• How did you select your graduate school and how did it prepare you for your career?
• Work or internship experience during graduate school
• What was the most important or useful course you took in the MPA/MPP?
• Were you a Presidential Management Intern?
• What has been your career path since graduating? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?
• What is the most exciting and/or interesting aspect of your current job?
• Do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to “make a difference?” How?
• What advice, if any, would you give to an undergraduate thinking about going for an MPA/MPP?

How did you select your graduate school and how did it prepare you for your career?

> I was primarily interested in a university with a strong public affairs program, especially in the area of environmental policy. Not only is Indiana University among the top institutions in that field, but it is also a reasonably affordable option.

Any work or internship experience during graduate school?

> I received an internship from the National Congress for Community Economic Development’s Community Development Internship Program. I was placed at the Center for Economic Options, a not-for-profit organization that promotes home-based and micro businesses as an economic development strategy for West Virginia.

What was the most important or useful course you took in the MPA/MPP?

> I pull any number of courses into my daily work, however I probably use what I learned in Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Program Evaluation, and Environmental Law the most in my day-to-day activities. Each one of these taught me an irreplaceable skill for my current position—the ability to critically think and analyze any issue put before me.

Were you a Presidential Management Intern?

> No.

What has been your career path since graduating? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?

> I just passed my 2-year anniversary with GAO. It would be difficult to look back and identify any two years of work that I have ever enjoyed more. As far as where I will be in five years, that is difficult for anyone to predict. However, I am certain that wherever it is, I will be doing work that I enjoy, that challenges me, and that brings me as much satisfaction as my current position does.

What is the most exciting and/or interesting aspect of your current job?

> The GAO is in a unique position in government. We are a nonpartisan, legislative branch agency that reports directly to the Congress on just about any issue related to government operations and policy, with an ultimate goal of creating a more effective, efficient, and accountable government. It is said that anywhere the federal dollar goes, GAO goes. That is a pretty amazing responsibility to me. What I personally enjoy most about working here is the diversity of the issues we deal with, the people I interact with internally and outside the organization on a daily basis, the opportunity to exercise intellectual curiosity, and the chance to truly make a difference.

Do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to “make a difference?” How?

> Without a doubt, my degree, by enabling me to get this position, is helping me make a difference. Some days I have to be “creative” in figuring out exactly how that is occurring. However, at the end of each report I have worked on, and at the close of many days in between, I walk away knowing that something I have said, done, written, learned, and shared has factored into better informing the public debate on whatever issue I am currently working on. I learned and developed many of the skills required to do that in graduate school.

What advice, if any, would you give to an undergraduate thinking about going for an MPA/MPP?

> I would tell any undergraduate considering a MPA (or most advanced degrees for that fact) to go out and get some real world experience for a few years. Figure out who you are and what you want away from the college environment. It will not only make you a more dedicated and focused graduate student, it will also provide you with a perspective on the way the world functions that will prove invaluable as you move forward through graduate school and, more importantly, beyond.