Mission + Purpose

Julia Gallagher Spanish, International Development with an SLA Management Minor Cum Laude

My experience as a Liberal Arts Tulane student has given me a sense of mission. From my major classes in Spanish and International Development to a sampling of other classes and finally the management minor, developing and identifying mission is the link that connects my liberal arts degree. One of my favorite parts about fulfilling the School of Liberal Arts Management Minor (SLAMM) at the end of my undergraduate career was realizing that I had been learning many of the themes of management all along through my other Liberal Arts courses. In each area of my education the significance of “mission” means something different. Through International Development courses it meant learning how to formulate a strategic plan and write a mission statement for a project or organization. While studying a foreign language I had to ask myself what would be the purpose of Spanish in my life beyond novels and essays. Fusing all of these ideas together is how I came to know what the right next step is for me. Starting in August I will be working at Casa Juan Diego, a Catholic Worker House for immigrant women and children in Houston. I will be able to connect my personal mission of serving others with the tangible skills of speaking Spanish and understanding a non-profit’s mission. Ultimately I’ve learned that we all need to identify our personal missions; then, we must take what we already know combined with what we are capable of learning and carry out our mission with purpose.