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| Victoria Allen Class of 2016 |
Whenever I talk about
the McConnell Scholarship, the most important thing that I always stress is
that it is not just a scholarship, or even a program. The program was designed
to give the scholars a classic liberal arts education, while simultaneously being
housed at a large research university, but it is so much more than that. Every
tenet of the program is constructed around the core mission of the McConnell
Program—Leadership, Scholarship, and Service. After completing my first year of
the program, I can personally attest to the effectiveness of the Center’s
goals. I have had the opportunity to experience and learn more in my first year
than most undergraduates experience in four.
One of the absolute
best things about being a McConnell scholar is the expansive and inclusive
alumni and mentor network that allows you to have access to. During my second
semester as a freshman, I was offered the chance to intern with a former
McConnell Scholar, Elizabeth Sawyer, and the nonprofit that she is now the
executive director of, Emerge Kentucky. Without the support and guidance of the
McConnell Center, I highly doubt I could have gotten such a fantastic
experience so early in my career, and with an organization that I am so
interested in.
Along with being able
to expand my professional network in Louisville, the McConnell Center has also
served to help me broaden my reach and professional ambitions. For the past two
and a half months I have been doing a fellowship with the Library of Congress,
and it has completely changed my life. I was extraordinarily fortunate to earn
such a prestigious spot with the Library, and given my academic experience it
was even more surprising. Along with 40 other Junior Fellows, I had the chance
to work side by side with curators and experts within the academic world. This
was such a singular opportunity, and the profundity of it will be something
that I carry back to the University of Louisville with me in the fall.
The McConnell Center
has given me so much and made me competitive on a national scale. My fellow
interns at the Library of Congress ranged from undergraduates to doctoral
students, and represented Harvard, Columbia, Duke, and many other schools as
well. No one had had the opportunity to meet and learn from as many incredible
people as I had, and I was more than prepared by the liberal education that Dr.
Gregg and visiting professors and scholars had equipped me with.
I am so grateful for
all the McConnell Center has done for me, and I am excited for the rest of my
time with the program. The biggest gift that I have been given as a McConnell
scholar is a fierce pride in Kentucky, and the vision to see what it could be.
One of the biggest things I always take away from Senator McConnell’s visits is
loyalty to Kentucky and worry about the “brain drain” affecting our state. As a
McConnell Scholar I see myself as an active citizen of the Commonwealth, and I
know that it is where I want to live and develop a personal and professional
life. Nothing has brought me closer to my state than the McConnell program.
Victoria Allen is a junior McConnell Scholars from Auburn, Ky. She is studying political science and history.