JOURNAL #2

What does it mean to serve your community?

I believe that my role as a Baruch Scholar in the Honors Program or the broader community is to learn and give back.

Here, learning does not simply just mean the academic aspect. It applies to all kinds of experiences: social, moral, physical, mental, all kinds. I believe everything happens for a reason.

When I was young I went through a lot, things that were difficult for an 11 years old to handle. Divorce of my parents, separation from my mom, adjusting to new family plus a whole new country, death of my father, another separation to reuniting with my mom, these incidents struck me hard back then. But, I survived. I overcame my difficulties and accepted the fact that these experiences were the ones that made me strong. Then I realized that going through all this in the earlier stage of my life was a huge benefit. Now, I can relate to people that are going through these similar experiences and offer them help or at least comfort. Like Professor Teufel has mentioned, pain is private and no one could actually “feel” the pain one is going through, but we can always use our experiences to try to feel their pain and I absolutely agree. If I had not learned the grief, anger, and sorrow, through my experiences, I would not be able to reach out to those in need, which I consider giving back to the community.

As a Baruch Scholar, I want to learn and experience everything that the program is offering. I am not attending classes and memorizing thousands of concepts just to have a stable future. I am doing all this so that one day I can use these knowledge to reach out to students who needs my help. I want to be a well-rounded teacher who can lend a hand in all kinds of aspect when they need help. But for now, I’m the one reaching out and lending a hand is exactly what the Honor Program is offering. The program is giving all Honor students a chance to experience the world and is supporting them until they can stand on their own. Then, those who received help will give back to the community by serving and offering help to those now in need and the cycle continues.