By: Savannah Newman, BBA 2017
These first few weeks of class time in Philanthropy and the Public Good have been centered around defining what philanthropy means introspectively for each of us as individuals as well as what it means to our class as a whole. We have just been placed in the groups we will be working with for the semester, so much of what has been done so far has been laying the foundation of what we will be working on this semester.
What I have discovered about myself through these first couple weeks have been uncovering the motivations for giving back and wanting take this class in the first place. On the surface the class appealed to me because it came so highly recommended, it would be a nice break from economics and math, and I knew that it would attract other high-achieving, intriguing students that I would be able to work with. However, what these first few weeks of class has caused me to do is really reflect on what makes up my value system and what aspects of who I am drew me to this class.
There was an exercise that we completed in the second week where we first wrote down the most important values that shape our own life, then recall events that had stirred strong emotional responses, and finally describe the people who most inspire us. Reflecting on what truly matters to me helped me to adequately articulate what it is I hope to accomplish not just this semester but throughout my life. I discovered not only the reasons I had taken this class, but also the underlying motivations for my path in life. I realized the importance I place on education based off of the influence of my grandmother; I discovered my desire to empower, work with, and learn from the people I am serving based conversations with women on my mission trip to Trinidad and Tobago; I connected my upbringing in Waco to my desire to contribute to the wonderful initiatives taking place and this class. Though these events and people have always been a part of my life, I had never sat down and physically written down the connections of my values to them.
I hope to keep these ideas at the forefront of my time in this class as we move from the more philosophical reasoning to the tangible and more concrete aspects of the class. I understand that these values, both my own and the ones we have discussed as a class, are the foundation of what we are to build upon this semester. They are what we should keep in mind as we dive into the finite questions of our giving. They are what we should return to when the hard questions come and there are seemingly no answers.
Already, I see the impacts of this class on how I view the world around me and how I relate to my surrounding environment and community. I am excited about the journey ahead and the person that I will become in the process.