A Blog on McConnell Center Life

By Cathrine Mountain , Class of 2015 Our seminar with Dr. David Imbroscio this semester introduced some very interesting and, in my case, novel ideas about worker ownership in communities and companies. While our seminar focused much more on the large-scale concept, promoted by Gar Alperovitz, I found myself much more interested in the small-scale operations. Dr. Imbroscio assigned us some readings from both Alperovitz and his own essay, which discusses the ways in which community and worker ownership of businesses and even corporations can decrease inherent economic inequality, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods. In his essay, Dr. Imbroscio further explains the possibility of establishing such a system, describes the scholarly works that support this idea, and provides a number of examples in which certain aspects of this process have been successfully implemented. After highlighting and describing the many theories concerning redistribution theories within ...

Samantha Roney By Samantha Roney , Class of 2015 I'm going to let you in on a little secret–I'm horribly shy. No, you probably couldn't tell that from looking at me. I love to laugh, joke with my fellow Scholars, but the second we sit down to discuss censorship in the middle ages or the problems in the Middle East, my mouth closes and my true introverted self comes out. The truth is I don't know why this happens. Nearly all my friends would describe me as an outgoing person with lots of friends. I always talk in class and get to know both my professors and other classmates. But there is something about sitting down in that seminar that makes me nervous and makes me feel like what I have to say isn't good enough. Maybe it's because I look aroud the room at the other Scholars and see how smart they are and how passionate they are about the subject at hand. Or maybe I get a little awestruck at the various world leaders, authors, and professors...

Connor Tracy By Connor Tracy , Class of 2016 I have spent much time reflecting on my personal growth as my first semester as a freshman in the McConnell Scholars Program at the University of Louisville nears its end. The McConnell Program has been the key facilitator of these changes in my life, providing me with an atmosphere of intellectual stimulation and prompting me to challenge the accepted ways of the world. Along with my reflections, I have begun to look forward to the future. Looking ahead, I know that my generation will play a pivotal role in the path that this country and this world will take.  My generation faces many issues that must be resolved in order for us to have a positive impact on our future. We have evolved into a culture that faces constant distractions and limited personal interactions. The amount of time spent using social media, cell phones, and other forms of technology has grown to a level to which it can be considered as our main means of c...

Natalie Smith By Natalie Smith , Class of 2016 Earlier this week, freshmen McConnell Scholars attended a seminar on liberal education with Dr. Gregg. Due to some confusion, only one of us actually completed the assigned reading (congratulations, Kevin), so the actual seminar we had planned is postponed until the spring semester. However, the chance conversation we had there inspired me to think more about liberal learning as we had discussed it at our freshman orientation this summer. At orientation, we were given a copy of a lecture entitled, “Solitude and Leadership ,” that was presented to a graduating class at West Point a few years ago. The lecture discusses the ways in which solitude is required in order to develop the qualities of your character as well as craft your own ideas.  After a full day of seminars and meetings, we were then instructed to venture outside in order to find a place where we could sit and think, all alone, for an hour. We couldn’t check our text...

Katie Cambron By Katie Cambron , Class of 2016 Growing up in a small, rural, central Kentucky town, I always dreamed of the day I would make my escape to “the big city.”  I could not wait until the day I lived in a place where a tractor didn’t hold up traffic, the smell of tobacco didn’t loom in the air, and no one knew every detail of my life. I had, or so I thought, outgrown the only place I had ever called home. Little did I know, all those Friday and Saturday nights of serving fried catfish at the restaurant where I worked, the trips to the beauty shop filled with all the juicy gossip, and the sounds of frogs and crickets in the night were a part of me.  The move to Louisville was more difficult than I had ever imagined. It quickly became clear that I missed everything that made Springfield home. It seemed that I was the only person on campus who wasn’t enjoying the conveniences of Louisville. That’s when the McConnell Center introduced me to Wendell Berry. I fou...

Travis Wilson Dear Potential McConnell Scholar, You are probably carefully researching the McConnell Center by reading this blog, just as I did a year ago, in order to tailor your application to appeal to the reviewers.   Much has been written on this blog about the life experiences of the McConnell Scholars as we experience the transition to from high school to the University of Louisville. I will try to add my humble perspective to the existing myriad of views so you will have a clearer idea of some aspects of freshmen McConnell Center life.   Hopefully, it will be of some use to you in your near future. If you’re like most good students during their senior year of high school, you are stressed and spread rather thin between your various classes, activities and applications.   If you think it is difficult now, I hate to tell you, it only gets worse. During y our freshmen year of college, you will work harder than ever, think harder than ever, sl...

By Janna Imel , Class of 2014 This semester, the McConnell Scholars participated in what has become a traditional service event: Project Warm . This annual event allows Scholars to go out into the Louisville community and help weatherize homes. My group this year consisted of Abeer Sidker, Jonathan Michael and me. We started the Saturday by visiting an elderly lady who needed help covering her 7 windows with plastic to keep her heat from escaping. I truly enjoyed the time we were able to spend with this woman; she had the sweetest dogs and cats that never hesitated to greet us as we entered each new room. After we finished at her home, we visited another woman who needed us to cover 8 windows. The time passed quickly as we discussed our college majors, hometowns, and UofL sports with the woman. I felt blessed to spend my Saturday helping two very deserving women. I absolutely love the service portion of our program. It allows us to give back to the community of Louisville and the U...

