By Leah Lynch
This is the week that we’d been told would approach faster than we could comprehend. While we focused our efforts on writing a Request for Proposals and thoroughly combing over responses from non-profits, our first round of Finalist Discussion flew by before we could register that it had come in the first place. Since we received fourteen proposals, we had a lot of discussing and constructive arguing to do. After a brief introduction to the process and general expectations, Dr. Larson set us free to work through this process as a team. We discussed our general favorites, likes and dislikes, preferences, important observations, and hopes for funding. The room felt slightly tense, as we hadn’t yet settled into being abruptly and unapologetically passionate about the proposals we originally assumed were worthy of funding. We were consistently asked for clarification if there was a misunderstanding to keep our conversations on track. With opinions under our belts, we found a mutual ground to work from.
By the end of the first session, we had to (unfortunately) eliminate a few proposals that we didn’t feel entirely met the criteria. While we were making progress, the wise words of Dr. Larson followed us out the door: “Voting (our democratic approach to removing proposals from the running) is only going to get harder because your prospects are now looking better.” As daunting as that was, it was what we had to face. As the week continued, we were now becoming even more attached to the nonprofit proposals that we had been defending. More and more strong arguments and rebuttals took place over the course of the hour, and several of my peers gave personal, moving examples of the good that these non-profits had the potential to do. Their remarkable strength, in both sharing their situations, gave our purpose another positive meaning.
On the last day of discussion, everything was on the line. We had three proposals left to choose from, and only one of them would be allowed to remain amongst our finalists. This is when we could feel the room getting more tense and heated by the second. Several arguments, voting sessions, and sighs of both relief and slight disappointment later, we had our list of five non-profits for site visits. Congratulations to our finalist!
While our attachments will only grow, in the end we are funding 3 non-profits with unique services that will only positively influence Missoula and its residents. Few students will ever be able to be a part of such a fascinating, detailed, and truly remarkable project. I hope that this is what we will carry in our hearts as the funding considerations continue.