Statement of Purpose: Pursuing a Master Degree of Public Administration

I am drawn to AmeriCorps because of its commitment to service and matching members to non-profit organizations. I am truly interested in AmeriCorps' service missions including poverty reduction, literacy and youth development, and mentoring. I served as a volunteer helping organize activities for neglected and abused children at the Children’s Advocacy Center, served on a committee for children’s literacy with Better World Books Drive, and volunteered for Big Brothers Big Sisters and American Red Cross. I am comfortable interacting with youth and children. I have always envisioned myself as a leader involved in improving the health of populations and serving my community and I aim to continue the work of improving the missions of anti-poverty

During and immediately after my undergraduate course, I had the opportunity to work as a volunteer at the American Counseling Association and as a houseparent for an institution that houses mentally ill individuals. The association welcomes students and encourages them to offer voluntary services while they have an opportunity. My experience at the association, as a houseparent, and currently as a paraprofessional for mentally ill adults and children with behavioral problems provided me with a solid footing as well as the necessary resources to prepare for my career in counseling. The experiences gave me an opportunity to attend several conferences and workshops where I had the chance to meet and interact with other professional counselors. These opportunities opened me up and exposed me to numerous challenging situations that helped me to grow both personally and professionally. Interacting with more qualified and experienced people in the association, institution for the mentally ill, and agency that I currently work for has helped me to develop confidence in my work as I sought their assistance and guidance whenever I needed help. The experiences gained while working at the association was helpful to me as I could apply that knowledge and the skills learnt to help my church members. At my church, I was a youth leader and

I define myself as a curious researcher and reflective practitioner who perceives legal education as a combination of passion and practicality. Whereas my idealistic side wants to thoroughly understand the development of global legal ethics, my pragmatic side asks what actions should be taken by lawyers to solve international legal problems. Hence, Penn Law’s core strengths in providing a remarkably interdisciplinary learning experience and the program of Legal Practice Skills will be the bridge to my academic and professional aspirations.

Following college, I moved to Portland, Oregon and looked for ways to continue developing my skills and fostering my passion for social responsibility. I started at Impact NW as an AmeriCorps member, where I served two terms helping run the AKA Science program. In my role, I managed hundreds of volunteers, wrote curriculum, and trained instructors; but above all, I learned how to work with corporate partners. Aided by corporate volunteers, our program served thousands of students each year. I quickly realized the importance of establishing meaningful, long-term relationships. Companies gave back to our community and in return we provided them a chance to hold an engaging experience for their employees. Every committed corporate team we cultivated helped us build capacity and redirect vital resources back into our program. We also encouraged volunteers to share their skills and as a result they would provide us with amazing insights. For example, one group of volunteers from Nike world headquarters helped streamline our processes by sharing ideas from their work in lean manufacturing. These experiences sparked something for me and I realized that my strengths as a creative thinker and a leader and my passion for giving back unite.

I have always been interested in public service and how to help those in my community. In second grade, I became the representative for my class and it gave me a good appreciation for representing others. Later in Boy Scouts, I interviewed Penny Pink who had been appointed to the City Council and thought the position sounded really interesting. I am currently enrolled at Idaho State University for a Master’s degree in Public Administration and have come to believe that public service is essential for community growth and stability.

Before deciding where I wanted to do my service learning, I knew I wanted to do something that had some relevance to my degree that I will be receiving in healthcare management. I was eager to gain more experience and become more knowledgeable of how an organization operates as it relates to healthcare management. I was able to secure an opportunity to volunteer at the Dallas Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. After completing the required VA forms, I got partnered with Mr. Alonzo Price Jr. who is a Management Analyst in Ambulatory Care, which is the department that oversees the Primary Care Providers.

Specifically speaking, my long term career goal is to become general counsel at a non-profit organization in education. In researching this career path, I found that desirable candidates focus on transactional work in a law firm and then serve as in house counsel for a business. While working in the private sector may seem at odds with my ultimate goal of working for a non-profit, I believe it fits within the vision that I have for my life and my people.

My education and past experience lead me to believe that working, as a Policy Associate in your organization would allow me to apply my rigorous analytical training to generate thoughtful and impactful energy for seamless internal support and external social/political progress.

Throughout my past experiences, I have developed leadership and organizational skills, and have been able to multitask, motivate, and excel in varied settings. Volunteering for Habitat for Humanity as an undergraduate has reinforced the importance of communication and working as a team player. Instructing AHA sponsored BLS course for nearly two years has instilled in me a great sense of responsibility, organization, and effective leadership skills. Finally, organizing and participating in health fairs as a member of the American Medical Student Association enabled me to create awareness and educate patients on different disease states, and confirmed to me how much I enjoy playing an active role in the community.

In high school, I served on the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation’s Youth Council. As a member, I was responsible along with 24 other high schoolers to allocate $80,000 in grant money each year. This council was completely student-run with only one adult advisor, so we were forced to efficiently collaborate and manage diverse opinions. Not only did I learn a great deal about the nonprofit world, but I also became better at critically evaluating proposals and clearly expressing my opinion to others. In addition, I was recently hired as an Associate Consultant for SOURCE, CMC’s student-run nonprofit consulting group. Although I have only been on SOURCE for a short period of time, I have already improved my interpersonal skills while interacting with our client and have grown more comfortable with working on independent and collaborative projects. More than anything, I will a bring a passion for nonprofits to the Kravis Prize Council. I am genuinely excited to bring innovative ideas to the council and to improve the Kravis Prize in any way that I

Experiences in the installation, maintenance and repair of government provided infrastructure has been my trade. The Evergreen State College’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, has strengthened my interest in ensuring reliable and cost effective service deployment. I am even more informed and aware of consumer protection and compliance.

“Our culture is more shaped by the arts and humanities than it often is by politics.” - Jim Leach

The reason I want to study for a PhD (concentration in Strategy, International Management and Entrepreneurship) is that I have a passion for research, and wish to pursue a career that would enable the creation and dissemination of knowledge in this field. Though I started my undergraduate research exposure in the field of bioscience, the opportunity to study courses such as microeconomics, management, psychology and entrepreneurship during my second BS at Rutgers University as a Fulbright-PLUS scholar helped me rethink about the field in which I would wish to make my future contributions. Then, during my Master’s, I worked on a dissertation analyzing the liberalized pharmacy market in Sweden after the deregulation of the pharmacies in 2009. The experience of the Master’s dissertation along with different modules in

Through my personal and work experiences, I have had an opportunity to develop and strengthen my core values. These core values are duty, resourcefulness, change, and commitment. In this reflection paper, I will first identify my core values as I currently see them, and provide information as to their background, third define my current career goals, and lastly, explain how these core values and my pursuit of a Master 's in Public Administration at DePaul University School of Service call on to my current career goals.

Growing up in a business-oriented household consisted of being exposed to, and witnessing talks of business management — be it at in-house parties or out at dinners — from a very young age, which I believe has impacted my upbringing and passions to a great extent. Along with a substantial inclination towards Business Management, I also had a keen interest in the field of Accounting, which I became more aware of at the age of around nine. Most kids resent going to the bank with their fathers, however, for me, it was always a source of amusement and gratification. As a child, I would witness my father give cash to the banker and/or vice versa, which would leave me to ponder about what exactly was going on. This eagerness to have the know-how of money and what goes behind it made me discover my true passion.