A Blog on McConnell Center Life

By Emilia Perez When you think of pyramids, does your mind go to Egypt and the Great Pyramids of Giza? Up until recently, I believed Egypt held the largest pyramids in the world! It was when I traveled to see my family in Mexico that I learned that the largest pyramid on the planet was in our state of Puebla, Mexico.  I walked up to the pyramid site with my aunt Mirnis, the aunt I’m closest to on my dad’s side. She lives in Mexico with the rest of our extended family. As we walked around the site, she explained what the pyramid meant to her. “This was built by the Toltecas in the Puebla region, who are your ancestors too. It was dedicated to the Feathered Serpent. When the Spaniards arrived, they wanted to dominate the indigenous peoples, and so they covered the pyramid and built their church on the top, sort of to say ‘We’re here and this belongs to us.’ But none of that erases the fact that this is the largest in the world, and it’s still here.” She also told me stories of tunnel...

By Luke Taylor           “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves          In my room there is a 12 by 8 foot wall. On this perimeter of my college homebase lives 222 photos – I count them to fall asleep. 47 are with other scholars in various states of candide and posed states of excitement. Crawfish boils, Derby celebrations, practicing with the local curling team, and snowball fights. Others encapsulate various trips, ceremonies, fraternity formals, a birthday here, another Cards victory there. But all of them showcase my proudest achievement: my friends.          Growing up I had heard that family isn’t always blood, and for whatever reason, I took that to be so exclusionary. Loved ones should mean everyone you love,...

By Kathleen Price           Growing up in a devout Catholic community, my worldview was generally quite limited. My hometown is only five-miles in radius, but it manages to fit over three Catholic, two Baptist, and one Methodist church. Because of that, Catholicism wasn’t just a religion to me, but it felt more like home. For my Religion in the United States class this semester, we were tasked with visiting a denomination to which we had never interacted. I was excited to take on the assignment because, since coming to college, I have been on a long journey to find Faith that was entirely my own. The city of Louisville resembles a vibrant urban melting pot, offering everything from Judaism and Islam to Sikhism and Hinduism. Yet, my exploration has been limited to Catholicism and Christianity- faiths that “feel like home”, yet remain colored by the wounds of my childhood. So, this assignment felt like the perfect excuse to break out of that familiar routine ...

By Kara Beth Poe           This semester felt like it finally caught up to me. My schedule was full in all the ways it is supposed to be: classes, my internship, extracurriculars and plans. On paper, it looked productive and put together. But somewhere in the middle of all of it, I started to feel worn down. Not all at once, just in a quiet way where everything feels like a lot.           I did not plan to slow down. If anything, I have always been someone who tries to take on more and keep everything moving. But this semester forced me to step back a little. To take on less. To stop trying to make everything fit perfectly into a calendar that was never realistic to begin with.           Routine used to mean something very different to me. It meant being busy, being productive and having every hour accounted for. A perfect calendar looked full, structured and impressive. Now it feels different. A g...

By Seth Pinson           About two weeks ago I received an email that I had not gotten an internship that I had wanted for a while. In that moment, that email of rejection hurt. I immediately called my friend Kara Beth and began to talk about that rejection. In that moment, she let me know that it would be ok and to think about everything I already have. Less than 30 minutes later, I picked up the reading for a class that I would have just a few hours later. I flipped to a random page as I began my final preparation for class. Within the first few pages, after a comparison of human to animal, the book reads “I am, like him, pained with want, but am not, like him, satisfied with fulness.” I was speechless when I read this, as it was exactly what I had needed to read in that moment. I am constantly achieving for a higher bar, forgetting what I currently have.          I am blessed with what I have. I have a family that is there to lov...

By Riley Maddox           “Don't be a quitter” was a phrase I heard countless times growing up. In my family, if you committed to something, there was no backing out or giving up. Throughout college, this has been a phrase that has stuck in the back of my mind and filled me with anxiety. Once you sign up for something, you must see it through, no matter how hard it is.          The last couple of months have been filled with late nights and early mornings. Balancing so many different jobs, executive positions in clubs, and social commitments has left me feeling empty and full of complaints. Sometimes, when life feels so overwhelming, we just don't have the mental capacity to be present with the people we love most. On the phone with my boyfriend one night, I complained, “It's been such a hard week... You just don't understand.” He replied, “Riley, every week is a hard week. That's just your life.”          I...

