From the editor

Last year, Augsburg established a college-wide program dedicated to fulfilling its mission of "education for service" and making the Christian concept of vocation a vital part of its classrooms and co-curricular activities. This program, Exploring Our Gifts, was funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, and encourages the Augsburg community to look at the "big picture" and think about where our gifts intersect with faith and service.

Indeed, exploring our gifts is about much more than just choosing the right major or finding a "fit" in a job. Ultimately, we can discover and share our gifts—our vocation—in many different ways.

Our story about the Augsburg Central Nursing Center at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis illustrates how nursing students learn that healing can begin with the gift of a smile or a compassionate, listening ear.

You'll want to read about the Kleven family's gift of an endowed scholarship, which honors Dorothy Lijsing Kleven ’47, who spent her life sharing her passion for chorale music. This annual President's Scholarship, the first one to provide full tuition, fees, room and board, will enable future students to nurture their talents for chorale music.

In February, Augsburg celebrated the success of Devean George ’99, who returned to campus for ceremonies that officially retired his Augsburg No. 40 basketball jersey. George, a member of the NBA world champion Los Angeles Lakers, recently shared a gift with his hometown community, and sponsored eight children from the "Why Can't I Go?" program for special education students in Minneapolis and flew them to a game in Los Angeles.

Finally, our feature story introduces the Lilly-funded Exploring Our Gifts program, sharing the many and varied ways the grant has allowed the Augsburg community to tackle some of life's big questions: What are my gifts? Why am I here? What ought I to do with my life? Where are my gifts and talents most needed?