Sara Rose (Kushnick) Gorfinkel, a member of the Class of 2002, received her Master of Arts in Religious Studies degree from Georgetown University in 2005. After serving as the Coordinator of Projects and Events at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, Sara left Georgetown in 2008 and currently directs member services and committee coordination for the Family Philanthropy and Corporate Grantmaking divisions at The Council on Foundations, a national nonprofit association of approximately 2,000 grant-making foundations and corporations. Reflecting on her Religion major and its impact on her career, Sara writes:
In the nine years since I graduated I’ve been through three phases of ‘what to do with my religion major?’-the first of which was having the feeling that I was only just getting started in my studies after four years at Gettysburg, while simultaneously not being able to narrow my focus, which is why the Georgetown Master’s in Liberal Studies was a perfect fit for me. The second phase was ‘I have to apply my religion major to my work.’ which is why working at Georgetown University in interreligious affairs was a great experience. Now I’ve evolved into a third phase, which is a confidence that everything I do, professionally and personally, is infused and influenced by the fact that I was a religion major at Gettysburg College. The exploration of my Judaism in the safe confines of a classroom and with the faculty support I received at Gettysburg led me to become the active member of my community that I am today. I know that the broad understanding I was taught of world religions and of Christianity and Judaism in particular helps me to be the pluralistic and altruistic person I am today. If you are considering a liberal arts education, focusing on the backbone of history and humanity, Religion, is one of the only ways to gain knowledge of that broad cross-section of the humanities in one discipline.”