Each summer, he attended band camps to magnify his talent. His hard work paid off when he became a top saxophone player at his school and won first chair in the state band's saxophone section.
Bill Clinton recognized that although college would be expensive, it would give him the education he needed to accomplish his goals. His hard work in school, combined with his musical ability, earned him many academic and music scholarships. With the help of those scholarships and loans from the government, he was able to attend Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He chose Georgetown because it had an excellent foreign service program; he was also excited about going to school in the nation's capital.
While earning his Bachelor of Science degree in International Affairs he worked as an intern in the office of Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright. There he learned how government worked and what it was like to be a politician. Bill learned a lot from Senator Fulbright and admired him for his accomplishments and beliefs. .
When Bill finished college in 1968, he won a Rhodes Scholarship, which allows select students to study at Oxford University in England. While at Oxford, he studied government and played rugby. Upon his return to the United States, he began law school at Yale University. At Yale, he continued to work hard. He maintained his interest in government by campaigning for a Senate candidate in Connecticut. He also met Hillary Rodham, whom he would later marry.
When he graduated from law school in 1973, Bill returned to Arkansas to teach law at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. There he could concentrate on his goal of running for political office. In 1974, he had his first opportunity when he ran for Congress against Republican incumbent John Paul Hammerschmidt. Although he lost the race, Bill learned much about politics and met people who have remained his lifelong friends. Hillary had joined him in Arkansas and helped him campaign.
