Found In Translation

Balancing Act

This semester will certainly be a test of my ability to prioritize.  I'm starting to settle into my various roles this semester as student, graduate fellow, intern, and performance management fellow.  Each of these varying roles entail extensive, time consuming, urgent projects. While it's highly challenging to find the time to tackle each of my projects, the even bigger challenge is attempting to determine which has priority. I'm sure I will continue to face this type of challenge in my future career, so I'm hoping that I can use my current experience to become more comfortable balancing such different and equally important projects.  If I find some sort of trick to this process, I will be sure to let you know!

Tip of the week:  Next week I'm seeing a concert at a venue on Landsdowne Street, which is right outside Fenway.  It's a fun area to grab a bite to eat, even when the Red Sox aren't in season.  Also, I've seen a few shows at this particular venue, and they've always been great.  I'm really looking forward to getting away from my school work and other commitments for the night.  So, my tip this week is: don't forget to make time for the personal things in your life, whenever you can.  It's another thing to add to the graduate student balancing act, but one that I think is worth it!

Making Connections

Last Friday the MPA Student Association hosted its first off-campus networking/social event. We had a fantastic turnout and it seemed like everyone had a great time! It was a wonderful opportunity for alumni to reconnect with former classmates and for newer students to meet some very successful alumni. The officers worked really hard to put together the event and it was fun to see how it all turned out! Next up: additional networking and social events later this semester.  It has certainly been time consuming working to reform the Association and put events together but it's definitely been rewarding.  Almost all of the current officers are graduating in May and we're hoping that we've sucessfully laid a foundation for a new group of enthusiastic MPA students to take the reins from here (after elections later this semester). Finding time to network with my classmates has added an immeasurable amount of value to my experience here.

On another note, I just applied to graduate in May - woohoo! Such an exciting feeling! I can't believe I'm almost done.  I just have many, many pages of reading and writing in front of me.  In fact, I better start one of my papers now.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

 

Focus on interests

I've made it through the first two weeks of this busy semester! I'm really looking forward to the classes that I'm taking this spring. I have two electives that are perfectly in line with my interests.  One is Managing Fiscal Crises, and the other is Civic Innovation and Effective Governance. Both classes require projects that will connect me to practitioners and community members.  I think the experience will be a great asset!

I'm also developing an independent study that focuses on performance management in government and the Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Having the ability to do extensive research into this topic will be highly beneficial to me as this is directly applicable to my career interests and current fellowship.  I'm looking forward to the opportunity to pursue this topic further!  The capability to focus on and develop certain interests within the MPA program has certainly been rewarding.

Tip of the week: I had a potential job opportunity come up last week and I realized that I haven't updated my resume in months. My tip, then, is to set a calendar reminder every couple months to update your resume.  Then, you won't have to rush to update it during a potentially crazy week of work and classes (like I had to do!) 

Back to school

Winter break certainly flew by!  I picked up extra hours at my internship over the break, which really paid off as I was able to meet more people at the office and work on some particularly exciting projects.

This will be my final semester in the MPA program and it's shaping up to be my busiest semester yet.  In addition to my fellowship with the Institute for Public Service and my internship at the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, I will be starting a performance management fellowship with the Collins Center for Public Management at UMass Boston.  All of this means that I will be working 40+ hours a week while taking my final four classes.  Hopefully I can manage it!  This will definitely be a tough semester, but I think it will be worth it!

Also, the MPA Student Association officers have been diligently working to put together our first networking/social event of the semester.  A group of the officers attended the recent orientation/networking event hosted by the IPS for the new MPA students this semester and all of the new students were interested in the MPASA, which is very exciting.   We're hoping to get as many current students and alumni involved as possible.  The MPA program has such a great network and we hope the MPASA will provide another great opportunity to bring everyone together! 

Final(s) Stretch

The past few weeks have certainly been an excercise in seeing how productive I can possibly be! I'm happy to report that I'm down to my last in-class final and last project.  I'm really looking forward to winter break and the holidays!  Although, I did decide to pick up extra hours at my internship over the break...so, unfortunately, it won't be all relaxation, but it's the busiest part of the budget season and I want to learn as much as I can (and be as helpful as possible!)

