Philanthropy has always played a role in my life. My life journey has had many twists and turns but giving and volunteering have consistently been something I am very passionate about. I have always been blessed enough to have incredible opportunities to use my time and resources to help others. My family and faith have certainly been the largest factors in these opportunities. I grew up learning what a privilege it is to serve others, and have been part of many mission trips and service activities. After the traditional switching of college majors several times, I finally found the one thing that I love, philanthropic studies. I am so excited to get out in the real world and make a difference with the education and skills I have learned in college. I’ve also been extremely lucky to have two amazing internships that have taught me so much about the day-to-day operations involved in nonprofit organizations. My past, present, and future are all filled with philanthropic events, hopes, and dreams that have shaped me into the person I am today. My family and community have played a huge role in the person I am today. I am beyond blessed to have grown up in a loving family, who has supported me through anything and everything I could ever want. I grew up in Valparaiso Indiana, and am an only child, but my house never seemed empty. My parent’s house is three houses away from my grandmother’s house, so she was an everyday part of my life growing up. Every single night she either goes over to my parent’s house for dinner, or we would go to her house. They have taught me so much about loving God, family, and others. They instilled in me values of love, commitment, responsibility, serving and so many more. My hometown has certainly had its affect on me as well. I was constantly involved in activities including varsity softball for four years, golf for two years, band, National Honor Society, Student Athletic Advisory Committee, 4-H, and many more. Keeping busy within my high school and community allowed me to meet many great people and encouraged me to be part of the change in that community. Valparaiso is a town that is constantly adding parks, school programs, and other new and exciting developments that keep the community going. I love that I get to call Valparaiso my hometown because I have seen such great things accomplished when people come together for a common goal. My faith has always been a driving force in my life. I grew up going to Sunday school, youth group, and other church activities. While certain experiences through my church were wonderful, most of the time I felt excluded from the cliques among my peers, and struggled to find joy in such a close minded circle. This made me seek God and my own personal faith harder in my own time. While part of me is resentful of the church family I never had, it made me love God even more. It forced me to make time for him when I otherwise would not have, and rely on him through everything in my life. My favorite Bible verse is Zechariah 4:6 which says, “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.” This is a constant reminder that absolutely no amount of my own effort amounts to anything without God. It carries over into everything I do including school, relationships, work, and everything in between. While my faith has remained a crucial part of my life the past several years, I have not been able to really plug into a church community in Indy due to my work schedule. Once I have a regularly scheduled job, I am looking forward to once again becoming active in a congregation, ministries, mission trips, and wherever else God leads me. I am also an avid Christian music fan. You name a Christian artist; I’ve probably been to one of his or her concerts or at least heard his or her music. Music is something that has always been able to move me in a way I cannot put into words. What is even greater is the powerful message God can have through music. One of my absolute favorite songs is by For King and Country and the lyrics perfectly sum up the way I want to live my life, “Love like I’m not scared, give when it’s not fair, live life for another, take time for a brother. Fight for the weak ones, speak out for freedom, find faith in the battle, stand tall and above it all, fix my eyes on You.” While I have done a decent amount of volunteer work in various settings, my absolute favorite experiences were weeklong mission trips with my church. Each summer starting in sixth grade, my best friend and I were able to be a part of about 50 other youth in my church to go on amazing trips to help others. We have been to Rockford, Saint Louis, West Virginia, Cincinnati, New Orleans and several more. Each trip we did something different to help a different set of people. We have done everything from running children’s Bible school to sorting clothes and food, to construction projects like painting, dry walling, and replacing siding on a house for those affected by natural disasters. One of the things that constantly struck me were the relationships that were built amongst each other and the people we were able to help. They taught me when people come together in love and are willing to do to help, so much can be accomplished. If I were to choose one experience that led me to choose a career in philanthropic studies, these trips would be it hands down. It may be cliché, but the people we helped taught me so much more than I could possibly have done for them. They were always so grateful for our help, and would constantly check in on us and see if they could help us in anyway. Their love and hospitality encouraged me to always be looking for ways I can help others. Another one of my favorite volunteer activities relates to what I hope to be a future career in philanthropy. While attending Anderson University, my husband Brandon and I were able to be part of a ministry that visited the students at Pendleton Juvenile Detention Facility. Each week we went to the same group of boys who were between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, and were able to build relationships with them. We started by reading through part of a Biblically based book and having a group discussion about what it means and how it relates to our lives today. Then we split up into smaller groups and just talked to the boys about how everything was going as well as their dreams and aspirations for life. This experience really changed me. I have always had a passion for the criminal justice system. For a really long time I was positive I wanted to be a police officer, and even majored in criminal justice for a short amount of time. After a few classes and the experience with the boys at PJDF, I knew that was not the right path for me. I realized in that experience my passion was for helping those who were already affected by system. I began doing a lot of research into recidivism rates and programs that were helping prisoners and those recently released, and realized this was something I could see myself doing. I also began talking more to my grandma about her career, as she taught GED classes to men at our local jail for over 25 years. She told me of my late grandpa who was a defense attorney, and their shared passion for helping society’s criminals. All of these interests, contexts, and experiences in the area of criminal justice have allowed me to see this is what I’m truly passionate about. After learning more about the nonprofit sector through my various classes and experiences, I know this is a small and often misunderstood section of philanthropy. With a more realistic lens I can see that I will most likely need to gain more professional experience in a different type of nonprofit organization first, before hopefully finding a position in this field I am so passionate about. Two huge experiences that have shaped my philanthropic views and story are my internships with the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP) and United Way of Central Indiana. My role with CGP was with planning a conference for over 800 fundraising professionals. I learned so much from working with a small staff of seven co-workers about how associations work, how events work, and how organizations run overall. I learned that I love event planning, but I was never really connected to the mission of the organization. Knowing how important it is for me to feel like I’m making a positive difference in the world, I began looking for a position that aligned more with my values. I was lucky enough to come across an opening with United Way of Central Indiana in the Volunteer Engagement department, and started the week after my internship at CGP ended. At United Way I work with poverty simulations and Leadership United. These are both incredible programs that have a decent amount of event planning, although on a much smaller scale, and more closely align with my philanthropic values. I love watching people work through various scenarios in the poverty simulations and really get a sense of what families in Central Indiana are dealing with on a daily basis and how they can help. Leadership United is also a fun program that trains professionals to become good board members for nonprofit organizations in our community. It has been so interesting watching individuals seek to be educated board members, and learn a few things for myself along the way. Finally being able to gain valuable day-to-day knowledge of how nonprofit organizations function was exactly what I needed to re-spark my passion for the amazing world of philanthropy. In the future I am looking forward to a career in philanthropy, as well as continuously volunteering in my own time. In a perfect world my career will have something to do with people who are currently incarcerated or those recently released; although I am very open to other wonderful causes throughout Central Indiana. I am able to step back and see how my family, faith, volunteering experiences, and internship experiences have helped shape my philanthropic journey in such a positive way. I am so excited to be graduating in a few months and to begin my career in the nonprofit sector.