Meet the newest addition to the CIPA 101 blog, Lizzy, a first-year CIPA fellow focusing on food security.
My name is Elizabeth Sweitzer (although everyone calls me Lizzy), and I am a first-year CIPA fellow in the International Development concentration. New to Ithaca, I have been enjoying getting to know the city, attending classes, and making new friends in my program.
I obtained my undergraduate degree from University of Toronto in 2013 where I studied Political Science, Spanish, and Portuguese. While in undergrad, I developed an invested interest in comparative politics and social justice, and as a result I participated with my university’s Oxfam chapter, where I was an advocate for issues related to food security in the lens of women’s rights. Hoping to learn and grow, I pursued internships at the Wilson Center and the Canadian Centre for Responsibility to Protect.
Following graduation, I worked for two years at a public policy think tank where I helped develop policy reports and recommendations concerning various topics including energy, immigration, and social policy in Canada. In 2014 I was granted a Fulbright Fellowship to Brazil and moved there in 2015. In Brazil, I learned more about dynamic public policies that support rural resilience, promote family farming, and bring locally sourced food to public schools. The experience certainly informed my interest in addressing food security here at CIPA!
Pursuing an MPA at Cornell
I had always enjoyed my work in research, loved problem solving, developing evidence-based data, and helping to prescribe policies – but I also desired to see those policies be carried out, to see them come to fruition. I began to feel restricted in my ability to administer the policies that I had helped to research, and decided to return to the ivory towers of higher education to pursue a Master of Public Administration degree.
CIPA’s program truly drew me in because of its multidisciplinary nature. Determined to focus on food security, I found Cornell to be one of the only (if not the only) policy programs that allowed me to enroll in coursework regarding food and agriculture policy as well as offer a broad array of classes in economical and statistical analysis. I found it easy to dovetail food policy courses with relevant quantitative coursework, and enjoying the many ways to get involved in projects and clubs related to food and agriculture studies.
Delightful surprises in my first semester at Cornell
Returning to school has been full of surprises. Of course, there’s new challenges which are to be expected- but there were also a host of new facets that I hadn’t anticipated, like the welcoming nature of the program, the career management assistance and support network, and the sheer breadth of opportunities to branch into unique areas of policy.
CIPA’s Big, International Family
Having recently returned from Brazil, I was excited to come to such an international program like CIPA to meet people from all over the world. I’ve met people here from every continent (save Antarctica), and had incredibly rich conversations in my classes due to the sheer diversity of this student population. In fact, CIPA’s program is a majority international students! My classmates are really outgoing and enjoy hosting worldly events and sharing their experiences. From fun cultural tidbits to unique policies from their home countries, I learn new things from my classmates every day. What’s more, I already feel like I’ve established solid friendships here. Second years have answered questions with open arms, have even reached out to be a helping hand, and the professors and administrators really get to know you.
Career Management and Network
One excellent part of CIPA is its career services. CIPA not only offers workshops on career development, opportunities to hear from professionals in the area of policy during colloquium, and resources for writing and networking, but CIPA hones an indebted network of alumni as well! CIPA’s alumni network is a truly incredible asset to CIPA. Even before I began my studies at Cornell, alumni were happy to speak with me, answer questions, and offer advice to put me in the right direction; it’s the kind of invested relationships you do not find everywhere.
Limitless opportunities
The multidisciplinary nature of the program doesn’t end with coursework. There is a really rich campus culture of clubs, conferences, research opportunities, semesters abroad, intern/externships, student societies, and more here at Cornell where you can stretch your unique interests even further. Not to mention, there are opportunities off campus in the city of Ithaca and abroad through Cornell’s extension programs. In my case, I have taken advantage of on and off-campus opportunities.
I joined the Cornell Policy Review as an associate editor where I am able to dig deeper into my interest in addressing food security and policy by writing articles about these topics. It’s been an excellent opportunity to learn how to effectively frame my interests in the realm of policy analysis, discuss ideas with my team for feedback, and offers a great venue to showcase these ideas.
I am also excited to continue to learn and grow this winter, as I have been accepted to join the SMART program for a research project in Colombia! I am going with a team of students in plant and soil sciences and will be analyzing the health of coffee farmer’s soil, conduct cost benefit analysis, and offer some advice to farmers about their farming practices in the hopes of improving quality and yield of coffee.
Questions/Concerns?
I’m happy to answer any questions prospective students may have about the program, Cornell, or Ithaca! Feel free to leave a question in the comment section below, or send me an email at egs82@cornell.edu.