Over the past two months I've been part of a group of MPA students that worked to revive the MPA Student Association.  It had died off over the past few years and we worked really hard to re-write the Association constitution, set a budget and plan some fun events for the next semester! I'm really proud of what we have been able to accomplish with such busy schedules and in a very tight timeframe. We plan to have a representative at all new student networking events so that we can get as many students involved as much as possible! Please search for us on Facebook as "MPA Student Association at Suffolk University" and like our page!  We will post events and useful MPA student and alumni information on our page.  We hope the Association will be a great venue for new and current students to make connections and for alumni to stay connected to the program.  We also hope it will provide excellent networking opportunities for all.  Stay tuned for info. on this as we are still in the development stages!

My tip of the week is related to an ongoing project that I do for the Institute for Public Service.  We've been reaching out to various alumni to get their feedback on their experience with the MPA program and have featured their thoughts and accomplishments in profiles on the IPS website.  As part of these profiles, I've asked the alums if they have any advice for current or future students.  One alum said, "Say yes to everything!" I just think that really sums up my philsophy regarding the graduate student experience and I would like to make that my tip of the week!

Read, Write Paper, Do Presentation, Repeat.

The past two weeks have been so busy!  The end of the semester is quickly approaching and so are the due dates for many papers, projects and presentations.  I find that the best way for me to manage all of the many deadlines is to make a complete list of everything that is due for the remainder of the semester, so that as I complete things I can cross them off the list and can visibly see my progress. (It feels so good to see the list getting smaller!)  I'm hoping to overload on work this weekend so that I can have some additional time over the Thanksgiving break for quality time with family and friends.  I can't wait to eat lots of great food, watch some football, and RELAX.

I can't believe that I only have one semester left until graduation!  Thinking back, the only thing I wish I had been able to do differently is to go on one of the Global Seminars offered by the Institute for Public Service.  The Institute offers trips to Puerto Rico and Ireland and everyone I know that's attended one or both of the trips absolutely loved the experience and has amazing things to say about the classes!  So, my tip for this week is to definitely try to work one of these trips into your time in the MPA program.  They both sound like incredibly rewarding and enriching experiences!  There's more information regarding these trips here: http://www.suffolk.edu/business/8960.html.

I have to cut this post short this week - I have a 12-page research paper due tomorrow that still needs lots of work.  In case I don't get a chance to write next week, I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Value of a Mentor

So last week I met with a Suffolk MPA alum that will be my formal mentor for the remainder for the school year. The Institute for Public Service offers a mentoring program for MPA students.  The program "seeks to encourage mutually beneficial relationships between mentors and students that enable the students to refine their career objectives and gain insight into career and leadership development. It also seeks to further nurture relationships with program alumni, and to provide opportunities for mentors and students to more fully integrate academic theory and professional practice." Current MPA students are matched with alumni based on career interests and goals.  Mentors/mentees are expected to meet once a month  for brainstorming, strategic career planning, discussions related to the fields of interest, and the like, and to correspond in between meetings via email/phone etc.  I feel like I hit the jackpot with my mentor!  I was matched with a high-level government manager/administrator for the city of Boston.  During our first meeting we had a candid discussion about our backgrounds, the challenges that my mentor's job presents, his strategies for addressing such challenges, my career goals, and advice regarding steps I could take to reach my goals. I'm very much looking forward to engaging with him going forward.

One aspect of our conversation that I found particularly valuable was related to the discussion about some of the strategies he uses to overcome organizational challenges.  One aspect that he said was particularly important was to work to instill your values and the values of the mission in your workforce.  Reflecting on this, it seems like such an intuitive thing, but I can definitely see that without actually making it a point to call attention to and focus on instilling such values, that an organization could very easily lose focus.  I also noticed that this same theme was mentioned at a recent Innovation Leadership Series breakfast panel sponsored by the Institute for Public Service, Center for Innovation and Change Leadership, and Moakley Center for Public Management, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Municipal Association.  I noticed that the panelists repeatedly called attention to instilling a "culture of change and innovation" within their organization, which helps to foster their organization's ability to be adaptive, creative, and innovative within the confines of tight budgets.

Here's a link to the panel discussions at the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsbJ_KsHEWI&feature=youtu.be  (The main substance of the event starts around the 19 min. mark.)  I definitely recommend watching if you are at all interested in municipal government or just innovative projects that governments are undertaking to better respond to constituent needs within a particularly challenging economic environment.

