Jazmine Benson

I have so many different people I can credit my success to. I want to start off by saying that I have a really strong relationship with God. My religion and religious beliefs really do help me guide the decisions I make, and they've guided the way that I've grown up. My parents raised me in faith, and I think that that faith has allowed me to put myself in situations and have confidence in who I am. Throughout my time in undergrad, my mom actually passed away, and I had other family members of mine pass away as well. Having to navigate that process was something that I really needed to lean on something otherworldly for. That is what I feel like God comes first, because my parents did everything for me that they could, but ultimately, you don't always have your parents, but you can always lean on whatever spiritual guidance that you have to help give you clarity as to what you should be doing. My dad, who is in my life now, he really prioritized me having a good relationship with Jesus, and being open about my experiences connecting in that way, and I think that that really helped me in times where school was difficult. From a more academic sense, my faculty mentors are amazing. I had people in my corner who really, really wanted to see me succeed, in spite of adversity I faced. And it was a collaboration, not just between the spiritual, but also between my family and my academic mentors here at school to make everything happen for me. They invested in me, and I thank them still to this day, because all of these different things had to work in tandem for me to be where I am right now. And I just have so much gratitude. A lot of people can probably empathize with the concept of having a village or a system of support, and it's honestly, it really is a privilege. Even though I did lose my mom, I still have support, and I still have people in my corner who are invested in seeing my success.

Don't sell yourself short. I've always been the type of person who isn't good at marketing themselves to other people. I'll put myself in situations where I can potentially have an opportunity to do something really, really big, or really sell myself to someone, and I don't necessarily give myself all the credit that I deserve. As women, that's something that a lot of us can relate to. When you're in fields that are not only male-dominated, but are just extremely, extremely competitive, sometimes it can feel hard to want to advocate for yourself or advocate for yourself. I think the biggest thing that I've learned over the course of my last year in grad school is that I need to be able to show people, not just with my actions, but with my words, why I am a good fit, or why I am the right choice for whatever they're looking for me to do. That means that I need to advocate for myself and actually be able to show evidence and back up the things that I wrote in my resume in person. Selling yourself and really giving yourself the credit you deserve can make the difference between what doors open for you.

Do not get discouraged. Be persistent. When you're in my field, you can feel sometimes like you can be boxed out of spaces, and just excluded from conversations that you should be a part of. It is uncomfortable, but it's necessary. The more that I put myself in situations where I was uncomfortable, the more I realized how important it was for me to do that, because I not only exposed myself to the fact that I am doing what I want to do, and this is something that is not typical, but I set the standard and example for other people that, yes, women do these things, women talk about these things, women care about these things, and women deserve to be included in these situations. It almost feels like exposure therapy, almost. I hate that it almost feels like a burden, but it's something that, especially if it's something that you're passionate about, you have to be able to advocate for yourself in a political space, because politics, especially, when you think historically, politics were never designed for women involvement. In my Model UN community, there were certain topics that women were supposed to debate, and there were certain topics that men typically did. I never really met those standards. I was never really a woman who stereotypically prioritized women-connected issues. I was interested in disarmament and security. Trying to navigate high-priority male spaces with those types of interests, it was difficult for me to be taken seriously by my male counterparts. That can be disheartening. But my piece of advice to women in situations like that is to be persistent and not get discouraged.

Right now, you can argue that this is one of the most politically divisive times in our nation. There is so much polarity between us right now as Americans, there's a huge divide. Politically right now, there is a lot of distrust in our institutions. And that institutional distrust isn't from a particular party. It's from a vastly growing collective of Americans who feel as though their government cannot properly sustain or protect itself or lobby for its interests. That is a dangerous place to be. As a young person, I'm certainly concerned that politics are becoming more and more dangerous, more and more violent, and more and more uncompromising to the point where we might reach a place where reconciliation is impossible. That's the challenge. Here's the opportunity: Political scientists need to work together to try to figure out, especially as the next upcoming generation of political scientists, we need to start, number one, entering politics. The fact that there are more business people than people who study politics in politics is concerning to me, because it shows what the priorities and the interests of our representatives are, and what knowledge they have on the matter. As experts in the field, we need to be contributing our opinions and our thoughts about where we're going. And we need to start doing it now, and we need to start collaborating with each other. Because we can stop this if we start soon. But it takes organization, and it takes effort. There's also a conversation about what education looks like, because there's been a lot of recent legislation and movement with the Department of Education, and how colleges work, and how they produce research, and the things that they can write about. There's been huge attacks against academia through politics. So as political academics, we need to help try to bridge that gap and make equitable change in that area.

Integrity and authenticity. While those two things sound synonymous, I mean them in different ways. I feel like integrity is just the sheer concept of being an honest person, of being transparent, of being open, and being susceptible to the truth, and being willing to evade deception. I think that's one part of it. And then I think authenticity is being who you are, being true to whoever you are at the essence of yourself and your being. That means that you go into your life looking for the things that interest you and give you passion, and then you incorporate those things into your life so that you can therefore explore and expand those passions. As a political science major, I've seen so many different types of people come through our department. I've interacted with so many different types of people. Not all of us do what we do for the same reason. But I really have tried my best to make a conscious choice to remain being who I am regardless of what I study, or regardless of what I do. And the integrity that I have, I carry into my job because I am authentic to who I am. That's one of the conversations I have with my mentees all the time. I tell them, what interests you? Why are you here? What about politics inspired you to be here with me right now? And that feeling, the thing that inspired you to be here, I want you to chase that. I want you to follow that until it gets you to where you need to go. Because ultimately, having a job is one thing, and you can have a job and have longevity, but you might not have happiness. I encourage my mentees to seek happiness in what they do. Because I do believe there's an intersection point between having a career and having a passion that you love.