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By Kyle Hilbrecht, Class of 2018
This summer, I was afforded the opportunity to attend a Liberty Fund conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. Although we had valuable discussions about the visions of the American founding through the writings of Jefferson, Madison, Washington, and Hamilton, one of the most insightful experiences I had on the trip was due to the relationships I created with many of the Teacher-Scholars.
First off, I was taken aback by how open and friendly these teachers were. I don’t think it ever occurred to me that these high school and grade school teachers existed in the same realm socially as I do. That is to say that, my sense of humor, interests pop culturally, musically, and otherwise all come from the age that I am, and I had disassociated them from myself on the basis of teachers just being teachers. What I failed to recognize was that some of those same teachers were no more than ten years older than I am. I got to see these teachers as young people with lives outside of their profession--people with interests, aspirations, hopes for the future, and a deep curiosity for how others think and what others value.
I understand that this makes me seem foolish, but it can be difficult to break the mental schema of high school and grade school teachers as not being completely authoritarian individuals, nonexistent outside of the classroom, and realize they are more than just a person who has authority over you for fifty minutes of the day. These are people who are extremely interested in what is going on in our society, people who have an extraordinary sense of humor, and people who love to learn. I am so glad that I was able to be a student with a group of extraordinary teachers.
Kyle Hilbrecht is a sophomore McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He studies political science.