By Danielle Robinette , Class of 2015 So the parable goes, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." In college, I've learned that classes can generally be divided into two groups - those that give you a fish and those that teach you how to fish. In my opinion, it would be ideal if every class fell into the later category, but that isn't the case. Based on subject matter and available resources, sometimes the first group is all that can be expected. The question then becomes, does a "give a man a fish" class still have value? In the spirit of a "well-rounded" education, my Spanish degree requires a myriad of general education requirements, including math and sciences, that I detest. In a biology lecture with 350 of my closest friends, there is no reasonable expectation of an individualized approach that teaches every student how to fish. And in the long run, I'm no more likely to...

By Melissa Moore Shepard , Class of 2014 Recently, I have been struggling with severe health issues and what I have realized about the McConnell Center has been amazing. The other Scholars have been so supportive, offering assistance whenever necessary and their concern has been so sincere. When I applied to be a McConnell Scholar, I believed that I was simply looking to be part of a scholarship program; one that would enhance my learning opportunities. But over the past two and a half years, the Center has become so much more than that. It has enhanced my personal life as well.  McConnell Scholars are not simply peers and the McConnell Scholarship is not just a program.  The McConnell Center is a family that supports one another. The Scholars have become my friends whom I can lean on in my time of need. And, especially this semester, they have proven that, no matter what side of the aisle your political affiliations lie or what year of school you are in, they are their to le...

By Jessica Bagby , Class of 2013 I was recently accepted into the 2013 Teach For America Cincinnati Corps. This is an honor in itself but the greater honor comes from knowing that I was selected to help such a dire problem in our country today. The education system in the United States has often been called the civil rights issue of our generation. Everyday, students are subjected to go to schools with low quality supplies, filthy conditions, and staff that does not care about the well-being of their students just because of the socioeconomic cards that they have been dealt at birth our through situational circumstances.  Teach For America's mission is to close the education gap in our country and provide students everywhere with a quality education. Today, over 16 million students face challenges that would baffle most adults. Those challenges directly impact their performance in the classroom especially if the school community is not helping to solve the problems that are...

Kevin Grout, McConnell Scholar By Kevin Grout , Class of 2016 As my first semester at the University of Louisville comes to a close, I want to take this time to reflect on the lessons learned, the experiences had, and the time well spent. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my experience, and I know there are sure to be many more to come. Today, I finished my final project for my political discourse class. We were to take one of the great speeches of the Civil Rights Era and present it as if we were giving the speech for the first time. I was tasked with delivering Barbara Jordan’s 1976 Democratic National Convention Speech . In a pivotal time of American history, Jordan broke barriers that had hindered the politics in this country for hundreds of years. Barbara Jordan tried to move America forward. “ We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community. ” In the speech, Jord...

Hunter Pittman By Hunter Pittman , Class of 2014 This semester I had an internship with ¡Adelante! Hispanic Achievers.  I had previously worked with the organization last spring as a volunteer tutor and mentor for the after-school program on Thursdays. Now I have taken over as the Sport for Development Facilitator and UofL Intern.  I am one of 3 staff and work 15-25 hours a week, with scheduled work on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity because Sport for Development and Olympism are two fields in which I have great interest and am considering further study and a career. It has often times been an extremely tiring and stressful position to hold, but I really like working with the kids, volunteers, and rest of the staff. I also feel very strongly about the mission of the organization. I felt like I have grown quite a bit from this experience. Helping to shape the lives of around ...

McConnell Scholars Class of 2016 in Frankfort, Ky. By Mary Elizabeth Young , Class of 2016 It has been a long standing tradition that each year, the McConnell Freshman, new to campus and the program, pile into a 12-passenger van and travel to Frankfort to indulge in the rich history of their beloved state. I expected the trip to Frankfort to be just like the one I took with my fourth grade class: touring the capitol building only pausing to hear a guide with a monotone voice explain how wonderful the classical architecture is. Of course, when I found out the McConnell Freshman were going to Frankfort, I decided it was fair to say my fourth grade self had a slightly more close-minded perspective and that my memories of the boring Frankfort trip could easily have blurred over the years.  Nonetheless, I certainly did not expect such a meaningful trip. It started on a cool September Saturday morning, the ten of us emerged from our dorms around 8 a.m. and gathered by the iconi...

Philip Moore By Philip Moore , Class of 2016 Growing up surrounded by technology, I have felt the pressure and influence of the media.  From my viewpoint, the media thrusts celebrities, wealthy elites, athletes, and people in powerful positions as men and women who we should choose as role models, but when the media places ordinary or even extremely talented people on a platform for all to see,  the public figures receive a great weight and burden that hardly any person can carry.  By elevating men and women to an unnatural height, the media gives them a disease which continues to grow until it causes the public figures to fall back to their natural position.  While I am not holding that this process always occurs, I do believe it is common and generally happens more often than not.  Thus, I have been motivated to look for the source of true role models because obviously the media is not that source. My next idea of what makes a person a role model is ...

Arguments for the Existence of the Soul Throughout recorded history, and probably well prior to its advent, humans have speculated as to the origins of consciousness. Many ancient philosophers arrived at the conclusion that consciousness derives from the presence of a soul: an entity that animates the body, enabling action and emotion, and providing humans with the capacity for thought and reason. In western civilization, the idea of the soul became refined in the philosophy of dualism, as elaborated by Plato in the 5th century BCE, in his works the Phaedrus , the Phaedo , and the Republic. Plato believed that the faculty which endowed humans with the capacity to feel and reason – the soul – existed independently of the body, and, indeed, the entire material world. His argument was that no property of matter could account for the human attributes of reason and emotion, and that therefore, the mechanism by which humans came to possess these attributes must be metaphysical. The soul, ...