Inspiring Political Science Professor Tells Students They Can All Be President When They Grow Up

WESTWOOD — Affirming the long-held hopes and dreams of the students in his American Politics lower-division course, UCLA Political Science Professor Chris Worcester remarked in last Tuesday’s lecture that each and every one of his wide-eyed pupils can be President of the United States when they grow up, a promise that was met with smiles and applause from the class.

The class, predominantly composed of political science majors planning to concentrate in American politics, had previously been asked to share their career goals during a discussion section icebreaker. Sharing a common passion for American politics that many of their parents had helped foster by taking them to the polls on election day, purchasing them coloring books featuring the Presidents, and by generously paying for an intensive four-year immersive educational program about government and politics, each student dreams of one day being President.

“It’s very important to encourage kids’ dreams when they are still young and in their formative years,” said Professor Worcester, grinning as he recalled his own dreams of grandeur as an idealistic political science student back in the early 1990s. “The naive look in their young eyes as they eagerly raise their hands when I ask about the three branches of government — you just want to rub their little noggins and tell them that they can be anything they want to be.”

The Professor’s kind words have further emboldened his students, who have flooded his office hours to garner knowledge relevant to their career paths, asking questions such as whether the President gets to have a dog, how big his house is, and how late he gets to stay up. They are all confident that they will be successful in pursuit of their dream job.

“I used to tell my teachers that I wanted to be a Senator or Secretary of State when I grew up, but I think I can definitely be President now because my Professor said so,” said second-year student Melinda Markel, who boasts extracurriculars such as Bruin Democrats at UCLA and an unpaid research internship analyzing Hillary Clinton’s tweets. “I can’t wait to tell my parents when I go home for the weekend!”

Many students were heartbroken, however, upon learning the ratio of Presidents to civilians in the United States population in their political statistics class later that week.

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