George McClellan is a 22-year-old Applied Conflict Management major from Lakewood, Ohio. With being president of Kent Interhall Council, director of the NACURH corporate office, an ambassador for the College of Arts and Sciences Dean Student Advisory Board and so much more, he is busy at work. So, I decided to sit down with him to learn more.
Her Campus: What inspired you to pursue Applied Conflict Management?
George McClellan: I changed my major a lot, but I was kinda looking for a major that was going to pair well with higher education. I thought it was kinda interesting. There has been a lot of conflict and stuff within student groups and managing that has always been interesting to me. When I heard it was a major I was like “Well, that’s it.”
HC: What interested you about Kent State University?
GM: Well, my mom went here for her undergraduate so she made me come and visit. I like the faculty a lot. I did some post-secondary work at Cleveland State University so I’ve met a variety of professors before. I was pre-pharmacy/chemistry back then and so I went to one of the chemistry days and I talked to a lot of the faculty. They were all really nice and welcoming and they seem to genuinely care about students, which was definitely a surprise coming from high schools and other universities.
HC: What activities do you do on/off campus besides KIC?
GM: Most of the stuff keeps me pretty busy. Besides that, I don’t know. I’m kind of a homebody. I like to play video games and that kind of stuff.
HC: What made you want to run for President of KIC?
GM: Last year I was the director on the Board of Student Relations. So, after seeing the inner workings of KIC, I saw some areas of improvement. I felt like I could really help move the organization forward and make some changes that we needed. Hopefully that’s going well. We’ll see what everyone thinks.
HC: Do you have any big ideas for KIC’s future?
GM: More philosophically, we are going to see a big change in KIC’s role within the residence halls. We oversee a lot of things, but we are not really a part of them. Technically, we oversee all over the hall councils and we are involved in the recruitment and stuff, but we are generally not too involved with that. I think we are trying to get more involved in that process and really supporting the hall councils. We want to make sure that they are doing the best. So a more hands on approach and being there more as a support and not focusing so much on the programming that we are doing. We want to make sure those students are getting leadership opportunities. So, I think switching the focus will be a big change for us.
HC: What is your dream job?
GM: I mean my dream job would just be to be a nice housewife, trophy wife. I just like the idea of not having a job. But, within my field, I’d really like to do some mediations. That’s kinda my specialty within conflict management, so if I could mediate for a campus or a school that would be really great. In my major courses, we are starting to go more in-depth with world peace. I would like to negotiate some world peace treaties.
HC: If you could travel anywhere, where would you and why?
GM: For sure Japan. I have a Japanese minor and I’ve been once already, but I’d love to go back and see more of it. It’s kind of a whirlwind tour going for only a week. I’d love to see more of the rural parts of Japan. I’d also love to see South Korea. I’m obsessed with Korean food and Korean culture as well.
HC: If you won the lottery, what would you do?
GM: I would probably travel and pay off my loans. Anything else I would save.
HC: If you were president of the United States, what is the first thing you would do?
GM: The first thing I would do is want to know all of the secrets. I want the classified information. What’s in Area 51? I want all of the details. After that, I don’t know. I don’t know much about what the president does like, what could I do? Maybe hold a cool press conference? I’d have a presidential concert with all of my favorite artists.
HC: What inspires you?
GM: I like uniqueness. I like things being different and people learning to appreciate the differences. That comes up a lot in music that I listen to. I love artists with strange voices or that do unique things and when those kinds of things become mainstream or popular I really like that people have learned to accept something that was different. That’s just kind of an inspiration to me. I enjoy the uniqueness of the world.
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