Muriel Rowe: Paying it Forward
The importance of paying it forward is one of Muriel Rowe’s long-lasting standpoints that was embedded into her from her parents’ and grandparents’ example. Muriel remarks how her grandparents helped her parents through their higher education and later recalls how her parents helped her through her own post-secondary journey. Because of this, Muriel decided to help future students achieve their academic dreams, just as she was helped, through supporting Brescia where she attended school and graduated from in 2008.
Without even realizing it, Muriel Rowe has been with Brescia University College since childhood. Growing up, Muriel would visit her grandma who lived in London and enjoyed walking the dog behind her grandma’s house because of the beautiful buildings resting on the hill. Little did she know, those buildings were Brescia’s classrooms, offices and residences that she would one day be going to school in and later supporting as a philanthropist.
The first day she came to tour Brescia was life changing for Muriel. She says she was drawn to the close-knit community where everyone knew the faces of everybody they passed and she felt like she was not just a student number, but a person with a name.
Because of this community, Muriel gained a love and passion for supporting Brescia as a philanthropist. She believes that is it important to pay forward the Brescia experience to future generations and financially supports this goal by having continually given to Brescia over the past thirteen years. “We have to make sure that our experiences and the places that raised us get that support in turn for the next generation,” she says.
She goes on to say that philanthropic work does not have to be done in large donations, but everyone can be a philanthropist with even the smallest gifts of time and financial support. “I find that often people will talk themselves out of donating to causes if they don’t think the amount they can offer will be enough to make a difference; however, as anyone who has organized an office baby shower knows, modest sums add up quickly. Don’t discount the power of giving a $10, $15 or $20 gift - all combined they certainly make things happen,” she comments.
Muriel’s philanthropic work continues to help current and future students pursuing their goals at Brescia. We are eternally grateful for the support that Muriel has given and continues to give to the Brescia community here in London.