Louckens Philippe
Louckens Philippe was nominated for the History/Political Science category. This meant a lot to him because it combines the study of how our past mistakes influence our current activism in society.
He plans to pursue a path in psychology specifically clinical psychology because he believes, “that clinical psychologists need to step out of the office to have a positive effect on their clientele. You can’t hope to help somebody better themselves in your office without also making an effort to improve the world. I watched an amazing TikTok that linked the rise in psychological disorders to the chaos and instability in our day-to-day lives. A true therapist cannot be uninvolved in our politics and uneducated about our history that’s why I applied to this category.”
When asked about the impact of Pathfinders, he said that it was an opportunity to experience something new. For him, “life is about experiences, good and bad. So, the real question is why would I not go to this and experience it? I guess that I also got the opportunity to include it in my resumes and it was an honor to be recognized amongst his community.” He also liked that he got to see beyond his community as there were plenty of people at Pathfinders getting him out of his “fish bowl.”
Due to his confident personality, he thinks he won but in reality, he’s unsure. He felt like his interview went like a regular conversation which was fine but because of the abundance of close-ended questions, he felt very limited on what he could say. He wanted to expand more on certain topics but was not given the chance to effectively express himself. This makes him feel uneasy about the results.
When questioned if he could have a political debate with any historical figure and what he would discuss, he answered, Machiavelli. That’s because of his book “The Prince” as he’d be interested in seeing how he’d govern in this time. He’s fascinated with the idea of seeing how he would act in the 21st century since he is from the 1600s.
He believes, “At the core of the book ‘The Prince’ is the idea of educating the people on the ways of royalty. How would he evaluate the thought process of today’s billionaire? What does he think the true motives behind a billionaire and millionarie’s actions are? How do people in power stay in power?”
In continuance with the theme of money, he’d also like to talk to Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie wrote “The Gospel of Wealth” and like to debate with him how someone could possibly be an ethical millionaire or billionaire. He’d like to see how he would engage in holding on to so much wealth while so many other people are poor. Louckens always believed in the idea that there is no such thing as an ethical billionaire or millionaire. He’s never dreamt of being rich but has considered what he would do if he was rich, and so those are the people he’d enjoy talking to.
