Andrew

This week in class has been an interesting one. We finally received and reviewed applications from ten organizations in our community, which is what we eagerly anticipated after weeks of deliberation, dissenting opinions, constructive criticism, compromise and informative readings and hearing from experienced philanthropists. As a class, we agreed that we wanted to help an organization that works with children in grades K-8 in Prince Georges County, but it was interesting to see the diversity of programs just within that field represented with just ten applications. During the week, were able to narrow down the applications to our top choices and are currently working to develop questions for our interview, and plan our site visits. I personally look forward to putting a face to the applications so to speak, and get a first-hand look at the potential organizations we will fund. Personally, this is the first time I’ve been in a position where I’ve received applications and must decide which ones to deny and ones to approve. This made me aware of things that attracted my attention in an application; ranging from the amount of specific details included, the overall presentation and appearance of the application, and the technical aspects such as diction, syntax and grammar errors. By recognizing what features make me favor a certain application over another, I will be able to incorporate these things as I myself continue to apply for scholarships and eventually a career.

Our next step in the process is to eventually make site visits in the upcoming weeks, as well as conduct interviews. The site visits will give us an excellent chance to get up close and personal with the remaining organizations and gain better insight to how our donation will impact that organization. Two weeks ago Mr. and Mrs. Levenson, the two individuals who gave our class the money to donate, mentioned the importance of the site visit among other things. Many applications may be very appealing and are well-written, but visiting the organization’s site may tell a different story and vice versa. The interviews are the final step, and will allow us to ask questions that the organization didn’t answer, or were unclear about. After these two steps, we will have all the information we need, and the deliberation and debate process will start once again in order to make our final decision. I wish the best of luck to all of the organizations that applied in their future endeavors.