Folks often employ the phrase, “I don’t know where I would be without you,” when speaking about someone they love. However, most folks offer this phrase rather freely, without the introspection required when making such a powerful statement. But believe me when I say that I do not know where I would be without Brescia.
My approach to life’s major decisions thus far has involved limited planning. I have always assumed that by doing what I am good at — and enjoy — everything would work out in the end. For example, when I enrolled at Brescia, I initially declined to declare a major. Instead, I signed up for the courses that piqued my interest, and sooner than later, my major revealed itself to me: political science. Generally, I have found this approach to bear fruit, but it does have at least one downside. By simply doing things you already do well, you risk not challenging yourself. If I had relied on this approach when contemplating my life and career after Brescia, God only knows where I would be and what I would be doing. But that is a hypothetical — something that I had my share of entertaining in law school.
During my time at Brescia, my academic advisor, Dr. Daniel Kuthy, kindly pushed me out of my comfort zone. Growing up, pursuing a career in law had crossed my mind (given my passions and taste for debate), but as the son of working-class parents from a town of less than 3,500 people, it seemed like a pipe dream. Who knows, maybe I would have gone to law school without Dr. Kuthy as my academic advisor, but he planted the seed in my mind of what was possible. “Have you considered [insert name of a top-ranked law school]?” he often posed. The answer was that I had not.
Because of Dr. Kuthy, I began to consider those schools, and I applied to more than a few of them. Because of Dr. Kuthy, I got accepted into a handful of law schools that I would not have even considered applying to, such as, University of Notre Dame and Vanderbilt University. Because of Dr. Kuthy, I enrolled in the law school at Washington University in St. Louis, where I graduated from in May 2022. Because of Dr. Kuthy, I have been admitted to The Missouri Bar and am now practicing as a civil rights and immigration attorney. And because of Dr. Kuthy, I am able to do what I am good at and enjoy every day.
It is not lost on me that I have credited much of my success in recent years to one individual. But I invite you to reread the previous paragraph and replace Dr. Kuthy’s name with “Brescia,” because without Brescia, I would not have had Dr. Kuthy challenging me and opening my eyes to the possibilities. It is for this reason that I can say — and mean it — that I do not know where I would be without Brescia.