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| Paige Brewer Class of 2015 |
If the McConnell Center were ancient Greece, the Weber Lounge would be the agora. It’s the place where we gather to socialize, get work done, eat lunch together, and exchange ideas (and check Facebook).
For the first two years of college, about two-thirds through each semester, I would burst into the Weber Lounge in a frenzy. It was time for class registration, and I had no idea what to take. Russian or French? Political Science or Philosophy? Math next semester? This honors seminar or that one? It always felt like the classes I decided on would determine my entire academic career and certainly the rest of my life. I’d run around the lounge frantically, asking all the older scholars for advice. Was it worth it to get a minor? Is this professor too hard or easy? Is 18 hours too much?
I’m happy to say that this anxiety decreased with each passing semester, and eventually I learned to trust my own judgment. Earlier this month, the McConnell Center was very fortunate to host Samantha Power, the current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. During the private session with the scholars, Ambassador Power discussed her position and how she got there. Her resume boasts several diverse and interesting positions, including undergraduate sports broadcaster, freelance journalist during the Yugoslav Wars, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and founder the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University.
Her recommendation to scholars when it came to careers was, “go by smell.” She explained that she never had a very established plan for her life, and by following her passions and taking advantage of the opportunities presented to her, she had achieved a fulfilling career thus far.
Ambassador Power’s advice felt particularly salient for the senior scholars, who face difficult decisions about what’s next come graduation. When I was a freshman, I had hardly developed that sense of “smell.” Even if I had it, I didn’t know how to follow it. I felt it was more important to ask for advice and do what others had done than to carve out my own path. It’s taken four years to develop that sense of smell and the confidence and self-assuredness to follow it.
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path.” – Joseph Campbell
Thanks again to Senator McConnell and Ambassador Power for a great session!
Paige Brewer is a senior McConnell Scholar majoring in political science with minors in Russian studies and humanities. She is from Wilder, Ky.