Monthly Archives: November 2010

The community service project made it necessary for us to first research probable NGOs where we could volunteer and i learned a greal deal about how to research such organisations. It was also vital that we check in with linda maestro and make sure that our project idea was viable and satisfactory. Other than that, i do not think any support centre was required. my peer mentor, Justin, was a great help and i often turned to him for advice regarding the group project.

I have not yet joined a student club and i know this will come back to haunt me in my later years at baruch. I however, have every intention of doing so and am interested in several organisation, cheif among them VITA which i think is a wonderful organisation based on a marvelous idea. Other than that, the Golden Key Honors society presents a great deal of opportunity though i would prefer to get involved with something smaller and actually be a useful member to it rather than just a number. i am also interested in the semester abroad oppurtunity that Baruch offers and would like to avail because i like to experience new cultures, languages and learn how to interact in an increasingly diverse and globalized world.

My understanding of community service has significantly evolved; i have come to view it not as “something” that must be done because the honors program wants us to do it but rather as a genuine opportunity to give something back to the community that has given me so much.

I am a Baruch scholar and an international student; my parents work very hard to support me here and thus i have a great deal of responsibility to my family to prosper and be able to return the love, care and financial support they have always provided me. However, i think that it is also extremely essential that i highlight the role of Baruch college and the honors program here. By giving me the privilege of free tuition, they have not only taken a great load of my parent’s shoulders but in fact provided me with the opportunity to come to this country and make something of myself. I know the “American Dream” has become a cliche but for thousands of students, especially foreign ones like myself, it is still an enchanting prospect-the ultimate goal. My father immigrated from a small village to a big city in my home country and it is because of that very immigration that i am today able to walk the streets of New York. He came to a foreign city, independent of his family and support network and worked hard to prosper in his life. I am cast almost exactly in that role and hope that one day my children will be able to enjoy all the comforts and opportunities that so many Americans take for granted.

I got a little off topic there. Back to Baruch’s and the honor program’s role. In light of all the benefits and opportunities that they have provided me, i think that it is important for me to give something back to them and to the larger New York community as well. At this point in my life, i do not have a lot to give financially but i can certainly give my time and effort, if simply, to repay some of the debt that i owe to this institution for without their support i would have found it hard to even be here. In this upcoming project, i will do my best to serve and to help and you know what i want to do it. In my culture, if somebody teaches you a single word, you are indebted to them for the rest of your life and Baruch college is giving me an entire education.

As far as the culture that the Honor Program promotes as in community service, i think it is a great idea and that it should be a part of every college students duty. Everyone lives in a community, their are no bubbles so what effects my neighbors and the strangers that i walk by on the street is probably or already affecting me as well so helping build a better and more caring society is at the end of the day, a favor to myself.

ok.. lots of things to talk about this time. Had lots of different experiences this time around. Learned (barely) how to eat with chopsticks, helped an old woman cross the street (i thought that only happened in movies), went to a handball court, watched two movies while paying for only one and… watched a girl cry at the ending of a movie!! Have also learned to very carefully watch the street even if the pedestrian sign is on; nearly got crushed by a taxi while rushing to school one day.

I remember the first day of classes and it seems only a second ago i was sitting in the freshman orientation and here we are almost four months later; time seems to have flown by. I guess the next three and a half years will go by just as quickly. Classes are going good; things aren’t that difficult.

One thing that i’m learning is that tim management is really important in college and i have to learn how to synchronise my time and make sure that everything gets done in time. This is perhaps going to be my biggest challenge for the next semester; planning rather than just “winging” it.