Department of Homeland Security

I was born and raised in Oakland County, Michigan, was well aware of Hillsdale’s reputation and had planned to attend since the middle of high school. I spent three years playing on the, at the time, Hillsdale College NCAA Division II men’s soccer team. When the soccer program was cut as a varsity sport, a fellow teammate and I were able to continue the team as a club sport. I joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity during the second semester of my freshman year, was a member and president of the political science honorary, served on the student federation, and was elected senior class president. In the fall of 2003, I coached the Hillsdale High School boy’s soccer team with my roommate of four years, Sean Lanigan. At the conclusion of my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to study foreign policy at Oxford University. I concluded that summer with an internship at a financial services firm in the Detroit area. The following summer (2003) I served as an intern at The White House. Upon graduation, I was offered a position at the Department of Homeland Security.

I learned that it is vital to have the ability to stand up for your views and beliefs: faith, virtue, and the ability to discern right from wrong on your own. The educational style of Hillsdale forces you to defend your point of view and articulate why you do. In my opinion, no other trait is more beneficial once you leave the sheltered environment of Hillsdale and are forced to address the difficult questions of the world. Additionally, I found that to be successful entails taking risks. This was ingrained in me through the entrepreneurial, competitive approach taught by the Economics Department, and I have found it to prove true continually.

Choose a school that you believe will challenge you. Although I enjoyed Hillsdale, it was by no means an easy four years, both academically and in a host of other areas. Consider the institution for its merits and qualities and how it can shape your path in life. Study a subject you find interesting, a major that you can devote yourself to learning. It is not as important what you select as how you devote yourself once your focus is chosen. Take advantage of the additional opportunities Hillsdale can provide—the chance to study abroad as well as a reputation that can facilitate quality internships—to name a few. I cannot stress the importance of a solid internship enough; it is the key that, coupled with the education imparted by Hillsdale’s professors, will open the doors for your next step in life.

I chose to attend Hillsdale because I wanted to study economics from a free-market perspective, political science from an approach that allows you to form your own conclusions based upon our nation’s founding documents, and because I wanted to play collegiate soccer. I didn’t want to have the liberal views of a professor forced upon me; I wanted to be exposed to them, but in a way that would allow me to form my own opinions and give me the means to defend my views—Hillsdale provided this. When I visited the College, it seemed the professors actually cared about the students. Fortunately, that was true, and I learned tremendous amounts from them both in and out of the classroom.

Hillsdale gave me the ability to reason for myself and challenge that with which I disagree. It instilled in me a drive to succeed, the element most important in the real world. Hillsdale showed me that life is not always going to go the way you want, but how you deal with those disappointments makes you into the person you are; setbacks are necessary for that to occur and can also lead to unexpected successes. Finally, Hillsdale does not fully prepare you for life after graduation; nothing can. It gives you the tools for success, albeit in a rather sheltered environment, but the onus is on you for how you will use them once you leave.

Graduation, of course! In all honesty, it would be hard to distill four highly formative years of life into one highlighted experience. Playing on the soccer team brought tremendous joys and heartaches. Freshman year dorm life provided some of the most fun—and funny—days ever. Pledging a fraternity was one of the most worthwhile choices I have ever made, and to my brothers I will be eternally grateful. Being taught by professors who cared and many of whom I now call my friends was a gift beyond description. Finding and living with some of the best friends I’ll ever make was an experience I will never forget. Getting to know the employees of the College, not the professors but those who fill the day-to-day roles that allow the school to function, was an unforeseen joy I was fortunate enough to be given. And finally, graduating from an institution that I will always be proud to call my alma mater is a fitting conclusion to my Hillsdale experience.

ThomasPBurke@gmail.com