A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Today I will be leaving for England.  This is my first trip out of the country, so I really have no idea what to expect.  I'm looking forward to walking the same streets as Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and many great British authors we have read.  It will be a great experience to see Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" in the spot where Shakespeare originated.  Overall, I'm ready to head across the Atlantic Ocean, visit our distant cousins, and expand my knowledge of British authors and places! - Janna Imel, Class of 2014

Last Friday, the Scholars had the opportunity to attend Dr. Steven Hayward’s seminar on two revered historical figures and his fascinating book on them, Greatness: Reagan, Churchill and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders . Dr. Hayward challenged us to ask ourselves what made Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill, seemingly different in many ways and yet strikingly similar in their education and attitudes, such unique and successful statesmen. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of Dr. Hayward’s points connected with themes we’ve been discussing in seminars and lectures all year. Dr. Hayward began his seminar with question, what makes a true “statesman” in the first place? He discussed the importance of acting in a disciplined, deliberate and thought-through manner, both of which Reagan and Churchill did well. He also stressed the supreme imaginations of the two men and their inclinations to attack problems with creativity and unconventionality. Discipline and imagination are t...

Watching the graduating McConnell Scholars give their final farewells was both sad and inspirational. They all have plans for their future and have accomplished so much at UofL in the fours years they have been here. But after the dinner I was really wondering what I'm getting out of this program. These Seniors have put time and effort into the program and are reaping the benefits as they leave. They have been on numerous trips, met many great leaders and have increased their ability to learn and think critically. But it's hard for me to imagine myself that accomplished and intelligent after three more years in the program. Not because I'm not getting thing out of the Center, but because I haven't made the right effort to take advantage of all the opportunities the Center has to offer. I want to go on more trips, I want to do more service and I want to have the seniority to pop into Sherry's office anytime I want. But I need to do my part in truly being part of th...

I completed my community service hours at the McConnell Center by playing with puppies, yes puppies. It is no secret that I am an avid animal lover. My furry little friends calm me down and help "de-stress" me better than any other activity. Most people don't consider playing with animals a form of service, but I do. The Kentucky Humane Society is an organization that requires numerous volunteers to be able to save and rescue hundreds of pets a week. Over the course of a semester I learned that no matter how stressed and crazy I think my life is I can find an hour of my day to help out some poor helpless animals. I also learned that taking care of another animal is not the easiest thing in the world. Puppies, like babies, and need constant attention, something I'm probably not ready to give though I always complain about how badly I want a puppy. I have continued to go back to the Humane Society during finals week for a little relaxation and I plan on continuing in ...

“I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no book, nor a place to read. I have known the hunger of the belly kind many times over, but I have known a worse hunger: the need to know and to learn.” – Louis L’Amour, Education of a Wandering Man I underlined that quote once. Then I highlighted it. I did not know reading Education of a Wandering Man and the subsequent discussion at McConnell Freshman Orientation would have such an impact on me. However, like most things and most people, we do not recognize the effect decisions, discussions, and people can have until time has passed. Looking back on my first year at the University and the McConnell Center, I cannot help but think it flew by too quickly. The conversations I had will remain deep within me for the rest of my life, both the good and the bad. The Program has changed me and is helping me to better myself. A question was posed before the ten fres...

It's hard to decide exactly what to pack when you go on any trip, let alone a trip to England being immediately followed by a trip to China...especially when you'll be moving into a new house in the 5 or so days in between the two trips. However, it looks like I've finally been able to nail down the necessities for at least this first trip to Oxford and London. I, of course, had to bring the essentials to survive the plane ride there and back. Being a McConnell Center trip, I would feel bad playing Pokemon all the way over (regardless of the many lessons in leadership buried within the game); thus, I've decided to bring a few books. During my time on the plan there/in London and Oxford/on the plane back, I will be finishing up the third book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, starting/finishing The Comedy of Errors, and then skimming a bit of Wendell Berry in my remaining time. Also, sleeping. A lot of sleeping. If something particularly strikes me within these r...

