"Being a freshman who hadn't declared their major yet, the only thing I came into college knowing was that I wanted to help people. Telling this to multiple career counselors as well as academic advisors, they all realized I had a passion for philanthropy and I decided to declare myself as a Philanthropic Leadership & Service Minor. However, despite years of doing community service and working with nonprofit organizations, I still didn't truly know what philanthropy was. In taking this class, I am not only hoping to sharpen my definition of what philanthropy is, but learn the different viewpoints on philanthropy over time. The act of giving and serving has been going on forever, and it is going to be fascinating to hear about this tradition over time.
Besides the actual content we will be learning in this class through books and articles we will be studying, I am excited for this hands-on project. Narrowing down what organization will be receiving the money we are giving out will certainly be a challenge. However, we will learn so much about the process of doing so. I think that the best way to learn is from physically doing what you're learning about. And in this case, we are fortunate enough to do with the help of Learning by Giving."
Kimberly N. - Valparaiso, IN - freshman exploratory studies student
