Jennifer

This week was one of the most exciting weeks that we have had so far! As a class, we were able to come together and formulate our RFP. I cannot believe that after all of the hard work we have done so far that things are really starting to move along as we come closer each day to giving away the $10,000!

As we are such a large class, every single student has their own opinion, which makes it kind of difficult to fully agree on things. This week especially, there was more disagreement than usual. I think that the RFP and making sure that whatever we send out to the public is something that is extremely important to everyone in the class. As we completed the RFP this week, much discussion and debate went into creating it.

When we first began writing our mission statement and values, the class was split into two groups. Even then I had a feeling that writing the RFP was going to be a difficult task if we could hardly agree on our mission statement and values, a very small piece of the RFP. Observing my classmates fight for what they thought should be included in the RFP and as we constructed the final draft as a class, it was truly amazing to see how passionate everyone is about this class and even more so about making a difference in someone’s life. Each word of the RFP was ripped apart and carefully analyzed to make sure that it was perfect. I was nervous about how the RFP was going to turn out since we wrote it in groups. I was not sure whether or not it would flow properly, if things would fall through the cracks or if it would be cohesive. However, looking back now, I think that the end result could not have come out more perfect than it did. I think that writing this document further proved how dedicated we are as a class and what giving away $10,000 means to us.

This week’s classes really made me think about the organizations that we may potentially fund. As hard as it was to complete the RFP, it will be even harder to make the ultimate decision of who this money will go to. I don’t know how we will ever make this decision in such a short period of time! Although a ton of work and much discussion will go into it, I think that this may be one of the most worthwhile things I will ever do in my life. I look forward to coming back after vacation and getting started on reading all of the applications that we will receive. Even though it may be more work for us, hopefully there will be many, many applications! I can’t wait to get my hands on them!