A Political Science Guy in the Army Reserves

Christian was someone I've seen around campus a lot but only talked to him a handful of times while other friends were around. I learned a lot about him that I honestly wouldn't have guessed. Read below to find out more about Christian, you may be surprised too.

Name: Christian Krog

Age: 21

Hometown: Norwalk, CT but born in Stamford

"What’s Your Major, or Minor if you have one?"

"I’m a Political Science Major and a History Minor."

"Why?"

"I thought Political Science was interesting. I did a lot of Model UN stuff in High School. I thought it would be interesting to explore and I really kind of like, fell into it. I like it a lot; it’s a lot of thoughts and opinions but I thoroughly enjoy studying it. I’m really happy to do it."

"What’s your dream job?"

"I would love to be a lawyer for the ACLU or a part of some law group."

"What’s your dream destination?"

"Uh, my dream dream thing to do is, I, for like the past three months, have been obsessed with the idea of going to Pamplona and doing running with the bulls. It’s just super fascinating to me."

"Why did you pick UConn Stamford?"

"I had one university I was dying to go to. And I didn’t get in and I had to do a big scramble to find a new university. And this place was like, right down the road and was a four year university, and it kind of like, worked out."

"Was Stamford Your first choice or was Storrs?"

"I’m really happy I came to UConn Stamford. I don’t think I would've enjoyed UConn Storrs at all. It’s like way too isolated and like weird. I can’t imagine being so far away from everything."

"When do you graduate?"

"I graduate this spring if everything goes right."

"Who is your favorite Professor here?"

"I’ve taken like almost all of Professor Robert Lupton's classes. I had him for the first time a year ago in his Quantitative Analysis Political Science class; and something that UConn Stamford has that I really like, is that we cast a lot of Professors when they first get out of their PhD Programs. Some of the best Professors I’ve had have been like straight out of their PhD Programs. Like Robert Lupton is one of those, I’ve taken like three or four of his classes."

"Do you have a job right now?"

"Yeah, I have interned a lot. So, in my Spring of Freshman year, I enlisted in the Army Reserve and then I went away for that summer and fall to do training. So ever since, I’ve been taking like six classes a semester, 18 credits, for the past four or five semesters. That’s been really tough, but I also had two internships. I did an internship at the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants in the Immigration Department. Which is really cool and really humbling. I really liked working for a non-profit. And now this semester I’m working at a human rights group called Physicians for Human Rights in mid-town Manhattan and I love that a lot too."

I saw him wearing a "I stand with Planned Parenthood" button, so I asked

"Where did you get the button from?"

"I got it from the event here today. I also have another button that I wore the other day. It says "I believe Dr. Christine Ford". I like these buttons because they’re kind of like, small and subtle, but they have a strong message to them. It’s very definitive."

"What would you say your political viewpoints are?"

"Definitely liberal."

"Do you see that a lot in the Army Reserves? I was kind of surprised when you said you were a part of it."

"Not at all. I do have a few colleagues who are liberal like me. I get along with them very well."

"Is there a lot of conflict with those who aren’t?"

"Not really. I mean, so I have this one good friend who goes to NYU and he got arrested recently for spitting on a cop. And I had lunch with him and he was telling me like how much he hated the system and then I told him that like a person in my squad is a cop in NYC and he was like ‘why’re you friends with him?’ and I’m like I have to work with them. And it’s interesting because being in the army, I’m like an imperialist figure in a way. And I’ve heard stories from colleagues in the army who have been spit on in uniform. It’s kind of weird to be like… well, i don’t know."

"Well you have to keep the peace somewhere."

"I guess so."

"Is there anything else you’d like to say? This is like a free question, what do you want the people to hear?"

"Uhh... I don’t know. I think that something very important to do in college, because it goes by super fast, it went by super fast for me, and it’s basically realizing that this is where you are in college. And like the people around you, these are your friends. These are your college friends, so like, make the most of it. And like a thing I’ve been doing for the past year and a half is having no off days, in the sense that every day is spent doing something. And I really hate having lazy days because, like, I only have X amount of days left in college.

For Freshman coming into UConn or anyone going into UConn, I think it’s really important to pursue things and really make your experience here valuable. I have a lot of friends who study Political Science and History, but they just spend their four years studying it. But a big thing I’ve been trying to do is maximize my appeal, by doing several internships and writing for several different Political Journals and stuff like that. You got to like beef yourself up and get ahead, especially in a very relaxed environment like college."