In the past week or so I’ve had a lot of feedback. Most very positive, some not so much!
Here’s a sample:
“Dear Brendan,
You are a brilliant madman and have chosen an inspired way to raise the money for your scholarship. What I particularly like is the cheeky and friendly nature of it, which of itself would scream at any potential donor that you embody the very values you wish to pursue. I salute you and wish I had thought of this angle myself. The only similar thing I have come across, other than the guy who sold individually sponsored pixels on his screensavers and made a million dollars (or was it pounds) that way, was an extraordinary man who was elected to be the Chairman of the local Rotary Club and, part of his job was to host a fundraising event in the year of his incumbency. He was desperate as auctions and auction prizes are so common place and people so reluctant to give or participate….He went to the local hospital and asked each of the Consultants to donate an operation., he made a fortune on the night.
So…Yes, what a great idea and I totally support you in spirit. … I wish you all the luck in the world, you deserve it. Didn’t St Brendan do something pretty unlikely and get away with it?
Kind regards
Tim Smit”
- Tim Smit, Founder, Eden Project
“INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!”
- Anonymous
“Dear Brendan,
I hope you get to fulfill your dream. I have donated 6 CAD’s. I myself come from a developing country. The money that you would be spending for the education is ‘big’ in my country. So I do really hope that you be responsible with the trust that people put in you. In case you manage to get financed for the course through scholarship, I’d hope that the money would go to MSF.
I have spread the word about your crazy idea to a few of my friends as well.
Here’s wishing you the best in life”
- Aju, via email
“Good luck Brendan. I was going to donate $3, but then chose to give more after seeing the outfit with knee socks and headband. ”
- Dene via Facebook Group
“just sent a note to oprah for you”
- Graham via Facebook Group
“Entertaining project. I applaud your unabashed self-promotion but your reasoning why you need the Oxford MBA and why people should donate is laughable. Do you honestly believe that “investing” $ 90K in a MBA in Social Entrepreneurship helps you to “make the world a better place”? If you really wanted you could be a “social entrepreneur” already, so please stop fooling yourself and wasting other people’s time and money.” … (after much discussion offline)…”After initial scepticism, I am also in!”
- Thomas via Facebook Group
“I gave you $6 so you only need 28,000 others. However, I was screwed by the exchange rate. So consider the extra $0.05 a gift. The rest you owe me in social change.”
- Claire via Facebook Group
“screw him, tell him to get a job like everyone else”
- Anonymous via johnchow.com blog
“I think it’s a different approach to raise money to attend college. Financial Aid is usually the route people take when they can’t afford the tuition costs themselves. He’s just thinking outside of the box.”
- Kim via www.7daybuzz.com blog
“Brendan, i already transfer $10. That was about MYR33. I can use up that money for 3days meal here in malaysia. Hope you can use it wisely.”
- Jatt via Johnchow.com blog
“Cyprus Supports Brendan”
- Mariana via Facebook Group
“I think it’s wonderful that he has the ingenuity to harness the power of the Internet. The trick here, however, is for those who are responding to it to go one step further, to really capture the true spirit of giving - and the true spirit of the Internet. If you can donate $3, you can donate $6. Donate $3 for this fellow, and then donate $3 to your favorite charity as well - this can usually be done online…”
- Kelly via Johnchow.com blog
“I’ll give you three bucks just to see if this works. That’s BRILLIANT!!!”
- Michelle via Facebook Group
“I lose $3 regularly in the driver’s seat in my car. $3 is SO little these days, that if you can get anything worthwhile out of it at all, you’re doing well. So I think the satisfaction of being part of something different and exciting is a fantastic reward–whether Brendan gets to Oxford or not.
By the way, he second best thing to buy wih $3, in my opinion, is a Saturday’s Globe and Mail newspaper.”
- Emily via www.7daybuzz.com blog
“Word up…I’m all for for crazy plans especially when they circumvent the market driven nature of higher education. I think you should call this thing the power to the people bursary fund.”
- Tom via Facebook Group
and last, but probably the most eloquent:
“So I’ve been following your quest for 90k and some of your worldly exploits courtesy of facebook. I must say that I am impressed. Not in that “some random guy I went to highschool with turned out to be something after 10 years, who knew?” kind of way. Rather, in a “I know someone who is going to make a fundamental difference in this world”/warm and fuzzy sort of way.
I can’t say that my passion to seek change in this world will ever lead me to an institution like Oxford, or even out of Kamloops, but it does get me out of bed in the morning. My mantra when I walk into a classroom of kids is “teaching is the greatest act of optimism”. Some days it feels more like “teaching is glorified babysitting”.
Today I challenged a class of grade 5/6’s to perform a random act of kindness without being asked and without expectations of a reward. I told them about “paying it forward” and imagine what would happen if they helped 3 people, and those 3 helped 3 more each. I made them write it in their agendas before I would let them go at the end of the day. I can only hope that one actually did something about it.
I want to be teaching my social studies class some day down the road and see you in a text book with a caption about a Canadian who did more than get a job, buy a truck, and consume resources.
I commend you as you strive to give back and become the change you wish to see in the world. ”
- from Erin via Facebook message
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