Taylor Willis (SFS’16) Spring 2015 Sergeant-At-Arms Fall 2015 Vice-President 2015 Dean Gordon Winner
What are you up to now?
I work as a consultant for small airlines and on the weekends I volunteer as a conductor at the B&O Railroad Museum.
How has your time in Philodemic influenced your career path?
Philodemic is amazing preparation for giving presentations. It isn’t just about being able to convey information in a clear and succinct way, either – there are lots of places to learn that other than Philodemic. Understanding how to read the crowd and adjust your speech on the fly and to speak confidently in response to others are skills that have helped set me apart in my career.
What was your favorite debate or memory from your time in the Philodemic Society?
I keynoted all four Christmas debates during my time at Georgetown. One of the biggest reasons I liked keynoting the Christmas debate is because my closing speech was always a love letter to the Society. I joined to argue, of course, but especially now that it has been five years since I graduated, what stands out in my memory are less the individual debates and more the friends I made along the way, many of whom I still talk with almost every day. A Christmas debate closing keynote in particular was a chance to talk about the capital-S Society as a lowercase-s society and say the things that, to me, made us the Philodemic Society rather than the Thursday Night Debate Club.
What does Philodemic mean to you?
I guess I touched on this above. I joined the Philodemic because I wanted to argue (or maybe, a little bit, because I like to hear the sound of my own voice), but Philodemic is a lot more than the Thursday Night Debate Club. Philodemic was so central to my experience at Georgetown that it is difficult for me to separate the two. Nearly everyone I knew I either met through Philodemic or eventually pulled into it: those are enduring friendships, and I am lucky to have them.
Is there anything else you’d like to share? My wife, Leonor Willis, and I met at a Philodemic debate. Here is a picture of our dog:
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