Hi there!

While this message officially serves as a request for a donation to Magis’s 48 hour fundraiser, I’d like to lead you in a little (asynchronous) reflection to help you understand why we are raising money for a Verbum Dei Highschool student on their journey to college.

So, wherever you are right now, whatever you’re doing, take a breath and try to center yourself.

I’d like you to reflect on your journey from high school to the next step of your life, whether that’s a college education, travel, work, or your own personal journey. Maybe it seems like a lifetime ago, or maybe you can remember it like it was yesterday.

What were your hopes for the next step?

What were your worries?

Who supported you?

When did you feel loved?

When did you feel seen?

I’ll offer up the following quote from dr. bell hooks

“As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence”

-bell hooks, Ph.D.

Verbum Dei Jesuit Highschool is a male-identifying, under-resourced, Jesuit Highschool wherein a majority of the class of 2026 will be the first generation of their family to enroll in college or university. At Loyola Marymount University, the members of Magis Service Organization are blessed enough to play a part in generating excitement among our Verb Eagles. Every week, we offer assistance with college applications and essays and after-school tutoring. But, as dr. hooks mentions, excitement for the future relies on our ability not to just hear each other's voices, but to listen – not to just recognize each other’s presence, but to find intentional community and family in each other. In Magis, we lower our walls and look to be inspired by each Verb student’s motivation for college, but we also recognize the barriers to a college education, especially for first generation students. First gen students have historically been underrepresented in colleges and universities as well as in the job market. For some, $1000 - $2000 dollars can mean the difference between attending college or not.

So, while this email is officially a request for a donation, it is also a call for reflection. Think back to the questions I asked at the beginning. When did you feel loved in that next step of your life? When did you feel seen? The goal of 48hour fundraiser is to see the whole person in each Verbum Dei Student. What is each student passionate about? How can we get excited for each student for the next step of their life? What is ours to do? By donating, you can help a Verb student find their support system in college. You can help a verb student get excited about where they want to go to college, and alleviate some worry about paying for it.

Regardless of whether you are able to donate, I encourage you to take a glance at the following links from FirstGenForward to learn about how to best support our first-gen students.

-https://www.firstgenforward.org/our-insights/fact-sheets

https://www.firstgenforward.org/hubfs/FGF%20Publications/Landscape%20Analysis%20Reports/2025%20Landscape%20Analysis%20Introduction%20Document.pdf?hsLang=en

Thanks, and please reach out to @lmumagis on instagram if you have any questions!

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.