I enjoy meeting new people and hearing their unique stories. At a conference like this a lot of people come alone, so there a plenty of opportunities for interaction. For me, it has also been a chance to put faces with names I have seen elsewhere.

One such person was, John, the director of the TFAS Capitol Semester program. I had seen his bio online and remembered some details that interested me. John is a Christian and he and I share some common interests. His last job was in London doing lobbying, where he became friends with Os Guinness, a Christian apologist. According to the bios, one of the other alumni is a Christian whose speciality is bioethics; he is a graduate of Central Bible College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to talk with him.

Our Freedom Scholars group also had an interesting makeup. Several of my classmates were Christians who I already knew from the summer. Many of our discussions outside of the classroom turned to the relationship between conservatism and Christianity. The Fund didn’t plan to convene a forum on faith and politics, but we got it anyways.