When did you graduate from UPS?
I graduated in 2003.
What have you been doing since graduation?
After graduation, I went directly to UCLA for graduate school in political science. As I mentioned in another posting, I would not recommend doing this. At the time, I definitely knew that I wanted to go to graduate school (side note advice: I would strongly recommend that those potentially interested in grad school don't go because they "didn't really know what else to do."), and it seemed like a good idea.
Anyway, I got my Master's in Oct. '05, and am currently working towards a Ph.d.
Why and how did you decide to take the career path you did?
Before my Junior year, I had been firmly-set on becoming a lawyer (I strongly suspect my mind had been scrambled from seeing one too many episodes of "Law and Order."). However, after taking one constitutional law class, I knew I had to scrap those plans. And fast.
But what to do? I realized that I sort of liked doing exactly what I was doing at the time: discovering and discussing new ideas and engaging myself in research and thinking "Big Thoughts." But how exactly can one get away with doing that and get paid? Then I stopped and looked around. Aha! Become a professor! That's the ticket! It sounded like a plush career choice, and my ego was thoroughly intrigued by the notion that I could one day get people to pay just to hear me blather on about things that only interest me--O the power! (What can I say, I had a rather hopeful impression of the profession.)
So I shook down my professors and incessantly interrogated them on their experiences. I found I liked what I heard. So I fired off the applications, and well, here I am at grad school.
Are there any aspects of the Politics and Government major or your UPS education that have served you particularly well?
Well, given that I'm in political science, I'd say everything served me pretty well. More to the point, I'm still using most (if not all) of the ideas/materials that I first came across in my P&G courses. For example, in a course I taught last year, I managed to get students to read Charles Murray and Gaventa--stuff I lifted straight from sitting in Prof. Sousa's courses. This spring I'll be teaching a course on Communities and Capital, and I'm planning on having my students order a copy of my secular bible, Bowling Alone--which I would've probably never come across without taking Prof. O'Neil's 250 course. One thing I'm thankful for daily is that my UPS education as a whole encouraged me to think analytically, and to consider ideas from a variety of perspectives.
Do you have any advice of what our students should (or should not) make certain to do while still in school?
I noticed that a lot of alums mentioned traveling abroad. I didn't opt to do that, and I think I ended up okay. You'll be amazed what you can get out simply reading the newspaper, Rick Steves, and watching an unholy amount of BBC America.
Cheekiness aside, I would encourage students to take advantage of doing independent studies. I did this my Junior year, and right now my dissertation is the direct result of that work. For those vaguely interested, I'm looking at immigration into W. Europe and welfare state. The idea I'm running with is that as these countries become less homogenous through immigration, there is less support for the welfare state...the underlying assumption being that immigrants are being associated with welfare costs--an idea being pushed right-wing (and some not-so-right-wing groups). This whole thing is the result of an independent study couse, where I was reading about Inglehart's World Values Survey and the assumption that the end goal of all nations was to be enlightened like W. Europe, and thinking that it might be easier to do that in racially homogenous areas (think the Scandinavian model, for example). Anyway, long tangent aside, independent studies are good things. Do them. It's one less class you have to get dressed in the morning for.
I'd also recommend expanding the breadth of your coursework. I was dead-set on avoiding horrible math and nasty comparative politics--and as I have to use/interpret statistics all the time, and am doing comparative work, you can see how it was a disservice to neglect these things as an undergrad.
Do you have any advice about what our students should be thinking about as they consider their future careers or further education?
Whatever you decide, take a bit of time researching it before you plunge right in. If it's grad school, talk to your professors, or any other profession, contact those who are already doing it--that way you can hear about both the good and the bad before you commit yourself. Guess that's what's good about the alumni networks and ASK night and all that business.
Any other words of wisdom?
That assumes that any of the things I've written above have any wisdom-y elements to them.
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