A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Emma Lawson ('21) To my home on Mackville Road… thank you for the many memories. For twenty years of laughter, longevity, loss, and love. For providing the foundation to my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and five other generations of Lawsons. For watching me grow up along with all my many dogs.   To my swing-set… thank you for being my cloud in the sky and shoulder for me to cry on. For all the dreams dreamed and the music played. For daring me to push further and sing at the top of my lungs.   To my farm across the road… thank you for being my heritage and upbringing. Teaching me the importance of hard work and determination with farm equipment and animals. For always being Kentucky Proud.   To the “thrill hills”… thank you for scaring my reckless sixteen year old self. From 10-60 MPH and double yellow lines, I know you like the back of my hand. For carrying my family safely each day until our very last. For being the road less traveled b...

Laura Hinkle ('22) Political corruption, economic collapse, and the growing influence of drug cartels have caused many refugee crises within the Latin American region in the past few decades. While these crises are oft overshadowed by media coverage of Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Iran, and Syria, the struggles refugees and migrants face in other parts of the world should not be overlooked. In the face of the most recent political turmoil in Venezuela, the Washington Post and Reuters report that socialist President Nicolas Maduro’s poor leadership is causing waves of high crime, extreme inflation, and societal repression. Millions of Venezuelans are now fleeing into neighboring countries, even causing a stream of migrants pouring up into Central America. It is important to reflect on existing international and regional treaties/laws to see who legally qualifies as a migrant or refugee.   The ramifications of these definitions are critical, as they affect the li...

Celia Cusick ('20) When is the last time you did something purely for yourself? If you are like me, you might find that so many of things you do on a daily basis seem to be about punching the card or checking it off a list. Life is busy and sometimes you forget to carve out time and prioritize doing something that is purely for you. I count myself lucky (and privileged) that I am able to attend college and travel frequently, but sometimes I get swept up in the stress and forget to enjoy the ride. But there is one thing that I do purely for myself: working out. I prioritize hitting the gym because for at least that hour all I have to think about is myself- and that ’ s healthy and normal. It gives me time to step away from all of the other chatter going on in my life, community, and the world; which I think is essential to regulate stress and maintain a balanced lifestyle. I make time for an hour every day to do something for myself- my happy hour. My happy ho...

{Bookshelf Recommendation } The Enduring Battle Between Power & Liberty By   Aaron N. (Nathan) Coleman, PhD Aaron N. (Nathan) Coleman, PhD Bernard Bailyn,  The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution . (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967; 2017) Bernard Bailyn’s  The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution  just celebrated its 50th year of continuous publication. No work has ever done a better job of explaining the reasons behind the American Revolution and the effects those reasons had on American political and constitutional thought. Bailyn’s work asks the question of why mid 18th-century Americans revolted from Great Britain. His answer points to an entire set of political thought, known commonly as whig ideology. This whig ideology, ironically enough, originated in 17th- and early 18th-century England and is best associated with political thinkers such as James Harrington, Algernon Sydney, John Locke, Robert Molesworth, Viscount Bo...

Colton Stinger ('19) I saw her dancing in the dark, And felt her hand upon my heart. I was lost from reality, Lost in romantic fantasy. And I wondered just maybe, Could she have waited just for me? Out of all the world, I’d have never guessed this girl Could be the one I’d been waiting for, But it’s hard to know for sure. Cause I never could conceive, That she didn’t wait for me. I was scared to take the chance, But I still asked her to dance. We talked of love and crimes, And found our pasts didn’t rhyme And I hated to admit defeat, But she didn’t wait for me. Now I know the past is true. She hasn’t waited for me too. And even though, it’s hard to stand. I know I’ll never be her man. And inside it’s killing me, But we were never meant to be. Colton Stinger , of Elizabethtown, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville, where he studies chemistry and political science. He is a UofL ...

Eli Graft ('21) Going to the US Naval Academy, I did not know what to expect. All I knew about the military I had heard from TV and friends from school. None of my immediate family is in the military and my grandfather that fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam had died before I was even born. My little brother had told me he has plans to join the Navy and I thought it was very admirable, but it was difficult for me to envision someone so similar to me joining the military. However, this Naval Academy experience changed the way I think about the military as both a student and an American citizen. One of my first realizations throughout was how the Naval Academy Leadership Conference and the speakers there emphasized many of the same values of the Boy Scouts of America. Working my way up to Eagle Scout, I was heavily devoted to the values that the program consisted of. I consistently noticed honesty, reverence, obedience, loyalty, etc. in nearly every speech ...