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By Katie Hayden
If I am being completely honest, it has been a long, long week. You know those weeks where everything hits all at once – a test in every class, multiple meetings in multiple different clubs that keep your eyes glancing at the clock as you know you have a million other things you need to work on – the homework, the study guides, studying in general. Somedays it feels like the day will never end, and others I am praying for a few more hours to prepare for the next day ahead.
Weeks like these bring all the feelings – stress, anxiety, nervousness – yet somehow, there are always little pick-me-ups that make me smile and remind me that it will all be okay. Whether it’s Bryson in the room next to me blasting Adele so loudly that sometimes I cannot even think, or him sleeping on the floor in my office for two hours at a time because of the long night in the office the night before. Whether it’s Mary Catherine agreeing that she needs a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard at the exact same time that I do or Sawyer who constantly will walk in while I am trying to study and talk about LITERALLY anything on his mind – which is 99% never related to what I am working on – or having Paighton as a sounding board to talk about goals we both have. Whether Emily, Yelena, or Caleb are making me belly-laugh or Jacob is making me think about life’s harder questions, I can always count on these interactions to brighten my day and make me smile when I feel everything is crashing down.
Aside from the seminars, support, financial aid, and countless other things the McConnell Center has given me, the most important thing it has given me is the people I call my McFamily. Bryson, Mary Catherine, Sawyer, Paighton, Emily, Yelena, Caleb, and Jacob, you all mean more to me than you know. Thank you for picking me up when I am down, helping me navigate the readings of ancient philosophers, laughing with me, supporting me, and most importantly for being some of my greatest friends. Thank you for being eight of my reasons to smile.
Katie Hayden, of Owensboro, Ky., is a member of the McConnell Scholar Class of 2024 at the University of Louisville. She studies neuroscience and political science at the University of Louisville.