The $5 philanthropist - GiveMeaning

I'm back on Vancouver Island near Victoria at Pearson College. This is the description from their website:

"Pearson College is a unique two year pre-university school for two hundred students selected from around the world based solely on their personal merit, potential and demonstrated commitment to engage actively in creating a better world."

Though I'm from Victoria, I had never heard of Pearson College and hadn't driven out this way for over a decade. I passed the McDonald's where I commiserated with a few fellow teammates over the bitter loss that made me end my soccer career, I passed Fort Rodd hill where I loved to visit with my childhood best friend, and then came to Witty's Lagoon a place where I remember a beautiful day of Bird Watching, identifying Sand Pipers and King Fishers, whilst walking through beautiful trails.

In short, this unintended turn onto memory lane made me quite emotional and I still had no idea where I was going. I arrived early at the college and my host Sean was in a meeting so I headed to the guest house that they graciously arranged for me to stay the night in. I haven't said how I got here. Almost every day I get a random call that turns into a magical experience. It is the ultimate definition of "viral." My host here at the college was sent an email asking him to donate to a member's fundraising page at GiveMeaning. He made his donation and then spend some time surfing around the rest of the site and then found my blog. From there, he invited me to speak both to the college and to some of the faculty and staff. I was in Toronto when I received the email on my blackberry and without knowing anything about the College, immediately accepted just based on the tone of his email.

If I had known about Pearson College, I would have likely had set my sights on trying to get in here as opposed to dropping-out. Though given my academic transcript and the antagonistic relationship I had with most every teacher I ever knew, there's little chance I would have ever been even considered for this place.

There are many things that bring me joy these days. But there is nothing more inspiring, more energizing, more fun, more rewarding for me than engaging with youth.

I'm very much looking forward to speaking with those that show-up at tomorrow's lunch-hour.

Labels: education, pearsoncollege, uwc, youth