Ryan McCann Attends Fall Leadership Conference For the Presidential Fellows Program In Washington D.C.: In His Own Words

Ryan McCann '14

"I went to Washington D.C. last November for the fall leadership conference, which is one, of two, mandatory conferences for the Presidential Fellows Program. The purpose of the program is to enrich the 75 selected undergraduate students with knowledge and leadership training, while allowing them first hand experience into meeting the leaders of the American political world. This experience is boiled down to the crafting of a 15 page single spaced dissertation that is relevant to some aspect of the American political system. The ultimate goal is that my paper will be among the top two and win the distinguished James R. Moffett Award or the Donald B. Marron Award. In addition the top 18 papers are also published into the Fellows Review, which is read by many members of Congress. Among 75 other students, from the best schools in the country, I was able to not only share my ideas about what I wanted my paper to focus on, but I was able to hear feedback from what they thought would be better approaches. There were also many guest speakers throughout the three days spent there, among them were, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, The Honorable Togo D. West Jr., The Honorable Adrian Fenty, and Dr. James Zogby. The experience was one that I will never forget, and I look forward to attending the spring leadership conference."