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By Jessica A. Bagby, Class of 2013
The ten rising senior McConnell Scholars have been together in the McConnell Program for the past three years. I thought that I knew each of them, but our trip to China has changed our relationship in a way that I truly never expected. You would assume that traveling and studying abroad with nine other "Type A," high achieving, diverse, and ambitious young adults would be troublesome, but I have happily been proven incorrect.
Living, studying, eating, and exploring with the same group of people for five weeks gives you a great and rare opportunity to get to know someone on a personal level. I genuinely thought that I knew my fellow McConnell Scholars, but I unfortunately took our friendships for granted during the past couple of years. Before this trip, I did not know that I am in the same class with three students that speak more than one language, a Scholar who has seven brothers and sisters, future Teach for American Corps members, and someone who performed in their local theater troupe for multiple years.
Not only has our trip to China given us a chance to learn about each other, but we have also been able to challenge each other intellectually. There is not an issue or topic that we all agree on, yet we have found a way to discuss, theorize, debate, and learn while expressing our ideals. I personally can say that I have discussed a social, political, or cultural issue with each person in our class and have walked away more enlightened and a better person. My fellow classmates challenge me and give me an opportunity to express and argue what I believe while learning from them in the process.
Katherine Butler Hathaway once said, “A person needs at intervals to separate from family and companions and go to new places. One must go without familiars in order to be open to influences, to change.” Going out of my comfort zone to China with people that I do not necessarily spend time with in Louisville has given me an amazing opportunity to grow as a person. I am humbled and honored to have shared this experience with the most intelligent and outstanding group of my peers. Although I have taken our friendship for granted over the past years, I know that when I return to the United States I will have nine other people that I can call my dear friends and will use our next year together to further that intellectual and social relationship.
Jessica Bagby, from Vine Grove, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville and is currently studying in the People's Republic of China. She is majoring in elementary education with a minor in political science.