 

 

Midterm

Well, we are officially halfway through the Fall 2011 semester!  My workload has definitely increased as papers, projects and presentations are coming due all at once.  It's also time to start picking classes for the spring.  As that will be my final semester, I've been giving lots of thought to what my final four (or five) classes should be.  I need to make an appointment with my advisor to make sure that I've correctly fulfilled all of the degree requirements (required classes and electives) so that I don't accidentally pick electives that don't count towards my degree.  I'm thinking of maybe doing an independent study as a 5th class in the spring, but I need to find out more information regarding the policies/procedures for that, and to make sure that I will have enough time for another big project!  I have a couple ideas regarding what I might like to do, but need to give it some more thought.

I have a mid-term exam on Monday so my weekend will be packed with studying, but I'm hoping to take a few hours to check out the Head of the Charles Regatta.  If you aren't familiar with the Head of the Charles, it is a huge rowing event that takes place all weekend on the Charles River.  Here is the website for the event:  http://www.hocr.org/home/default.asp if you would like more information.  I think it's a fun event even if you aren't interested in rowing all that much (like me lol!) I went last year and it was an absolutely beautiful fall day in Boston.  We walked up and down the river and watched some races (that were very exciting) and checked out the many food and other vendors set up along the river.  It looks like it's going to be great weather again this year, so I highly recommend checking out the event!  I think it's easiest to take the red line to Harvard Square to take in the action.  Here are some photos that I took last year:

Socially networked

I can't believe that we are almost halfway through this semester!  That means I have only a semester and a half until I am done with the MPA program!  Reflecting on this fact reinforces the idea that we must make the most of every day because our time at Suffolk goes by so fast.  And, in graduate school, one of the ways to make the most of our time here is to make connections - with your peers, your professors and alumni.  The graduate experience offers many such opportunities and we must take advantage of them whenever possible.

Just this week the Institute for Public Service started a Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/SuffolkIPS. It is designed to be the "one-stop-shop for all things IPS."  The IPS will post events, deadlines, initiatives, you name it, on the page.  Be sure to find the page and "like" it! The Institute hopes that it will be a great way for students and alumni to connect and for everyone to have their finger on the pulse of all IPS happenings.

The IPS will also be starting a LinkedIn group, as well.  Stay tuned for further info on that!  I've really seen the value of having a LinkedIn page since I've been at Suffolk.  If you don't have one yet, I highly recommend signing up - it's easy!

It's almost time for mid-terms so I need to end this post and start reviewing my notes in anticipation of my upcoming exams.  My days of last minute cram sessions are long gone - I think once you get to graduate school and you are studying something that you are truly passionate about, you want to learn as much as possible (cramming the night before a test doesn't lend to retaining information after the test, at least in my experience!)  Again, it goes back to making the most of your time at Suffolk! 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Tip of the week: If you are new to Boston you may have noticed one of the unique traits of the area this week - the drastic changes in weather/temperature in a very short time! A few nights ago the temperature at night was only a few degrees above freezing.  And, now, this weekend, the temperature is predicted to be in the low 80s! Typical fall in Boston, surely the temperature will plummit back down to the 50s/40s in no time.  So, my tip is for all those students new to the area: layers are best! That way you are always prepared for what Boston weather might throw your way.  You can't count on the weather to be the same when you leave class as it was when you arrived!  I just think that's part of the fun of living around here :)

Full speed ahead

Wow, this was a long week! I completed my second week of my internship and so far its been interesting and challenging.  I am interning at the Executive Office for Administration and Finance where I work on projects and perform research for the State Budget Director and fiscal policy analysts.  I've really enjoyed the assignments they have given me so far, but it's definitely keeping my schedule extremely busy! My brain is ON all day long, every day.  I think this semester will be a true test of just how productive I can be on a daily basis with four classes, a fellowship and an internship.  Hopefully I am up to the challenge!  I sense that I won't be getting much sleep until the winter break...

I'm also looking to get involved with the MPA Association.  The MPAA "strives to bring students together in social events and encourages student involvement in professional, academic and social interest and development."  I'm hoping that it will be a great way to meet other current students and provide great networking opportunities with alumni.  I'd like to run for a leadership position in the MPAA, I will let you know how it goes!

Tip of the week:  I won't mention what happened with the Red Sox this week, but I will mention that it's almost time for the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins to start their 2011-2012 season!! I'm a huge hockey fan and I think games at the Garden are lots of fun.  The Bruins offer a ticket discount to students for certain games if you present your student ID - check it out: http://bruins.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=38887 and get to a game! Hockey is back in Boston!