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Before I came to the Harris School, I
worked for an organization that aims to
strengthen families in some of New York
City’s most underserved neighborhoods.
There I helped coordinate a number of local
initiatives to promote family involvement
in education and early childhood programs.
Though I loved the work, I soon realized I
needed formal analytical training in order
to make a greater difference in these communities
that I had become so invested in.
Like many others, I was drawn to the Harris
School because I knew that the program’s
focus on developing strong quantitative
skills would give me an edge when I graduated.
I was also interested in focusing
on Child and Family Policy, a concentration
offered by few policy schools. However,
when I made the decision to come here, I
could not have foreseen the opportunities
that have been presented to me.
Through my research assistantship at
Chapin Hall Center for Children, I saw the
challenges of building an entire system of
comprehensive services at the local level
for children and families. This experience
enhanced my resolve to work on improving
education and child welfare systems so
that they are more responsive to the
needs of those who are vulnerable.
In addition to studying education and
child and family policy as I originally
planned, I was able to consider the same issues from an international perspective.
I spent the summer working for UNICEF
India, as part of an international team of
graduate students evaluating a schoolbased
sanitation project operating in
rural Bihar. This internship, generously
supported by the Amy Marie Bosman
Memorial Fellowship, gave me an invaluable
opportunity to review community efforts
to improve educational and health
outcomes in a developing country. And this
past December, as a member of the inaugural
International Policy Practicum, I
returned to India to write a case study on
economic development.
My focus remains on developing a career
in urban education and child and family
policy. But I am grateful for my international
policy experiences, which have
been instrumental in challenging my
thinking about policy approaches to
improving conditions for children and
families. The Harris School has given me
the skills I came to graduate school to
develop, but it has also given me opportunities
to work on solutions to complex
real-world policy problems. As I prepare for
graduation, I am excited to return to the
communities I temporarily left behind,
now equipped to be instrumental in
developing innovative programs and
policies that support better educational
outcomes for urban youth.
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