Charity of the Month: June 09

It's "Support Your Profession Month" for me! I don't technically consider this "charity" ... maybe I should change it to "Nonprofit of the Month." This is going to show up in my Google Alerts tomorrow... hello employers!

Money went to 2 places yet again:

1. Allegheny College! A national liberal arts college where 2,100 students with unusual combinations of interests, skills and talents excel. :-) If you'd like to know more about the college, you can obviously ask me.

Did you know? Allegheny doesn't have a "core curriculum" per se. At Etown, for example, I had to take 2 sciences and 1 each of non-Western cultures, humanities, social sciences, creative expression, etc, PLUS my major (which also required a minor, though the whole college doesn't).

Allegheny doesn't have that. Instead, you have the three disciplines of the liberal arts: the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. You must major in one (let's say humanities), minor in another (ok social sciences), and from the third and final category you must take 2 classes (in this situation, the natural sciences).

I really enjoy this curriculum because it gives you a lot of flexibility to follow your own interests. I basically did this curriculum at Etown...

- Major in the humanities (Communications... which by the time I graduated turned into Corporate Communications with a concentration in Public Relations)
- Minor in the social sciences (Business Administration)
- 2 classes in the natural sciences (Genetics, and AP credit for AP Calc... plus I took prob & stat senior year to get ready for grad school, where I proceeded to not need it)

Then I also took some electives of things I did care about, usually English and religious studies classes. I could have made either of those an additional minor, but I liked both and I only had room for classes out of one if I minored in it, so I just took classes in those areas for fun. I liked both of those areas way more than I even liked my major and minor, when all was said and done.

Plus a bunch of other classes I didn't care about but was forced to take because of the core (here's looking at you, American Biography and Modern European History... and Writing and Language level 100 which apparently AP English credits didn't test me out of, and Racquetball, and Principles of Biological Anthropology, and Aerobics, and American National Government...).

I digress. Point being, Allegheny's curriculum is the big thing that makes it different from other liberal arts colleges, and the major-minor in different disciplines requirement is why we say "unusual combinations" everywhere. Check out the video while I remove my admissions hat.

And that's why I supported my employer this year. BUT I refused to give AC more than I gave my own alma mater (because despite taking some stupid classes, I did have the time of my life there), so I also donated to...

2. The NACAC Imagine Fund. NACAC is the National Association of College Admission Counseling, and their Imagine Fund supports professional development for those who want it but don't have the means by which to pay for it. Something to that effect! My money will help send some high school counselors to the NACAC conference or various professional develoment workshops. It's not a big impact on the world, and perhaps the definition of "need" doesn't really apply here, but I still think it's a worthy cause. It's essentially taking the scenic route to helping students find their perfect college fit.

And there you have it!