling of achievement. We also all know the feeling of bitter defeat. The worst defeat I have ever experienced was not getting into the college of my dreams. It was an extensive application process that required several interviews with politicians and their associates, several thousand words worth of essays, and dozens of letters of recommendations. To not get in was the bell toll that instantly created my life’s path for me. I’m still trying to figure out if I can get used to this path, which I’ve always considered my safety net. I know several people who all shared the same negative opinions about Baruch, and honestly, I can see where they are coming from. I am working as hard as I possibly can to see Baruch in a light differently than they have seen it in, and I’m happy to say that it’s working. Yet learning to get to like or even love something I never intended to is something I’ve never faced before. But here I am. I guess that’s what college is all about- giving yourself time and space to form into the mold you create for yourself. After all, these are the most mentally formative years of our lives, right? So here’s to an optimistic future. As for my goals for the coming semester, activeness in E.C. affairs is my top priority; it shares the spot with getting straight A’s (as I’m sure all freshman have prioritized).

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