In The Search for God at Harvard, Ari Goldman writes,
I found the Divinity School very refreshing. In an age when most students on college and university campuses were increasingly oriented towards landing good jobs and making oodles of money, here I was surrounded by those who wanted to pursue the ministry or simply pass the time until they knew what to do with their lives. In many ways, it was a school that belonged to a different era, the sixties perhaps, a time when questions like "What are you going to do for society?" and "What are you doing tonight?" seemed so much more pressing than "How are you going to make a living?"
While the book is a look at religious education, I have found this sentiment to be true in a myriad of places. Blame it on 9/11, Katrina, Google, Enron, God, or anything else. The reality is that the world is full of people wanting to make a difference however they can. I don't see this changing, unless those who need the help from this vast array of willing individuals turns it down out of ignorance or incapability.