Thursday, November 25, 2010

From the University ~ Ask the Professor

I'm teaching at the local university as an adjunct in the political science department. My "regular" job is as a government lawyer for the Territory of Guam, most recently assigned to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority as in-house counsel. A student in my freshman "Citizenship" class (a course about what it means, not how to become one) asked me if I'd be willing to be e-interviewed for a "professor interaction survey." Here it is.



1. Why might a student be interested in the Political Science major/field?

RMW: This is really a question that the student should ask him/herself. I’m not a career counselor, but if you’re in it “for the money,” you’re looking in the wrong direction, even as a pre-law major. It’s what the student’s passion is that is important. If you have an interest in understanding and some day helping shape and define “the common good,” then political science may be for you. If Shakespeare, philosophy, history and current events, politics, conflict resolution, logic and psychology excite you, but you can’t choose between them, political science may be for you. An understanding of political science is the means to many ends, but to succeed in it or any endeavor, you have to be dedicated to and passionate about the means itself. Viewing it as merely a means to a particular end will lead to disappointment because specific goals and interests will change over time. It has to be something that makes you want to get up in the morning.

2. How did you (the professor) become involved in Political Science?

RMW: My answer to the preceding question pretty well describes myself as a student. I did not know I was going to go to law school – which is only one avenue you can pursue with a political science degree – until my senior year in college. I went to law school because I wanted to learn to think like a lawyer, something I was exposed to during an internship in my senior year that I had one summer in Washington, D.C. I actually didn’t pick a major (Criminal Justice), until the beginning of my junior year or end of sophomore year. So, in my case, since I had to pick something, I made a choice in part because I liked the head of the Criminal Justice department (an ex-con from a Florida penitentiary who reformed himself through education) better than the head of the English Department (who had “issues” about the way Shakespeare should be approached), but with a degree in Criminal Justice, there’s not a lot you can do other than by a cop, corrections, or social work. Very few people who go to college really know what they’re going to major in, in advance; those that think they do, often change their mind along the way. I learned recently from her husband that U.S. District Judge Francis Tydingco-Gatewood was originally a pre-med major, who met her husband (now a dentist) in a physics class in college before changing her major to pre-law. As a lawyer, and a government lawyer in particular, I am of course involved in the real day-to-day world of political science. But even as a teacher, I’m involved in political science through giving back and hopefully shepherding future leaders in the process of becoming themselves, whoever that may be.

3. What might a student be able to do after graduation with a degree in Political Science?

RMW: Again, I’m not much of a career counselor. Teaching and the law are obvious possibilities. But teaching pays poorly unless you’re academically gifted, and law schools aren’t always impressed with someone who only has a degree in political science, as they’re inundated with thousands of applicants with those credentials already. Again, I personally believe that if you’re inclined toward the humanities, you have to look beyond the immediate ends of what you can do with a particular degree and focus on what a degree in political science can add to your overall intellectual make-up and skill set, and where it can take you next. The four year degree itself is one step along the way. Possibilities of where to go next are generally limited only by your tastes, imagination and immediate past experience, which is true in any endeavor.

4. What are some interesting facts about Political Science that the average person would not know?

RMW: One “fact” that the average person probably doesn’t think of is that we’re all amateur political scientists, whenever we’re talking about current events, how they affect us personally, and how they affect us as part of various collections or groups of people we belong to, sometimes thrown together by happenstance such as race, religion we’re born to, family connections, country of origin, even sexual orientation, but more importantly by choice such as political party preferences or where we stand on particular issues. Whether around the dinner table talking to family or around the water cooler shooting the breeze with colleagues, we’re all political scientists. You don’t need a degree or a title or a license to give your opinion on such things, or to participate in the “science” of politics in the various ways we’ve discussed in class (voting, jury service, etc.). But it does help to have been to college and have read a few books if you want to be taken seriously.

5. What are some things that a student can do now that will help a student in a job search in this field?

RMW: This I can answer, because I can tell you what I’m looking for in potential employees in the various organizations I belong to. The most important thing, beyond consistently good grades, is to show that you’ve got the aptitude to apply what you’re learning in other environments. One of the things I did when I got back from my internship in the Justice Department my last year of school was I went and volunteered at the local district attorney’s office. They were a bit flummoxed about what to do with me (as I am in my office when asked), but it did demonstrate initiative and willingness that I was willing to do it for free without even the expectation of academic credit, and I did learn about the internal workings of the local D.A.’s office, and it added another paragraph of real world experience to my resume’, even though I wasn’t paid for it. You’ll need proof of practice of the skills you’ll be using in a working environment. If you’ll be writing reports, you need good writing skills, and will need writing samples that show you know how to think and communicate ideas in a logical fashion; if working with numbers, you need to understand statistics and economics and spreadsheet analysis. If you’re working with people, you need good communication and presentation skills. When looked at in this light, college provides a real smorgasbord of potential skill sets you can add to your resume’. But you’ve got to get out there and be willing to work your way up through the ranks. Don’t expect them to come to you and just “know” how brilliant you are and what an asset you’d be to their organization. Prepare yourself to offer them the proof before going in. Make them “want” to know you. That means now is the time to start adding to those skill sets that have value in the real world.


6. Any other interesting information (i.e. internships, research opportunities, T.A. opportunities, volunteer work, part time jobs, graduate school information, any tips) that will make a student successful?

RMW: I am a big proponent of academic internships and volunteer experiences, for reasons I just shared. If you can’t find paid work, look for ways to volunteer in government offices, political parties, non-profit organizations, teaching and tutoring if you have the skills, ask professors if there are any research projects you can assist them with, to hone your research and writing skills. This not only adds to your resume’, it gives context to what you’re hopefully learning in class.

7. Any other helpful advice you might have for a student in general, or a student in this major?

RMW: The most important part about success as a student in this or any major, from my recent observations teaching (and from life in general), is that the student has to make the commitment to do whatever it takes to take away as much from college as possible. It’s trite but true: you get out of college (and life) what you put into it.


First, it’s important to identify what your weaknesses are and to focus on improving on them. It’s about the discipline of becoming the best we can be. We are all naturally endowed with a certain amount of ego, and we cannot let ego, fear of failure, or fear of being thought of negatively interfere with doing what we have to do to improve ourselves.

Second, it is critical that we do not allow outside distractions interfere with our purpose in attending college. Even the seemingly unavoidable conflicts and distractions – from personal and family crises to natural disasters – are in many ways predictable and can be prepared for to some extent. Always have a plan B, a contingency plan.

Third, it is imperative to identify and take advantage of support networks, family, other students, professors, services at college, whether you need help or not, because at some point, we all need help.

Fourth, take charge of your academic career. Don’t sit back and wait to be told what to read or limit yourself in what you take in to what just may be on a test. If someone mentions Machiavelli or Shakespeare or Rousseau or Plato, but it’s not assigned reading, read it for yourself anyway.

Fifth, as I’ve mentioned in class more than once, find a mentor or mentors. Find someone you can talk to, get advice from, run ideas past with. I am convinced that every successful person in the world has a mentor who is an email or a phone call away, even if the rest of the world doesn’t know it.

Sixth and finally, seize the day, be the day. Find your passion and follow it. We are the dreamers of the dream…



Most of these lessons I learned after the exams were over. The nice thing about life, though, is that it's never too late to learn them.

See you in class.