In a few short days I will close my experience as a McConnell Scholar with a trip to England, as part of the Oxford Society. It feels like the culmination of four years of reading, learning, and seminars. While I look to the future, with one semester remaining as an undergraduate and the time passing until graduate school, this trip will provide the perfect opportunity to reflect on my favorite aspect of the program, the people. The most valuable asset the McConnell Center possesses is its people. They are the part of the program that reaches out and helps when I need assistance with school, or advises on prospects for my future. Most of the valuable growth I have experienced as a person has happened either directly or indirectly because of its people. I will carry those relationships with me. I am deeply excited about my future, but I will always remember the McConnell Scholarship as one of the pivotal honors of my life. I thank each of you for the history we have built, to...

I am preparing to depart with the McConnell Scholars Oxford Society for England in only three days!  I am most excited about our upcoming visit to University and Merton Colleges during our stay at Oxford.  Both places are filled with a rich history of literary figures, some of whom have influenced my love poetry and creative writing. Romantic poet Percy Shelley earned a reputation for his unconventionality long before he matriculated at University between 10 April 1810 and 25 March 1811.*  At the age of twelve Shelley entered Eton College where he “rebelled against the ‘fagging’ system, which involved younger boys acting as servants for . . . older pupils.”  Upon his entrance to Oxford, Shelley befriended Thomas Hogg with whom he bonded over the works of David Hume, Voltaire, Thomas Paine, Rousseau, and William Godwin.  Shelley was an anti-royalist, vegetarian, and he was opposed to marriage (even though he later married Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, daughter of...

I might have named this novel "The Man of Notting Hill" or "Don Wayne," both harkening back to Miquel de Cervantes' great novel "Don Quixote." It seems to me both are better names than Napoleon of Notting Hill, which was chosen by his publisher. The author, G.K. Chesterton, originally suggested "The Lion of Notting Hill" or "The King and the Madman." Both of those fit very well and are much better than using Napoleon's name as this book is not about conquest and empire at all. Rather, it is about love of one's own place, smallness, and adhering to warm old ways in the face of cold progress. If it is about empire at all, it is a warning against it. The connection with Don Quixote hit me this morning as I was rousing myself from bed. In Adam Wayne, the defender of Notting Hill and of a chivalrous code, we have the old Don from Lamancha. He was a man from somewhere, not just anywhere. He was a man filled with old idea...

The word eros is used within Plato's Symposium but the meaning of word is not always clear. We have seen eros used before by authors such as Homer to mean simply appetite as well as in other texts to represent a strong desire for. In most cases, however, we tend to translate the word to mean "love" in the sense of "in love with" or "to fall in love" as in the sexual desires of another. With this translation, we see the debate of this word in Plato's Symposium . The debate stems from the translation of this word and the meaning of it in the dialogue. In simple, is this the discussion of love in the natural, human, emotional sense of the word, or is this the discussion of desire and the yearning of for something. When translating the word from Greek, one must keep both "he" and "it" as possibilities when discussing love in terms of eros and therefore, the meaning of the word as well as the text as a whole is up for debate. My...

With Secretary Clinton coming to visit this past week, I found myself reflecting on all the notable speakers I have gotten a chance to meet in my four years at the center. I have been privileged to meet Lynn Chaney, George W. Bush, Chief Justice Roberts, Harry Reid, John McCain, Former president of India Dr. Kalam, and now Hillary Clinton. On top of the most notable speakers I have also gotten a chance to meet top leader at Yum! Jonathan Blum at a KFC Dinner at headquarters, Jerry Abramson at a lunch in the U-Club , Martha Lane Collins at the McConnell Center, and other notable speakers such as Attorney Generals, Governor’s Chief of Staff, local politicians, philosophers, authors, and quest professors. Although I know some of the speaker’s names have escaped me, the above list gives a very good overview of the personalities I have got a chance to encounter. The reflection I have been encountering the past few week has been on each of these speakers’ personalities and charisma. I ...

