News: MPA

Several years of working in classrooms, research labs, and other educational arenas shaped my understanding of the shortcomings within education systems. This motivated me to improve learning outcomes for populations left at the margins of education.

I began the year working with Professor Greg Nemt to prepare content for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6^th Assessment Report. Since then, I’ve worked on research for projects on policies related to technological innovation, low energy demand, and carbon removal.

The classes, people, activities are pushing me out of my comfort zone and helping me discover my hidden potential. The qualitative interactions enabled me to gain a greater sense of self. Choosing the La Follette School has been one of the best decisions of my life!

Having professors like Dave Weimer and Greg Nemet consistently challenge me—asking questions, throwing curve balls into assignments, and making us do some serious critical thinking—has really helped me become a more confident employee.

The La Follette School has a been a great academic complement to the law program and has provided me with insights in cost-benefit analysis, policymaking, public budgeting, and economics that my fellow law students don’t currently have. I feel that on top of painting a clearer picture of how well-run governments function, the La Follette School makes me highly marketable and grants me invaluable skills.

I have developed a stronger understanding through my coursework of the inner workings of US government, our global energy systems, and new statistical tools. I’ve also learned a lot outside of class, specifically from some casual conversations I’ve had about politics with members of my cohort. More broadly, the program has helped me identify areas of politics I want more knowledge and experience in, which has guided the work projects I’ve focused on and the political books I’ve read recently.

To me, the idea of studying policy is more than theoretical knowledge. It’s learning how to make good decisions that help people. Everything I’ve learned, from policy options for increasing access to school lunches to the importance of environmental justice, is something that I’ll take out of class and apply to real-world situations.

Working in homeless services in Seattle, I had an ability to impact the specific policies of the program I managed, but I often felt constrained by a larger system of regulations and grant requirements. I wanted to better understand how policies that shape community welfare are developed and to have a hand in trying to shape thoughtful, effective, and equitable policies.

At the La Follette School, you are going to find a ton of very good people – staff and faculty members trying to help you along with a whole community trying to improve this world.

The accelerated program was a perfect fit for me because I was initially excited to enter the job market with my undergraduate degree but unsure of what to do. The La Follette MPA program has offered so many new possibilities and has helped me narrow my path for a future career.