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Since the dawn of time people have fought for the things “they believe in”. I was once an ideological little kid running around wanting to be the President of the United States. I believed in freedom, justice and democracy. To me that was the epitome of being an American; it was a belief I thought we all held. At that time my beliefs were political, it would be many years before I would formulate more personal beliefs.
College is considered to be a time of transformation, a time to grow up, a time to gain knowledge both academically and personally. The freshmen reading assignment this year was a compilation of essays called “This I Believe”. The compilations range from everyday parents to Bill Gates and Ernest Hemmingway. Some of the essays forced me to consider all the things I believe, which by some would be a lot.
Elvia Bautista wrote an essay called “Remembering All The Boys” which focuses on a fundamental belief that I truly love. Bautista believes “That no matter where you came from or what you believed in, when you die, you want flowers on your grave and people who visit you and remember you that way”. This has always highlighted a fundamental belief that I have held all these years yet never truly realized. Since I was a little boy running around wanting to be President, I was also a broken hearted little boy missing his great grandmother. I would grow into a young man that still dreams of delivering the State of the Union address but also believes in the value of placing flowers on a grave or simply taking a few minutes out of your day to remember those we have lost along the way.
I have been privileged to attend a great university and to have joined such a phenomenal program as the McConnell Scholars but I realize that I could not have done any of this on my own. Despite the rhetoric some would like you to believe, not a single one of us were “self-made”, someone changed your life and made you who you are today, they deserve a thank you in person and flowers on their grave.
Jason Jewell is freshman McConnell Scholar from Louisville. Jewell is studying political science and economics.