Every spring, the Foundations of Management class puts together a 5k to actively teach students business management and to raise money for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) of Minnesota. This year, on Apr. 22 students’ hard work was met with beautiful weather and pulling off a 5k that exceeded expectations. 160 runners showed up that morning to support both Hamline students and the DAV. After the run, everyone gathered to hang out, eat food and listen to the soft melody of a guitar.
To everyone’s surprise, the students raised over $10,000, of which $7,600 will go to the DAV.
“We learned what we were capable of,” junior Collin Graham said. The original goal was to raise roughly $7,000 and get 150 runners to surpass last year’s outcome of $6,600 in revenue, $4,600 to the DAV and 141 runners. It was only a week prior to the event that the students were worried they would not even make their own goal.
“It seemed like everyone was beginning to lose heart,” Professor Thomas Burns said, who was teaching one of the two classes pulling off the event, “and I too was at risk of losing heart, but I had to keep reminding myself that this has happened every year. Students continue to pleasantly surprise me, and sometimes I have to chastise myself to say don’t doubt them, trust them.”
Another challenge the students faced was that Prof. Burns had to leave for a few weeks due to surgery. He said it really affected him personally and he was worried for his students.
“I felt so disconnected from [the students], and I felt honestly lost. I was concerned about would I be able to reconnect, and so I had to learn patience on my part. It’s my patience that they are helping me manage. I want success for [students] now, and I sometimes have to realize that success comes in little bits of time.”
Despite the many challenges, students expressed how they were able to overcome them and get the most out of this experience.

“It pushed a lot of people out of their comfort zones,” junior Jensen Sevening said about the event. “In the future if I have to do it again I know I can do it.”

Besides pushing students out of their comfort zones, it also provided hands-on experience in running a business, communicating with coworkers, and offering a community service.
“It is everything a class should be at Hamline,” sophomore Sydney Yozamp said. “And being able to give it back to the community.”
Being part of the veteran community, sophomore Stephenie Turbett said, “It meant alot because I am a disabled veteran. It is hard to reintegrate into civilian life, and I am driven to help those people because we are all different and unique and we need to remember them so they aren’t forgotten.” Turbett spent 14 years in the military and served as the 5k’s CEO manager.  She felt she was able to share her knowledge and leadership abilities with her classmates and be part of a really good experience.
Prof. Burns mentioned that he got to talk with a number of runners who were also in the military, and that it touched him to hear their stories.
“I happen to run across a husband and wife. He’s serving active duty in the coast guard, 27 years in the coast guard, stationed in Washington DC. Ironically enough, the day we ran the event was their wedding anniversary. He said he happened to notice the advertisements on the website, and because it was DAV, he wanted to come out and support it. He was impressed by the students pulling off this event, and he said how honored he was to be part of it.  It was very touching to hear people say how much fun they had. A couple of people said please let us know when you do this next year. We’d like to come back. It made me even that much more proud of the students. I couldn’t help but want to bust my bubbles. It was rewarding beyond words.”