tiff of the 'burbs. *

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I want to be domesticated, a humanitarian, a foodie, a fashionista, & a world-traveler. In the meantime, I'm a 24 year old grad student in beautiful Southern California. I'm from the cookie-cutter suburbs, but have recently relocated to Los Angeles. Here are my thoughts & adventures! Twitter: @tiffanyjam


Themed by Monique Tendencia.

∞ 7
I graduated on Wednesday. It still feels surreal. Since then, I’ve spent the last three days lounging, eating junk food, and taking naps. I also had an extra strong margarita last night. Looking back on the past two years, I honestly feel like I’ve been immersed in so much information, a lot more than I can possibly retain. Program evaluations, challenging budgeting problems, policy analysis (my favorite), and many papers later…I’ve reached the end of my academic career. At least, that’s what I think (I don’t even want to think of writing anything close to a dissertation right now). The best thing I’ve learned, however, is that I do belong in the public sector & getting my MPA was the best academic decision I’ve ever made. I remember the day after I submitted my forms to withdraw from law school, I hopped on my laptop and started looking into graduate programs (crazy, I know). I knew I wanted to go back to school, but had no idea what I wanted to do yet. Public Policy, Social Work…I didn’t know what the nuts Public Administration was until that day. Long story short, I’m happy to be where I am today. Shoutout to my family, friends (IRL and on Tumblr!), and boyfriend for keeping me at least somewhat sane & supporting me along my journey. Another special thank you goes out to all the baristas that have kept me caffeinated & for letting me camp out in your coffee shops for hours at a time—don’t think this is over, I still work from home!

I graduated on Wednesday. It still feels surreal. Since then, I’ve spent the last three days lounging, eating junk food, and taking naps. I also had an extra strong margarita last night.

Looking back on the past two years, I honestly feel like I’ve been immersed in so much information, a lot more than I can possibly retain. Program evaluations, challenging budgeting problems, policy analysis (my favorite), and many papers later…I’ve reached the end of my academic career. At least, that’s what I think (I don’t even want to think of writing anything close to a dissertation right now). The best thing I’ve learned, however, is that I do belong in the public sector & getting my MPA was the best academic decision I’ve ever made.

I remember the day after I submitted my forms to withdraw from law school, I hopped on my laptop and started looking into graduate programs (crazy, I know). I knew I wanted to go back to school, but had no idea what I wanted to do yet. Public Policy, Social Work…I didn’t know what the nuts Public Administration was until that day. Long story short, I’m happy to be where I am today.

Shoutout to my family, friends (IRL and on Tumblr!), and boyfriend for keeping me at least somewhat sane & supporting me along my journey. Another special thank you goes out to all the baristas that have kept me caffeinated & for letting me camp out in your coffee shops for hours at a time—don’t think this is over, I still work from home!


∞ 8
“The Trouble Group”- Dr. Moore #MPA #Beach #gradschool (Taken with Instagram at Cal State Long Beach)

“The Trouble Group”- Dr. Moore #MPA #Beach #gradschool (Taken with Instagram at Cal State Long Beach)


∞ 3
2 more weeks! #ClassOf2012 #gradschool #MPA (Taken with Instagram at Disneyland Park)

2 more weeks! #ClassOf2012 #gradschool #MPA (Taken with Instagram at Disneyland Park)


∞ 2
Q:

Hey! I am wondering what kind of classes you had to take for Public Administration. What kind of work came along with it: a lot of government/politic classes? What is your main focus? I am really intrigued by the major!
 from cocoabird
A:

In my MPA program, I’ve taken various courses that relate to public administration, but not all the classes were specifically for government. Some classes were more theory-based than others (organizational theory, leadership strategies & skills, public human resources, etc.) , which were more skills-based (public budget & finance, research methods, policy analysis, etc.).  I write a lot of papers, read quite a bit…and honestly, I do a lot of doable busy work (lol).

I chose not to have a specific focus/emphasis in my program, mostly because I wasn’t 100% sure of what I wanted to do with my degree after I graduate. Luckily, I found my niche during my internship & have decided to focus on working with health nonprofit management. What I really love about Public Administration is that it’s really diverse for the public sector (nonprofit and government)!