Editorial: Reflections on a year of learning and service - Jorge Wilson
“It takes a village…”
I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”, but let’s take a moment to discuss what that really means. Although I don’t have any children -yet- I find depth in this statement. In my opinion it means that a child does not simply grow up within a home, where there may be a single parent or a combination of parents, but a child will grow up in a community, a village for instance. Think on this; “we as individuals are not truly here; instead we are conformed at birth and swayed by a lifetime of circumstance.” In other words, that child’s growth is heavily dependent on his or her social world with input and understanding from the village. Regardless of the child's upbringing, the child belongs to and is shaped by the village.
Now, instead of a child imagine a young adult and just for fun let’s say she or he is a student. Also instead of a village imagine a sector, a nonprofit sector for instance. Just as it is the duty of the village to raise the child, it is the duty of the nonprofit sector to cultivate and essentially raise the student. Do not be overwhelmed, this isn’t a call-to-action for nonprofits to reach out to EVERY student. Every student doesn’t aspire to work with nonprofits. But, then again, every student doesn’t know what working with a nonprofit entails. Unfortunately, I won’t open that can of worms today; that’s another article for another newsletter.
My name is Jorge Wilson; I am a senior at the University of Louisville pursuing degrees in communication and sociology. I am also the current intern for The Center for Nonprofit Excellence better known as and conveniently abbreviated as “CNPE”. I love interning at CNPE and I hope to one day work in urban planning and also start a nonprofit focusing on social equity. Now that you know where I am in my life I may as well tell you how I got here.
I’m originally from Georgetown, KY but I grew up in Louisville and graduated from Louisville Central High School. I was accepted into a variety of colleges and universities, but ultimately decided to keep my talents in ‘The Ville’. In my first 2 years of college I changed my major 4 times. As any concerned student would do I spoke with my advisor, but apparently “changing the world” isn’t a recognized discipline at The University of Louisville. After extensive research (Google), I decided the nonprofit sector was the place for me.
Growing up my mother always told me to speak things into existence; therefore I’ve never been afraid to share my plans with others. One day while telling my classmates my plans to change the world through the nonprofit sector my professor overheard me. Instead of a “shush” or “get back to work” he offered me some advice and told me to contact Kevin Connelly, CNPE’s founder and former Executive Director. I reached out to Kevin and not long after I began my journey as CNPE’s newest intern.
I’ve been at CNPE for almost a year now, and I’ve loved every minute of it. The staff is awesome and they’re always willing to help in any way possible. There’s not always something to do here and not everything I do here is a pivotal movement, but even in my down time I find myself utilizing our library, browsing our member’s list, or looking over someone’s shoulder just trying to soak up as much as possible. It was by sheer luck that I wound up at CNPE, and now that my time here is almost up I find myself confident, wiser, and ready to take my place as a village man. My point, if you haven’t gotten the gist, is that it’s important to remember how you got where you are. When I first arrived at CNPE, I knew what I wanted to do, but I was lost. Luckily a few good village people left bread crumbs for me to follow; they pointed me in the right direction, and even showed me where they stumbled so that I wouldn’t have to. I still have a journey ahead of me, but that journey will be a little less difficult because I’ve been equipped with a map and a team of people I can lean onto when the road gets too dark to see what’s ahead.
