"Respect is a key part of being a Carleton student. Although you might not always agree with someone, you need to respect them. We're all human, so it's not utopia here, but I've found that people definitely are open to new ideas and are willing to listen."
Ainsley LeSure, Columbia, South Carolina

Ainsley LeSure has always dreamed big. Fall-term freshman year, she had her life all mapped out, starting with a double major at Carleton in political science and economics. After that, she figured she'd be off to law school, then a career as an attorney, followed by election to the U.S. Senate. Two years later, she admits that "Carleton just took my 30-year plan and put it through a paper shredder."

Not that she's any less ambitious now-perhaps just a bit less narrowly focused. She's decided on a single major-economics-so that she can have the time to take other courses in her new-found interests in Asian American literature and philosophy. She's even considering study in Japan fall term her senior year. As she says, she's "decided to enjoy the variety that a liberal arts education can provide." Now Ainsley figures she'd like to be a professor of political science-she still wants that law degree, but she's seeing law now through a slightly different perspective.

Ainsley has kept alive her interest in politics by serving as Vice President of Carleton's student senate. She has served on the Committee on Student Life, which just re-wrote the student conduct code to be more community focused. She's also on the mock trial team and was on the debate team, where she did some dramatic interpretation of poetry and Parliament-style debating. When it comes to debate, Ainsley found arguing the affirmative side more challenging. "There's a lot of work involved if the case you're arguing is something you know little about. Even though the negative side has to work off the top of their heads, it's often easier to attack the status quo than stand up for it."

Ainsley came to Carleton after attending a small public high school with a predominantly black student body. "Carleton has opened my eyes to other cultures," she says. "Being an African American, I tend to get wrapped up in African American issues. I've learned there is a whole world of other issues out there. Even though the multicultural community at Carleton is small, there is a lot of diversity here in viewpoints, religions, cultures, and backgrounds. I'm enjoying the interaction and exposure to it all." She regularly attends Chili Night, where students eat chili and talk frankly about race and gender issues. As a Multicultural Program Assistant, she has facilitated for the gatherings and has lived in Stimson House, Carleton's multicultural center.

During her down time, Ainsley enjoys attending plays, directing the gospel choir, singing jazz, R&B, and classical music, discussing world issues with friends, and tracking down lost gloves. "It's cold here," she says. "I lost a glove and I thought I was going to die. You really learn to appreciate your winter accessories."