Experiences and Opportunities

            “What can I expect to get from college?” For a lot of people, this is a legitimate question. Four years at an educational institution is a commitment and most people like to know what they are getting themselves into before they take the leap. Is there just one experience or pathway to take in your collegiate career? Absolutely not. That is what you should expect to gain from college – a unique experience that can be tailored to your passions and allows you to seize all kinds of opportunities.  And really, isn’t that what life is all about? Aren’t we living to figure out what ignites our fire and do everything we can to incorporate it into our lives through every occasion? At least, I think it is.

            With that said, one of the greatest experiences and opportunities that have come dashing through my e-mail while here at NKU was fulfilled just last week. I spent nearly four full days in the wonderful city of Chicago immersing myself in everything polisci. Now, I know it might sound like a huge nerd fest (and some people even refer to it as that) but it really was such an eye-opening experience. I use the phrase “eye-opening” because I’m pretty sure I spent most of the trip wide-eyed staring at all the glamorous academic celebrities … like United States Supreme Court Justice Breyer. Yes, I got to sit in a room full of the brightest and most prestigious college professors in political science and listen to a Supreme Court Justice crack jokes at all of them. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

            Let’s back-track a bit to fill you in on how this amazing opportunity seemed to fall into my lap (or inbox) per se. Over a year ago, I wrote a research paper in my favorite class EVER with Dr. Reilly. It was the only time in my collegiate career that I ever really questioned my abilities as a student at NKU. The course pushed me to my limit in every way but I like to think that I got my money’s worth … and then some. When the course ended, the paper seemed to hang over me like a dark cloud all the way until last fall. I was not happy with the outcome of all my time and effort and it just felt like a missed opportunity.

           

            Thus, Dr. Reilly suggested that I start revising the paper; really looking into the literature regarding my topic and see if I could make anything from the nonsense I had produced the prior semester. There was an incentive – she offered to let me enter the paper into the Ohio Association of Economists and Political Scientists annual conference in Bowling Green, Ohio where I would get the chance to present my research on the connection between gender and environmental attitudes to a panel of political scientists. While not as glamorous as my recent stint in Chicago, the conference in Ohio allowed me to have a “trial-run” with my paper in front of political scientists who gave me valuable feedback and a 2^nd place award!

           

            I seized the feedback and poured it back into my paper, holding it next to me wherever I went (figuratively, of course). Then, as the fall semester began to close, there was an e-mail from Dr. Reilly with a polite suggestion to take the same paper and submit it to present at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference. While I was immediately excited about the opportunity (especially since the conference would be in Chicago!), I really wanted to weigh my options and finances before I committed for the long haul. I took my time considering the great opportunity that lie before me and found that there was available funding through the university and the department that could help make the trip a bit easier on my pocketbook. So, with 30 minutes to go before the deadline, I submitted my abstract (or summary) of my paper and research and hoped for the best!

            To my surprise, I was accepted the last day of classes during fall semester to present at the conference with a large poster explaining my paper and research.  I really am thankful to have ever been offered the opportunity from NKU and the professors within the Political Science Department. But, as I began to think about it, I realized how pivotal and wide-spread these opportunities are. There have been numerous, countless, similar opportunities thrust before me in the past four years, but not until I grabbed one did it really hit me how fortunate and great these opportunities can be for your collegiate career and for living and breathing.

           

            My four days in Chicago were filled with some of the best conversations of my life, both academic and personal. I presented my poster on Saturday morning and received even better feedback from professors, graduate students and fellow under-grads than I could have hoped for. I got to sit in on panels with Dr. Reilly where other academics discussed and presented their research and passions within the field. I met tons and tons of people thereby making my handshake that more effective. Overall, it was the greatest experience during my time at NKU – and the only way to top off a great four years.

           

            It sort of hit me on the plane ride home as my mind muddled over the past few days. I will miss NKU, my fellow students and the professors so much. It has become a place where I feel safe and free to express my ideas and dreams and that is really the best thing I could have gotten from college. When I take the stage in two weeks to receive my diploma, I will be thankful for every experience and every opportunity that was ever made available to me by the faculty at this university. College doesn’t have to be “just four years” of your life as long as you remember that it can provide some of life’s greatest moments and occasions … and you remember to seize them when you can!