Junior Callie Patton is a Human Physiology major and is currently a Gonzaga Telefund student supervisor. Callie has raised over $130,000 over the last two years for Gonzaga through the Telefund program.
Tell me about a time that you spoke with a GU parent on the phone…
I love speaking with parents! It is so fun to get to hear how Gonzaga is impacting not only their student, but also the parents as well. One of my favorite parents (besides mine of course!) was a mom whose son had been in a very bad car accident the very first week that he was here. As she recounted her story, it brought tears to my eyes. The way that she was describing how everyone at Gonzaga had reached out to her family truly touched my heart. Even after such a tragedy, she had nothing but wonderful things to say about GU.
What brought you to Gonzaga? Has the experience met your expectations? Your parents’?
I never thought that I would end up at Gonzaga. I just had never really envisioned myself going to a private school, especially due to the increased financial cost. However, it was really my mom that encouraged me to apply, and I figured, why not? When I found out that I was accepted, I came up for a campus tour and immediately fell in love with GU. How could you not love the community, the cheerful smiles, and the Zag spirit? Not only has GU met my expectations, but it has truly surpassed them. As a human physiology student, I have the opportunity to work with a smaller group of classmates and to work with excellent faculty who know who I am. I love being a Zag!
I think that it has definitely lived up to my parents’ expectations as well. I know that it was a big step for them to let me come here, especially with the private school price tag, but they knew that it was something that I felt like I was supposed to do. I can never thank my parents enough for giving me the opportunity to get a Gonzaga education.
What is the best thing about working in the Telefund? The most challenging? What, in your opinion makes you successful in the Telefund?
By far, the very best thing about working in the Telefund is the people that you come in contact with, on the phone and off. Our donors are the most fascinating people. In one night, I can talk to one of the first women who graduated from GU, a man who has had 30 members of his family graduate from Gonzaga, and a young alumnus who just gotten married. As a caller, every night you hear joy, heartbreak, and stories that simply just make you smile. Before Telefund, I never would have thought that you could make such a strong connection over the phone in about 3 to 5 minutes, but some of those 3 minute calls have really touched my heart.
I think that I have been successful in the Telefund because I am a very optimistic person. Once you learn to not take a hard call too personally, then Telefund becomes much easier. Each new call is a new beginning, and, even if the previous call was a little rough, I get excited with every new opportunity to talk to someone who is connected with the university.
Tell me about your future plans? How will you use your experience at Gonzaga? In Telefund?
My future plans are to go on to graduate school for either occupational or physical therapy. I will use my Gonzaga experience when I interact with others. Telefund and Gonzaga have definitely helped develop my compassionate side. I truly want to be a person for others, especially in the medical field. Telefund gives you more life experience than I ever thought was possible from a job. For example, I have been a part of a team that raises over $700,000 a year. How many 20 year olds can say that?
What does philanthropy at Gonzaga mean to you?
For me, philanthropy at Gonzaga means helping others have the opportunity to have the same wonderful experiences that I have had here. I would not have been able to come to Gonzaga without my scholarship support, and I know that somebody made calls for me. It’s the least I can do to try to make someone’s Zag dreams a reality.
Sophomore Caileen Cox is majoring in Business Administration. She has worked as a Telefund caller for two years and has raised over $75,000 for the Telefund program this year.
Tell me about a time that you spoke with a GU parent on the phone…
Parents are great to talk to because they love to hear about some of the activities and events going on around campus. I talked to a mom and asked how her son was enjoying Gonzaga and she said he was having the time of his life. He is really active in sports and clubs and is making some great friends and she was really excited to visit campus over Fall Family Weekend to meet everyone and see Gonzaga after students were settled in. She said Gonzaga was definitely a great environment for her son and I think many parents share the same feeling.
What brought you to Gonzaga? Has the experience met your expectations? Your parents’?
The moment that won me over to Gonzaga was Gel Weekend. The campus was beautiful and a perfect size. My Gel buddy was really excited for the weekend, and she even had some of her closest friends help show me around. It was comforting to see that even though she did not know these people before college, they were all best friends and had so many fun stories to tell. It demonstrated Gonzaga’s close community perfectly and I can say that Gel Weekend was a nice peak into what it would be like to be a student here. My parents love to visit and to hear about the great times I’m having in school. My dad always says how he would have loved to go to Gonzaga for college, so maybe next time…
What is the best thing about working in the Telefund? The most challenging? What, in your opinion makes you successful in the Telefund?