By Tom Kurtz           A few weeks ago, while scrolling UofL burner Twitter, I landed on a conversation about the best time of year to be a college student. I was struck by an evocative tweet that cited all the memories that are made in the fall, including the university festivities, the sports, the holidays, and many other situations.            I instinctively agreed with the poster until I recalled a more recent, far more subtle memory, but one that I think I will associate with my college experience for years after I graduate, because of the emotions it brought.           On a weeknight in late February, I had returned from a long day at my internship and headed to the affiliated apartment complex just off campus to heed the invitation of some friends. With no good basketball games on TV, we scrolled the streaming services and settled on a bad animated movie. It was a good chance to slow d...

By Jacob Crowley           April 22, 2026 marks the 1-year anniversary of my first  day of work in the Archives of  Buffalo Trace Distillery. When I first happened upon the unassuming Linked-In post, I threw my  name in as a last-ditch effort to find summer employment. My meticulously written personal  statements had failed to secure me interviews for previous positions, causing my confidence to  waiver. With little thought of the job being an actual possibility, I sent in my resume and  promptly forgot about the whole affair.          My surprise at receiving an interview was matched only by the surprise of receiving an offer. The official “phone call” occurred as I walked through UofL’s campus. Needless to say, I elicited stares as I jumped in the air and pumped my arms in excitement while still remaining absolutely silent on my end of the call.          Over the last twelve m...

  By Alli Geiger Alli Geiger is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2026. She is studying English, political science and Arabic at the University of Louisville.

By Bradfield Ross          I am asked sometimes, because I yap about them so frequently, what my favorite movie is. I waffle, but not because I am unsure of my answer. It seems to me that the answer they want is  Apocalypse Now . If I were to answer any question about a specific element of filmmaking, especially post-Hayes Code, and which film demonstrates a mastery of that element well, I would say   Apocalypse Now . Every time I watch the movie, an experience I try to reserve for special occasions, I am blown away and left genuinely speechless. It is a totalizing work of art, a grand project on the scale of   Inferno  or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Yet it is not the most honest answer I can give.           My honest answer is   The Graduate , which may seem just about the same to some readers. When I tell them what the movie is, because no one ever knows, “old” is the primary response I get, which r...

By Dyllan Tipton 'Father Time remains undefeated,” declared Senator McConnell as he announced his decision to step down as Leader of the Republican Senate Caucus after nearly two decades in the role. Like Senator McConnell, my own time has come to step into the next chapter. Though I graduate this May, I know the McConnell Center will always remain a home for me.  I’ve only had the honor of being part of the McConnell Center for four years, yet it feels like the time has flown by in the blink of an eye.  Just yesterday, it seems, I was riding in a car with my fellow McConnell Scholars, headed toward Carter Caves State Resort Park in Eastern Kentucky for our first annual retreat. I remember sitting there, excited and nervous about the future that lay ahead.  These past four years have been nothing short of extraordinary, and I could write a novel about all my experiences. I’ve had the privilege of meeting U.S. senators, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, distin...

 By Grant Avis                I read a depressing opinion piece in the Courier Journal  recently. The collection of words  advocated   for   the passage of a  bill legalizing assisted suicide in Kentucky. This is claimed to be  the new  humane   position. I say it is the new eugenics, in which  human life is devalued, and the most vulnerable  die first.             Assisted suicide is an uncomfortable topic. Death does not constitute polite conversation. Suffering is no one’s idea of a pleasant afternoon. But death and suffering, to whatever degree, is one of the few guarantees of the human condition. We may feel pain; we may feel excruciating pain; we may have difficulty walking; we may have difficulty speaking; we may have difficulty thinking; we may languish in dismal hospital rooms with the fetid smell of our excrement. We will probabl...

By Macy Waddle  On April 22 nd , 2022, I sat in my high school anatomy class dissecting a pig when I receive the following message from none other than Dr. Gary L. Gregg. It read as follows: “Macy, it’s Dr. Gregg from the McConnell Center. Just checking in to see if you  were  still interested in our program? I hope you’re having a great end of high school.” I sat there with blue dye all over my hands, in shock.  College  decision day was in nine days, and I had planned on attending an entirely different school in an entirely different academic program, one that UofL didn’t offer, and I also still wasn’t entirely sure what Dr. Gregg’s message meant. I reply, asking if my admission status has changed. Three grueling, anxiety inducing hours later, he replies “Yes! We will send you your offer on Monday. *Insert fist bump emoji*  I left school that Friday filled with disbelief and disappointment. My perfectly planned and calculated six months of the college adm...