Caroline Ragsdale, BBA 2018
I have learned much from my class, my group, and myself this semester. I enjoyed working alongside students from different areas of Baylor. As a business major, I rarely have classes with students from the Honors College or School of Education. The insights and ideas that students from diverse majors brought into the class were valuable and I cannot imagine the class without them. My group worked really well together. We learned as we talked to organizations and made difficult decisions. I am thankful that we had similar interests for the purpose of this class and that we all agreed in the end on which grants to fund. The decisions were hard to make individually, so debating would have been even more difficult. As we walked through this entire process, I was constantly prompted to decide how I would continue to be generous after this class. The Journey to Generosity experience was inspiring – especially because we were able to discuss generosity in the context of faith. Moving forward, I will continue to reference the curriculum for ideas and encouragement.
Prior to this semester, I was mostly unaware of the grant-making process. I have been fortunate to experience the process from both sides over the past five months. I was the chair for an All-University event this semester that raised funding for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I had to apply for grants to cover the costs of a $30,000 event, while also seeking other outlets to raise funds for the actual philanthropy. This gave me a deeper understanding of what non-profit organizations have to do before their purposes and projects can be implemented. While the process and scale of the grants that I applied for were different than those of the organizations that we met with, I gained an appreciation for the difficult work that accompanies financing an organization. I am thankful that I got to be part of both sides of the grant process within this one semester because I was able to apply what I learned and experienced in class to the work I was doing for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Today culminated a wonderful semester of learning about and experiencing philanthropy. Dr. Hogue, Dr. Garland, and Lucy Bray spoke eloquently about the importance of our work and how we went about it. Awarding the checks to the non-profit organizations made this afternoon joyful and special. When I began my undergraduate experience at Baylor, I did not expect to have an opportunity to learn about giving or to be able to give as a student. Furthermore, I never imagined that I would experience giving in a class! I am so thankful for the purpose and generosity of the Philanthropy Lab and for a community at Baylor that fosters a culture of generosity.