On April 24, we had the honor of having a roundtable discussion with Dr. Steven Hayward, author of Greatness: Reagan, Churchill and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders . In the book, Dr. Hayward analyzes the unexplored connections between two of history’s greatest leaders, Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill. Dr. Hayward began writing the analysis simply as a portion of a larger biography on Ronald Reagan and then began to see the similarities and outstanding parallels between the two leaders of the 20th century. Reading Greatness was a wonderful opportunity, but being able to hear the commentary and decision-making process of the book’s development was an experience that I was grateful to have. As a leader, I was most intrigued on Dr. Hayward’s analysis on how people become leaders like Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill. Dr. Hayward says that there are key attributes that both of the aforementioned leaders had that helped to achieve their success. The first can be summed int...

Meeting U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell when I first joined the McConnell Scholars Program Last semester, I blogged about my first semester as a McConnell Scholar. This semester, I thought that I would take a look at the year as a whole to give prospective students, their parents, or anyone else who happens to be interested a look at what we do here in a year at the McConnell Center.   The McConnell Program has three core principles that it encourages its scholars to demonstrate: Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. Through the McConnell Program, I have been given many opportunities to develop my skills in these three areas and to make myself a more well-rounded human being. The McConnell Center has helped me to achieve a diverse educational experience this year, and it has made me a more inquisitive individual. I have read and attended seminars on books such as Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton, The Four Quartets by T.S. Elliot, The History of Rasselas by Samuel ...

The following is a special guest blog from Angelia Pickett Chirichigno , a high school friend of Dan Utley.  We are pleased to add this elegant tribute to the McConnell Center's memory of our dear friend. Several days ago I got the tragic news that an old friend and dear classmate had passed away while serving his country in Africa. The news has left me with a profound sadness. In recent years, most knew my friend as Captain Daniel Utley, a soldier serving in the US Army. For me, Dan is the smart, funny, and sensitive boy that I grew up with in Glasgow, Kentucky. He’s the one I went to when I forgot to do my homework and needed to copy an answer, the one I went to when I needed to laugh.  He was the boy who was always silly, yet more mature than anyone else I knew. He was the sweet, compassionate and understanding guy who accompanied a bunch of his girlfriends to the Senior Prom because they were too cool to find traditional dates. Dan and I went to the same elementary sc...

I still find it nearly impossible to believe that I will be entering my final year as a McConnell Scholar in the fall. The three years I have spent in the McConnell Scholars Program feel as though they went by in three days. The opportunities I have been given, and the experiences I have gained, cannot be summed up in one simple blog post; the numerous wonderful memories I have imprinted in my mind are even more difficult to articulate. I have been an extremely active member of the program, but seeing the time fly by, I still cannot help but feel as though I took the program for granted. Entering my senior year, I want to take advantage of every element of the program to the greatest extent possible. As difficult as it is to believe that I will be considered a senior in just a couple weeks, it is even more astonishing that I will be leaving for China in just 19 days. This trip has been approaching for three years, yet I never fully grasped the idea that I would be going. The though...

Graduation, at last.  Four years gone, and I can scarcely think of any event which generated more excitement and insight than the four seminars on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings .  Through the seminars, I deepened existing understandings and broadened the scope of how I perceived Tolkien’s greatest work.  I met and formed a relationship with Dr. Brad Birzer, a Tolkien fanatic like myself, who humbled me with his vast amount of Tolkien knowledge.  In addition to advancing my appreciation for The Lord of the Rings , the seminars served to further my familiarity with Tolkien’s life and history.  Though Tolkien never intended The Lord of the Rings to present an allegory of his life, era, or Catholicism, similarities certainly existed.    I counted myself lucky; I not only had an excuse to re-read Tolkien’s work, but also to share it with experts like Dr. Birzer and other McConnell Scholars.  If life after the McConnell Center provides t...

He won the Bronze Star and served our nation and desperate people around the world for nine years in the U.S. Army. Today we mourn a fallen friend, servant, and American hero. On Friday, April 20, 2012, Captain Daniel H. Utley, U.S. Army, was killed in the North African country of Mali. He was serving in a training mission to help them combat the growing problem of Al Queda terrorism in North Africa. The people of Africa have lost a champion and America has lost a rising star. It was by reputation only that I first came to know the boy who would grow up to be Captain Daniel Utley. I came to the McConnell Center in January 2000 and nearly immediately one of the students said to me, "You're biggest problem is going to be that Dan Utley is going to graduate in a year." It did not take long to figure out what his colleague was warning me about. Dan was a workhorse of a McConnell Scholar. There are people who serve for titles and glory; Dan was a young man who served ...