The best thing about working in Telefund is just getting to talk to alums and parents. Those groups love to talk about Gonzaga and what a great impact it is having on either their lives or their kids. Telefund is a constant reminder that the students here have such a huge support group. The most challenging part of talking on the phones is trying to talk to someone when they don’t want to talk to me! Its hard sometimes to understand that us Telefund workers are not just calling for a gift, but also to update information and just hear about how Gonzaga is treating their kids or how it helped them get to where they are now in life. Part of what makes me a successful caller is that I want to take the time to listen. Usually people can reflect on an experience they had with Gonzaga and have a fun story, even if it is a parent and they only ever visit Gonzaga on move-in day. Listening and caring about the stories helps reconnect people to Gonzaga which will usually help lead to a gift.
Tell me about your future plans? How will you use your experience at Gonzaga? In the Telefund?
I’m planning on going to Florence for Fall semester next year, so hopefully I can get a better idea of what I want to major in over there. After I graduate I want to use my degree and start a career somewhere, probably in the Seattle area. I talk to a lot of parents whose kids graduate and go over there, so I know I would have a pretty large network. Telefund skills can be applied to many different jobs. In these two years I’ve developed my skills in sales and communications, and I’ve dealt with rejection and learned how to quickly shake it off to try again. I’m confident that will help me in any field.
What does philanthropy at Gonzaga mean to you?
Gonzaga runs off philanthropy. Parents and alums are crucial to making sure the campus runs smoothly and that we have enough scholarships so all the students who qualify academically can attend and have the same great experience as past Zags. I appreciate all the support they are giving and I know that me and many others would not be here if philanthropy was not such a huge part of the Zag community.
Sophomore Allyson Binversie is studying psychology. She is a student supervisor for the program and has raised over $80,000 to date this year through the Telefund program.
Tell me about a time that you spoke with a GU parent on the phone…
It is really exciting to be a current student calling because the calls become so personal. It is fun to talk to parents of friends because it is exciting to actually meet them when they come to campus, or it is always funny when parents ask if you know their son/daughter & you don’t but they suggest that you go meet them.
What brought you to Gonzaga? Has the experience met your expectations? Your parents’?
The community feel on Gonzaga’s campus definitely made my decision to attend here and it certainly has met my expectations. Especially being so far from home the community has been great & Gonzaga has really taken care of me. It has probably gone beyond my parents’ expectations because I rarely go home!
What is the best thing about working in the Telefund? The most challenging? What, in your opinion makes you successful in the Telefund?
I love hearing about other Zag stories at Telefund because everyone’s experience is so unique and it is always inspiring to hear about others’ positive experiences because it gets me excited for the years ahead of me & my time at GU.
The most challenging thing about Telefund is bringing reminiscent conversations with fellow passionate Zags to an end on the phone when they could just keep talking about their experiences with Gonzaga and sharing all their advice & insight to GU.
It is important to be passionate about Gonzaga in order to be successful at Telefund because if you are engaged in the conversation with alumni and Gonzaga supporters it will remind them of why they love GU and how important it is to them and will inspire them to make their positive experience available to future Zags as well through giving.
Tell me about your future plans? How will you use your experience at Gonzaga? In Telefund?
Upon graduating from Gonzaga I hope to become involved in a volunteer organization for a couple years before continuing on to Graduate school to become a Clinical Psychologist. Gonzaga has lots of opportunities to make this possible, by preparing me well with a Psychology degree & research opportunities in Zambia, Africa. Gonzaga also has numerous options for post-grad volunteer work, which is why I don’t know which program I am interested in getting involved with because Gonzaga has so many opportunities. I will use my Telefund experience in my future, by looking forward to the calls from students when I am an alumnus and recognize the importance of supporting the annual campaign.
What does philanthropy at Gonzaga mean to you?
Philanthropy is an investment into paying it forward to continue the positive experiences you may have had for future generations!