Whenever I think about Hope Forward, I am reminded of Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom.
The popular book was turned into a play. In the fall of my freshman year at Hope, I was given the opportunity to see it in the theater as a part of the Hope Forward program, and man did I sob through most of it.
It is a story about what Albom learns from his former professor Morrie, who is ill. The whole story revolves around their Tuesday meetings where Morrie talks about giving and how giving makes him feel like he is living. Morrie has this unreasonable attitude throughout the entirety of the story even though he knows that he is dying.
Morrie was willing to generously give his limited time and energy to care more about others than himself, even though he had every right to be self-focused. People would come and visit Morrie because they wanted to comfort him, but they were the ones who would leave feeling encouraged and heard.
Morrie’s generosity reminds me of Hope Forward.
The donors who generously give to this amazing program play the role of Morrie. They are giving so that each of us can pursue our individual passions to bring hope to the world—without having to worry about paying off college debt. They are loving us well by giving us the opportunity to bring hope to other students down the line who we will eventually give to so they can be part of the program. These donors have a beautiful sense of giving that will impact future generations.
What I love about impact is that it stays with a person everywhere they go and touches whomever they come in contact with. Donors are having a tremendous impact on each one of us through their generosity; then, we get to take it and spread it along to the world – just like Morrie did.
Those who are given much are expected to do much with it. The Hope Forward culture is centered around giving—it starts with someone giving to us. Giving back is not required. It’s simply our natural response from grateful hearts.
This is truly an amazing program, and I can’t wait to see how it changes the future!