• 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 spoke to one of the program’s professors at a workshop and he recommended it. I had already begun my career in PA when I started this degree but it has enabled to take on a wider variety of more difficult tasks and to do them better.

Any work or internship experience during graduate school?

> I was working for the state agency that regulates nursing homes when I began. I moved to the state agency that oversees services for people with developmental disabilities during my coursework. 

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

> It would have to be a three-way tie among Policy Analysis, Organizational Theory, and Politics and Bureaucracy.

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?

> My graduation was just 6 weeks ago so not much has changed, but I was selected, I feel in part because of my degree, to enter a Leadership Development mentoring course offered by my agency. In five years I expect to be an Assistant Director for this or another state agency.

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

> The journey from concept to proposal to project fruition that I see in grantwriting. 

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

> Absolutely! Two events changed the public’s view of public administrators: the terrorist attacks and the ethical failures in the business world. Before September 11th, Enron, and WorldCom, many citizens saw public employees as less valuable than their private counterparts. I believe that has changed. But to be sustained, a change in belief must be coupled with adequate preparation. For me that was my MPA. I find new ways every day to perform my work better, to mentor others, and to (I hope) promote the field.

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

> Forge ahead! But be sure your heart is truly IN public service or it is not for you. Never forget that the “big picture” of legislation, regulation, budgeting, and enforcement impact real folks every day, for good or ill. Love to read and write (a lot) or forget it. Write your papers on topics about which you are passionate so that you will love them at the end. Find entertaining professors and take every course they offer. Have fun.