By: Daniel Burguete, BBA 2016
As of last week, we have switched – for the time being – from our roles as directors of a philanthropic foundation to our roles as program officers building relationships with nonprofit organizations located in Waco, Texas. This transition was only possible due to the following reasons: our foundation’s mission and guiding principles were decided upon collectively, teams were assigned to specific program areas, and – most importantly – the class developed a better understanding of philanthropy’s definition through serious reflection. With that being said, our duty as program officers for the following weeks will be to research a variety of organizations’ missions, inner workings, long-term goals, and so forth – quite a daunting task if you ask me.
Now, although I do not doubt – not even for one second – that we have the capacity to do a great job, I do wish to take some time to remind ourselves of something we do not want to lose sight of, and which is perfectly illustrated by Gunderman’s We Make a Life by What We Give: “In medieval Europe, a man came upon a large construction site. He saw one workman fitting two stones together. ‘What do you do?’ he asked. ‘I am a stone mason,’ the man replied. Then he walked over to another worker, who appeared to be engaged in the same task. ‘What do you do?’ he asked. The man replied, ‘We are building a cathedral.’ The two men operated with very different images of their mission. One focused exclusively on the task of the moment, not looking beyond the limits of his own arm span. The other saw his immediate task in the context of a much larger calling.”
In hindsight, this quote resonated with me not only because it helps me put our work as program officers into perspective, but also because it is a common occurrence in medical school (where I am headed after graduation). Medical students’ empathy seems to erode through medical school all too often. For instance, physicians often fail in the aspect of humanity when they end up treating the disease, rather than the whole person whom has a name and life outside of the clinic. Perhaps physicians forget they are indeed human after being constantly tested, grinded, and disoriented during their first two years of medical school. Nonetheless, my hope in medical school is to be like the latter of the construction workers, seeing patients holistically and helping them understand that getting better is an emotional, social, and spiritual process.
In conclusion, I hope we can keep our mission – to enrich individual lives and our community at large – close in thought during the upcoming weeks so that we may avoid being myopic in our research and collaborations.
About the Author: Daniel Burguete is a senior Business Fellow and Entrepreneurship major with a minor in Biochemistry. His parents emigrated from Guadalajara, Mexico to reside in Brownsville, Texas – a city in the Rio Grande Valley. This past summer, Daniel worked as a clinical research intern at the Baylor Scott & White Health Hillcrest. As an aspiring physician, he hopes his focus in philanthropy prepares him to see patients holistically and as more than just a collection of organ systems that may require treatment.