Miriam Palmer
With a broad range of interests — development, international economics, human rights, foreign policy, health — Miriam Palmer wanted a graduate program that would prepare her for anything. The flexibility of the La Follette School’s curriculum and the resources of the wider campus prompted her to select its international public affairs degree program.
“I got the feeling that some other schools may be looking to train students to go directly into specific careers,” Palmer says. “When I visited La Follette it was clear that I would be encouraged to follow my interests and be assisted in entering whatever career I wanted. My time at La Follette will help me narrow in and focus on one of these fields more specifically.”
Another benefit of the La Follette program is that students learn technical skills that transfer across fields. For her first semester, Palmer took the required courses Microeconomic Policy Analysis, Quantitative Tools for Public Policy Analysis, plus International Governance. In her second semester, she is taking Advanced Statistical Methods for Public Policy Analysis, Macroeconomic Policy and International Financial Regulation, Introduction to Policy Analysis, and International Development Policy.
“The quantitative analysis skills classes are very concrete and useful,” she says. “Everyone wants to take classes that discuss things that interest them, but taking the quantitative classes first allows you to better interpret and evaluate events and research in your interest areas. The techniques will be useful for my next classes, and I anticipate the skills being valuable in many possible career positions.”
The small size of the La Follette School program also drew Palmer to Madison. “I went to a small college for undergrad and really benefited from having accessible professors, so I was looking for a similar experience in graduate school,” says Palmer, who won a fellowship for her first year. “I always want my professors to know my name and be able to email them and talk with them one on one. With La Follette I get this benefit but also enjoy being at a large university, with all of the research, facilities and opportunities it has.”
Palmer earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Roosevelt University in Chicago. “I focused my research on international policy while minoring in economics and philosophy, all great interests of mine,” she says. “I studied abroad in Poland and Spain, but Spanish proved a much easier language to learn than Polish!”
After graduating in 2009, she returned to Michigan, where she grew up, and joined AmeriCorps. “First, I worked at a non‐profit housing organization doing grant writing and implementing a new federal housing program,” she says. “Then, I switched gears and worked at a large counseling and mental health non‐profit. I'm mostly interested in international economics and development, but I enjoy environmental and health policy as well.”
Palmer’s undergraduate coursework and experiences in Poland and Spain nurtured her desire to work internationally. Her involvement with AmeriCorps taught her about the non-profit world, and she came to recognize she would need more training to pursue her career goals. “A master’s in international public affairs seemed like the right course of action to qualify me for the jobs I really want,” she says.
After she graduates 2013, Palmer hopes to work for an international organization, a business or the federal government, ideally in a position that focuses on development and economics. “I have been volunteering since high school and always thought it was important to help as many people as you can, given your time and resources,” she says. “I think public service is a way to do this for a career and in a more meaningful and impactful way.”
— posted January 12, 2012