Hello again! I’m excited to be writing a second year about my trials and tribulations as a dual MPA-MAIR student, and I hope you’ll be excited to read them. I’ll be updating bi-weekly, so I hope I can keep you entertained as well as informed!
As I type this, I’m gazing over the Potomac River at the Washington Monument and downtown DC from my Crystal City-area apartment. As per my MAIR requirements, I’m completing my internship in Washington DC for the State Department for the fall and taking classes through the Maxwell in Washington program. I’ve been here for a few weeks now, and already I’ve discovered a lot of things, learned a ton, and met all sorts of interesting people.
This past summer I did things a bit out of order and took all of my MPA required classes– such as Budgeting and Public Administration and Democracy. Typically a dual MPA-MAIR student will take those in their first summer and spend their second summer doing a fun international internship in some exotic location. After that, we have the choice to come back to Syracuse in the fall or continue with another global program, such as the DC one that I’m in. Eventually we all find ourselves back in Syracuse in the spring to finish up our programs and get ready for graduation. The only dual degree students who tend not to do this are Public Diplomacy and the few lucky people who can cram their schedules enough to finish early.
Do I wish I could graduate alongside everyone this semester and move onto a job? Sure! But at the same time, I wouldn’t give up my chance to learn alongside two sets of students and have all these great opportunities. Just the other day, my internship supervisor told me to read up on bureaucratic politics before coming into the job, and I found myself laughing to myself– I just finished a class on bureaucratic politics thanks to the MPA degree! Being dual degree lets you inhabit a special place within the system where you can get the best of both worlds, and the extra time and money is definitely worth it to me!
As for me, I think Washington DC so far has been wonderful! Although it is pretty hot… The classes I’m taking are with students not only from Maxwell, but from University of Denver and University of Pittsburg’s MAIR programs. I’m due for an internship with the State Department, but since I have another week until it starts I’ve been spending my time going to events, sightseeing, and seeing old friends. You can expect my blog posts to cover everything from the events I go to, to my classes, to even my internship itself–once I start it. Along with that, I’ll have plenty of information regarding life as a dual degree student at Maxwell, including just how manageable Syracuse winter is the second time around!
Here’s a taste:
Last week I saw Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman talk about issues of peace in Yemen, and then the very next week we talked about Yemen in my National Security and Defense Strategy class! It was a really cool opportunity to see what real people in the real world are doing, then turn around and get an academic perspective.
Stay tuned for more on life as a Maxwellian in DC!