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By oSha Shireman, Class of 2014
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| oSha Shireman |
I think back to the days of my first McConnell retreat in Bell County, beginning the year with our annual retreat and ending the year with Senior Dinner. I have participated in retreats all over our beautiful Commonwealth (Pine Mountain, Natural Bridge, Land between the Lakes, Cumberland Falls), and watched many dear friends graduate as McConnell Scholars. Last spring, while I sat in my chair listening to my McConnell Scholar mentor, Adam Dahmer, give his graduation speech, it finally dawned on me that I, too, may actually have to leave and graduate from the McConnell Scholars’ Program. Now that I find myself in November, applying for post-undergraduate opportunities and considering job options, I reflect on the incredible role that the McConnell Center has played in my life during the last four years.
I reflect on meeting and having conversations with Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Scott Brown, House Speaker John Boehner, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Senator Marco Rubio, Leader Mitch McConnell, and former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. I consider the eye-opening and empowering conversation I had with Poet Laureate Wendell Berry. I remember walking through the halls of the United States Supreme Court with expert Barbara Perry, peering up from the audience at Justice Clarence Thomas. I have read and debated political leadership, literature, history, race, gender, the moral imagination, discipline and duty, and many other topics with the likes of Russell Kirk, James W. Loewen, Rosalind Remer, Thomas Mackey, Ricky Jones, Natalie Fuehrer-Taylor, R.B. Bernstein, Peter Hahn, and Josiah Bunting III—scholars and authors, all experts in their fields.
I have heckled at Fancy Farm and spent evenings with Scholars telling ghost stories in a barn with Dr. John Kleber and Mr. Larry Cox. I have stood on the top of Mount Hua Shan in the Shaanxi Province of China, gripping an engraved golden lock in my hand. I have rafted through the rainforests of Costa Rica. I have spent hours perched with a good book on the side of Sheep Mountain in Sutton, Alaska.
All of these experiences have been incredible and unbelievable. I could not be more grateful to have had the opportunity to experience any of them. Yet, as I have spent hours reading and writing and thinking and reflecting on the last few years, I have concluded that one of the most valuable aspects of my time as a McConnell Scholar has been my day-to-day interaction with the McConnell Center staff and my fellow Scholars. I consider the number of times I have turned to Ms. Sherry Allen for guidance, the number of times I have entered her office near tears and left feeling hopeful and motivated. I think about my invaluable conversations with Dr. Gary Gregg, or the comfort of hearing his hearty laugh from down the hall. I laugh as I think about Ms. GlyptusAnn Grider-Jones teaching me how to write and spending countless hours helping me review my work, or telling me “get it together!” every single day. Or Mr. Aaron Vowels talking about the Marx Brothers and being elusive. My McConnell Scholar Alumni Mentor (always an exception to the rule), Ben Reno-Weber, has provided wonderful support and guidance, all the while challenging me towards my potential.
I think of the intense and unforgettable friends I have gained through the program. I reflect on exploring the city with Scholars as a freshman, playing guitar and dancing down on the Waterfront at midnight, or rolling down the windows to scream into the night air during the stress of finals week. I wonder about the amount of coffee and study hours that we have invested in the poetry room of Ekstrom Library together. Then I fast forward to my classes’ trip to China—hours spent listening to the Punch Brothers or chatting on a roof in Beijing, exploring the cities of Shanghai, Xi’an, and Beijing and gaining incredible insight into the lives of Chinese students by singing karaoke with them (mostly 90s pop).
As I move towards May and the inevitable arrival of my own Senior Dinner, I focus on spending the remaining months with the scholars that I love (Paige, come home from Poland already, eh?) and take comfort in the fact that the McConnell Center will always play a significant role in my life.
oSha Shireman is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is majoring in Political Science and English.