Leadership lived: UIS political science major gets an expanded world view thanks to study abroad

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, political science major Conor McKenzie had a limited view of the world before coming to the University of Illinois Springfield.

McKenzie was among a group of UIS students who traveled to Cuba on a study abroad trip in January 2018. The students spent almost two weeks learning about the Cuban people and their culture, environmental issues, public health and gender and racial equality. The group spent most of their time in Havana, but also traveled to the southern part of the country.

“In terms of being unique, it was really amazing because there were Cubans there who wanted to talk to us and hear a lot of about America and wanted us to go home with the knowledge that Cuba wants to talk to America and Cubans have a high value for Americans,” he said.

McKenzie calls the trip a “valuable opportunity” to learn about a country that until recently has been off limits to most American tourists.

“Personally, I learned from the trip a lot about another culture,” he said.

At UIS, McKenzie was recently elected the head delegate of the Model Illinois Government team. He is also a part of the Model United Nations team, which spent a week competing against hundreds of other universities during a simulation in New York City.

“For me, it was similar to studying in Cuba,” he said. “It was about the internationality of the world and just meeting people and having a really fun connection with people from around the world and understanding how to work with them.”

During the Model UN simulation, UIS students represented the country of Zimbabwe, writing resolutions from the perspective of that country. For the second year in a row, the UIS team won the outstanding delegation award, the third time in UIS history.

“I’d never been to New York myself, so we met people from around the country at the conference, got to speak with them, got to work with them,” he said.

As a political science major, McKenzie says he chose UIS because of its “small size”, excellent professors and location in the state capital.

“There are a lot of opportunities for political science people here,” he said.

Following graduation, he plans to continue to further his education by earning a master’s degree in political science. He takes with him the leadership skills he’s learned at UIS.

“At a school, like this, at its size, you learn a lot about leadership because you have the opportunity to lead clubs, to meet professors who want to put you in positions of leadership,” he said. “I’d say it’s taught me to chase opportunities of leadership and to really strive for them because their possible at a place like this.”