Ellie Zhong graduated from CIPA in May 2014 with a concentration in Economic and Financial Policy. While at CIPA, Ellie participated in the 2014 SMART Program in Botswana. She is currently working at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as a Leadership Fellow.

Why CIPA? There are a lot of MPA programs around—what made you choose CIPA over other programs you were considering?

The three determining factors for why I chose CIPA over other MPA programs were: the size of the scholarship I received, the reputation of the institution as a whole and the flexibility of the program.

What are your long-term career goals? How did CIPA help prepare you for these?

My long-term career goal is to be involved in regional economic development projects that will eventually lead to the prosperity and better living standards of a community. I also aspire to be a great influence on Sino-US relations. CIPA’s flexibility in choosing the appropriate coursework for my interest helped me prepare for my career goals. For example, I have a solid economics and quantitative analysis background from my undergrad, but did not have much exposure to finance. Therefore, I took finance courses from both the Johnson School of Management and City and Regional Planning to get a well-rounded perspective in both business-oriented finance and public finance.

What would you tell a prospective student who asked you to list the top three reasons that CIPA was a good fit for you?

1. The flexibility of the program allowed me to work in areas, such as finance and accounting where previously, I had less exposure.
2. The intellectual atmosphere and the willingness of professors to help you, and to help you grow, as an intellectual and as a professional, was invaluable.
3. The size and diversity of the program allowed me to learn from my peers, who came from countries such as Costa Rica, India, and Afghanistan.

Are there any particular “stand out” experiences at CIPA that made a lasting impact on you?

I had the opportunity to participate in the 2014 SMART Program in Botswana. It was a very unique experience in that I was able to learn and experience what pig farming was like, along with the general agriculture and livestock trade circumstances in the country on a first-hand basis. I met not only local pig farmers, but also representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and other government agencies. The opportunity to experience all this on a first-hand basis made it very impactful and memorable. This was one of the highlights of my entire CIPA journey.

How would you describe the sense of community you find at CIPA?

Some of the first people I met during orientation during my first year became my best friends during my two years at Cornell. We took classes together, helped each other prepare for exams, and spent great time in each other’s company on weekends. The close friends I made at CIPA are now life-long friends, and we will definitely remain in touch and continue our friendship for years to come.

Samantha Cherney graduated from CIPA in May 2014 with a concentration in Economics and Financial Policy. While at CIPA, Samantha and another student in CIPA convened a working group to help solve the issue of costly insurance for nonprofits working in post-disaster-relief. She currently works at RAND Corporation as a Project Associate.

Why CIPA?  There are a lot of MPA programs around—what made you choose CIPA over other programs you were considering?

The number one reason I chose CIPA is because of the flexibility of the program and the opportunity to take classes across the university. Another important consideration was the attractiveness of the financial package CIPA offered. Most of us will be entering public service after graduation, so not having a large loan is key.

What are your long-term career goals?  How did CIPA help prepare you for these?

Thinking about anything too long-term is hard for me, but I really want to remain academically focused and pursue policy research.  Hopefully, I can integrate my law degree to a greater extent going forward. CIPA has helped me tremendously in this regard. Although I was capable at legal research, I didn’t know the first thing about policy research design and implementation going in. I took coursework to help me understand the fundamentals as well as to develop training in project management. This will all be incredibly useful in my new job, as well as in my career going forward.

What would you tell a prospective student who asked you to list the top three reasons that CIPA was a good fit for you?

Although Ithaca can feel tremendously small at times, the size of the town and of CIPA makes it a truly close-knit community that I think would be hard to find elsewhere. This is incredibly cheesy, but it began to feel like a real family by the end of the two years.

Some people enter an MPA program knowing exactly what they want out of it, have a curriculum developed before they arrive, and can follow it to a T. Others like the idea of “public administration” and think an MPA will help them figure out their career path. I fell somewhere in the middle—I had some sort of idea where I wanted to go, but no clear destination. For this reason, CIPA was ideal. The core curriculum provided the structure I needed, but the opportunity to take a wide range of classes, and focus on the skills I was lacking, was very important.

CIPA also provides students with the platform to develop their own projects, organizations and initiatives. The support CIPA gives students for their ideas is very encouraging, and these opportunities allowed us to develop training outside the classroom, and to discover our passions and talents.

Are there any particular “stand out” experiences at CIPA that made a lasting impact on you?

An experience that stands out in particular was the work another student, Elena Bussiere, and I did in convening a working group to help solve the issue of costly insurance for nonprofits working in post-disaster-relief. Although a mouthful, this has actually been a huge problem in New York City since Hurricane Sandy. Elena and I began this project after being brought together by my internship supervisor, a CIPA alum. Our work, which began in August, culminated in a working group meeting in New York City, attended by representatives from insurance, nonprofits, and lobbying organizations, as well as a follow-up conference call. Despite graduating, we are continuing to work on this project, and hope that it continues to see life as a Capstone project next year.

Another amazing experience was the opportunity I had to go to Seoul, South Korea as part of the class Comparative Public Administration: the Case of Seoul. Four other students and I participated in a working group hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government for one week. Each morning consisted of lectures by various government officials, and each afternoon with a visit to one technologically advanced site or another. Nights were filled with wonderful dinners, and attempts to explore the city. Seoul is a fascinating, beautiful city of contradictions and I immediately fell in love with it. We learned so much, not just about Seoul’s way of running a city, but about the American (and Canadian) way as well.

How would you describe the sense of community you find at CIPA?  How did that figure into your experience of the last 2 years?  How do you see it figuring into your future experiences?

The CIPA community is incredibly close-knit and the friendships I developed were a highlight of my experience. I made friendships that I will maintain for life. In addition to the close friends I had, I also felt like I could waltz into the CIPA lounge and start talking to anybody who was there, because everyone is so friendly and nice (or maybe because I can’t help myself). The office staff is also always ready with a baked good, candy, and a smile, which doesn’t hurt either!

Can you describe the role that the Capstone played in your educational experience at CIPA?

I took part in the Domestic Capstone, which was a very good learning experience. Our team had only two members, which changed the dynamic somewhat, but I still learned important project management skills. More importantly, our client was difficult, fickle, and uncommunicative. Although frustrating at times, I learned so many important lessons from having to respond to his changing mind, or lack of instruction. In this end, I was very proud of our product, but even more so of our process.