Hi everyone, my name is Riley and I am a fourth year senior here at UAF. I am majoring in Political Science, Justice, and Performing Arts with minors in Social Work and Psychology. After this school year I will be at UAF for another year and then I will have all three of my degrees completed. Beyond UAF, I hope to attend Georgetown Law and obtain my Juris Doctorate degree. As for my dream job, I want to become a prosecutor and practice criminal law. I am from Seward, Alaska, where I grew up and graduated high school in May 2019. I am a mom to two cats, Mia and Mercedes, and I have three siblings. I first fell in love with politics after completing a summer internship with Lisa Murkowski in Washington, D.C. the summer prior to my freshman year of college. I got to partake in some life-changing opportunities while doing my internship, such as going onto the Senate floor and touring the dome of the Capitol rotunda. This internship was the reason that I decided to declare a major in Political Science.

I am enrolling in this course because yes, it is part of my major requirements, but I have always been incredibly interested in American politics–especially the legislative and executive branches. I always keep close tabs on presidential elections, so I am looking forward to taking this course and learning more about the American Presidency.

The one question I hope to have answered by the end of the semester regarding the American Presidency is this: what is it about the presidential position that causes so much division in the American people?

Looking forward to this semester!