As my freshman year comes to an end, I am increasingly aware of the lessons that I have learned throughout this wonderful experience. On the first day of McConnell Scholar orientation, it became apparent that the 10 "McFreshmen" had a lot in common. It soon became obvious that we would continue to have something in common - we would all read...a lot! Dr. Gregg took us 10 young Scholars to a used bookstore during Orientation. He gave each of us $30 and urged us to purchase as many book as possible. After leaving the bookstore with our treasures, Dr. Gregg told us that we should all strive to create our own personal libraries...Well, I have. I immediately bought a trunk - like one from the Harry Potter movies. It’s like I was carrying an empty shell when I entered the University of Louisville, but now… Oh now! Over the course of the two semesters here, I have filled the trunk with the few books that I have bought on my own and the many books that were issued through the M...

Historian Carter G. Woodson once said, “The true meaning of leadership is service.”  As a leadership program, the McConnell Scholars Program works to teach us the values and characteristic of good leaders, and inspire us to become leaders of our generation. While the scholarship aspect of the McConnell Program has granted me the opportunity to read excellent books and meet inspiring people, the Service events this semester have taught me something quite different. My service focus this semester has been split between Habitat for Humanity and the Kentucky Humane Society. For me, the Service tenet of the McConnell Scholars Program has become the most meaningful and worthwhile experience of my Freshman year of college. Through Habitat, I have worked on two homes at various stages of completion.  At both locations, the process amazed me. Habitat has the art of home building down to a science and the immense good they do for the community inspires me.  For 25 years...

In early March a group of McConnell Scholars had the privilege of working with Habitat for Humanity on a rehab house in downtown Louisville. For eight hours we dug trenches, added gravel for water pipes, cut blue board, and had some occasional fun with a sledgehammer. While the work left most of us sore for the next few days, I felt proud and gratified with the work we accomplished. Mary and I worked on one corner of the basement digging up clay for hours. The guys offered to take over but we wanted to see the end ourselves. When we finally had dug all that we could, it was wonderful knowing all the hard work we were putting in was going to benefit an individual by giving them a great place to live. But my favorite activity by far was cutting the blue board and Mary and I became pros. I don't know why, but everyone seemed a little hesitant when the smallest girl volunteered to use the handsaw. I put their fears at rest and by the end of the work day Mary and I had measured and ...

This past weekend, I attended the National Campaign Conference hosted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. As the freshman representative on the McConnell scholar council, I was given the opportunity to attend the conference, accompanied by our public relations director, GlyptusAnn Grider Jones. The conference focused on strategies and skills for encouraging our campus to vote and hosted a wide array of interesting speakers. Along with Ryan Davis and Colin Stewart, representatives from the company that ran Barack Obama’s first election campaign, we were able to hear and discuss issues with Margaret McKenna, a campaign organizer for Hilary Clinton’s presidential election campaign, and other leaders who have been active in campaigning and voter mobilization. With a focus on increasing voter participation on college campuses, we were also able to assess skills that are critical to leadership. By analyzing the characteristics and practices of our favorite leaders, learni...

" Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. (KRM), a non-profit organization, is dedicated to providing resettlement services to refugees through faith- and agency-based co-sponsorship in order to promote self-sufficiency and successful integration into our community.  KRM is committed to offering access to community resources and opportunities and to promoting awareness of diversity for the benefit of the whole community."  Last week, eight McConnell Scholars volunteered to help organize boxes of donations at the Kentucky Refugee Ministries. These donations - totaling thousands of boxes - are collected from the Louisville community and given to refugees, upon their entry to the country.  Scholars helped organize thousands of materials, including: dinnerware, clothes, toys, books, furniture, etc. Last week's event marks the ninth time the McConnell Scholars have helped with Kentucky Refugee Ministries this semester. Overall, the service project was a great success!  We ...