In August 2011, Baruch student Vasyl Pyrozhyk created eXchange Support to provide a place for exchange students coming to Baruch to connect and socialize. We spoke with him to find out more information.

How did you decide where to go on an exchange?

I’m originally from Ternopil, Ukraine where I went to a school that concentrated on learning other languages. I started learning English when I was in first grade and French since fifth. Having moved to California after ninth grade, English quickly became a priority, and French faded from my memory. After moving to New York, I got a chance to take a French class and I saw the potential, so study abroad [in France] was the next logical step.

After learning about all of the options, I’ve chosen to go for a semester exchange in Université Paris-Dauphine. Dauphine is a well respected business school in Paris, France. I  am often surprised at how many opportunities Baruch has to offer and people tend to just disregard, something that motivated me to create eXchange Support.

Why did you decide to start the club? What are the benefits of joining it?

There are several reasons as to why I started eXchange Support. Being a student who studies finance, I often joke that it’s an arbitrage opportunity, there are people who need help and there are resources available to help them and create even more value for the surrounding environment. Hence, to close the gap someone needs to step up and make it happen. On the other hand, I am amazed that people disregard the resources that they have available to them. There are more than 15,000 students at Baruch, yet many are not involved in on-campus activities,, while others follow a school-work-home schedule. I feel that some students spent much of their energy and effort during college years doing things that they will regret in the future instead of doing something worthwhile, and I hope to change that.

Learning shouldn’t be limited to the classroom; there are so many life lessons that you can learn by being involved on campus, it will literally redefine your life and help you answer all those big questions that no one else has the answer to. Finally, I believe that gratitude is a very simple thing. If not for the study abroad office I wouldn’t be able to live through the experience and meet all the great people that I’ve met.

Student clubs are an amazing resource, you can learn how to lead people and get budgeted money to create events and literally affect people’s lives. At eXchange Support, we have something to offer to everybody, from no commitment general membership, which involves hanging out with exchange students and coming to our events, to taking on leadership opportunities and becoming a member of our six teams (Finance, Marketing, Event Planning, Talent Management, Mentorship, Business Development) where you can become a VP of a team or even President of the organization. Our vision is to make positive things happen; we try to grow, improve and implement creative ideas to help exchange students integrate into Baruch life, help them adapt to New York and provide resources to make their lives easier. On the other hand, we provide Baruch students with a great learning experience that will change their lives.

As a new club that was founded in August 2011, we have already achieved some amazing results by establishing organizational structure, setting up a budget, receiving a club room for the upcoming year and we’ve organized more than ten events on and off campus each involving a minimum of twenty people. The most important factor to us is motivation; if you’re motivated you’ll benefit and learn a lot.

What are some of the activities and events the club hosts?

In the past we mostly concentrated on organizing events off campus, as among them a trip to the Metropolitan Museum, a Superbowl event, bowling, a trip to Boston, Twilight Cruise and a couple of information sessions on campus. We had many smaller events as well which were driven primarily by the exchange students organized through our private Facebook group. A few examples include poker night, a Yankees game, a ping pong competition, a picnic in central park and many more. In the future, we hope to achieve balance between the events. We’ll have events such as movie nights and Speed dating “Around the World” networking events on campus and many off campus events such as visits to various museums will persist. Students can follow our website, in the calendar section and they’ll always be up to date.

What would be your advice to a student overseas who is thinking about doing an exchange at Baruch?

You shouldn’t even think about it, the choice is clear. Once you do choose to come to Baruch, expect to learn loads of new things and meet many new people, it’s a life changing experience. We are working on video interviews of the current exchange students and you’ll be able to hear some of their stories and lessons learned to convince you further. An important thought to keep in mind is that time goes by quickly and you have to use it efficiently and do as much as you possibly can.

To find out more about eXchange Support click here