At Berkeley, one of my most unusual students was a psychology major named Sandy Tesch, who by then had risen through Red Cross volunteer ranks to be on their national youth council. A few years later she was head of the youth council. During college, she assumed that after she graduated, she would work for a non-profit. Now, however, she does fund-raising for the UC Berkeley library.
She won a post-graduate fellowship and during her fellowship year she met a woman who worked in fund-raising. She realized she liked it. Why? I asked. Because when you do fund-raising, you’re working with a lot of caring people, she said. They’re like the volunteers she worked with during her Red Cross years. Instead of giving time, they’re giving money.
People sure are different. When I did fundraising I thought it was absolute hell- boring, beggingly, and not actually producing anything real. I always thought the people who solicit strangers in the street for Greenpeace and other assorted causes had a hellish job too…but recently I met someone who loved doing that too!
I guess people think my job, web development, is boring, but I love creating things and solving difficult technical problems.
Andrew, UC Berkeley is not called a “non-profit”, no. The noun and the adjective have different meanings. The “however” is essentially hers, not mine. She said, “I thought I would work for a non-profit”.