Learning is a Way of Life

Evan Shepherd

By Evan Shepherd, Class of 2014

Mention Kentucky in the same sentence as education and you are not likely to elicit a slew of positive responses.  We could talk about Julius Randle’s inability to discern what ‘attainment’ meant or the abysmal performance numbers of many public schools.  Don’t agree with the previous two statements? I would like to refer you to Hopkins County Central High School. Central, my high school, was taken over by the state soon after my graduation in 2010 and I am sure that story is not unique.  

Regardless, the McConnell Center has found a way to provide an Ivy League educational experience at a state-funded public university.  Four years ago when I decided to attend the University of Louisville, that statement seemed like a cliché. Newsflash —the McConnell Center has lived up to that promise beyond anything I could have expected.

Yesterday, I accepted a full-tuition scholarship to attend the New York University School of Law.  I am honored and blessed to have this opportunity; but it was not luck that got me here.  It is due in no small part to the educational experience I received at the McConnell Center, both at UofL and abroad.  Most everyone I met in the process of intervening at NYU had taken time off to work or otherwise boost their credentials. Of the few students who were still attending college, everyone was at an elite institution (take that as you may), with the exception of me. So naturally, I had to ask myself how in the world I made it to this point. 

That is when I started to reflect on the educational experience I had received at UofL and the McConnell Center and subsequently when I realized I would never be able to fully articulate what makes the McConnell Center such a special place.   Since lawyers try to write as efficiently as possible, or so I have been told, I set the goal of articulating the impossible in one sentence.  What did I come up with? At the McConnell Center, learning is a way of life.  Learning at the McConnell Center starts when class is over, not the other way around.  In my opinion, it is the culture of learning from all of life’s experiences, both in the class and outside of it, that makes the McConnell Center truly a special place.  It is something I will keep with me as I start to write the next chapters of my life story.  The McConnell center offers an unparalleled educational experience for a group of Kentucky students; but more than that, the center changes lives. For that, I am grateful. 

Evan Shepherd, of Madisonville, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He is studying political science and business administration.