"I chose to take this class because, as somebody interested in working in social work and potentially with philanthropies, I thought it would be quite applicable to my future endeavors. So far, the class has been fantastic. Within the classroom we have been able to discuss various traditions of philanthropy, discover new ways of thinking about giving, and better understand the county we all exist in. I believe this has been such a smooth beginning to the semester because, as a class, we were able to foster meaningful conversation around the things we care about most.
As we began the class Professor Buinicki presented us with the opportunity to discuss the issues we care about and the values we hold. We began this process by taking some time and reflecting on our personal values and passions. I thought that this was very beneficial as it gave us a way to begin thinking about what motivates us, drives us to philanthropic efforts, and encourages us to reach out to the rest of the world. This process felt similar to choosing a college major- you are faced with a million excellent options, each of them containing a little bit of something that sparks interest within oneself, yet you can only choose one or two to really focus on. As a social work major this was brutally true as there are many issues in the world and many values that I hold, but I simply can not focus on all of them at the same time. Despite this internal conflict, it was a nice feeling to be able to be completely honest and open about what I value most and what I care about as well. During the following class period Professor Buinicki presented us with quite a lengthy list consisting of the results of our survey. The results shocked me as I was able to see the different things that we all expressed interest and concern about. It was a fantastic start to the class as each of us were given the opportunity to share what we wrote down and explain what each cause and value means in our lives. At the beginning of this process we had decided that we would narrow down our list in order to define our class values. This process was nothing short of interesting because each of us came with different opinions and things in our heart that allowed us to have meaningful discussion about what stands out to the class as a whole and how we should use these words to define ourselves and our mission. Through process of elimination and negotiation we landed upon empathy, compassion, community, healing, and inclusion with an emphasis on substance abuse, homelessness/housing, and mental health. I felt that the process of elimination and conversation that came with the creation of this list was beneficial to our class as we were able to get to know each other and also explore the opportunities in our county.
Overall, within defining our common issues and values our class was able to come together in discussion around what was to define the semester ahead of us and lead us to have a better understanding of what would be guiding us through the semester."
Natalie K. - Sheboygan, WI - sophomore social work major
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