On the recordMarch 23, 1995
Well, first of all, I do not believe that there is a specific academic discipline that is necessarily better than another one to pursue a political career. If you are pursuing a degree in science or mathematics or economics, let's say, I would recommend that at least you take whatever electives you can in history and in the social sciences, like political science, and in psychology. [Laughter] And then--but I think the most important thing is to develop your mind, is to learn to think. And then the second thing I would say is, it's very important to spend your free time deciding whether you're interested in people as individuals and interested in public problems. Not everybody is, you know. And it's a good thing--I mean, a lot of wonderful work has been done in the world by people who didn't want to spend hours a day talking to people who were different from them. But if you really want to make a positive difference, in my judgment, you have to be able to imagine what life is like for people who are very different from you, and you have to be willing to invest some time in listening to those people. If you think about what's happening, even in--I read stories on college campuses that kids are sort of separating by race, at least younger people and--I'll give you something positive--one of the best things that's happened is a lot of older people are now coming back to schools, especially to community colleges but also to 4-year colleges. If you want to be effective in public life, you have to understand how other people view the world, and you have to be able to imagine yourself in their position. And then, the third thing I would say is, you should get some experience in campaigns and in other public endeavors to find out both how hard and how exhilarating it is to get people together and try to work to change something. Those are the three pieces of advice. But there is no single academic discipline that's the best. Illegal Immigration
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