This summer, I learned much from my instructors and peers at the Junior Summer Institute. In academics, as well as in social settings. My cohort and I learned how to use data systems like STATA and understood how COVID-19 impacts people and their communities today. The program has taught me many things and allowed me to apply those things to my community. For example, I chose my home school district as my grand challenge poster. Learning more about my community and its perfect and imperfect systems has inspired me to continue the work to grow the education system. This fall, I will be a senior at the University of Washington, Bothell. And I plan on finding more opportunities that will hone in on my skills that best serve my community in the future.

My experience at JSI Humphrey was simply indescribable! I had an opportunity to learn alongside a community of diverse students interested in positively changing our communities. The relationships and connections formed will be long-lasting, supporting me through my last year of my undergraduate education and beyond. I attended this program hoping to get a better sense of the academic rigor that graduate school would present. Through the classes in economics, statistics, qualitative research, and policy analysis, I gained additional skills that will put me in a strong position to do well as I pursue my Master's. In addition to these classes, the guest lectures we attended were excellent ways to learn niche areas of public policy that I had little exposure to. These lectures quickly became my favorite activity as we not only learned about fascinating topics, but had a chance to interact with leading scholars from Humphrey about their work.

Equipped with the knowledge from the JSI, I am now preparing to apply to Master's of Public Policy and Public Health programs. After completing these programs, I plan to work with community-centered health equity policy for underserved racial and ethnic minorities. I am so grateful to have had this experience where I met truly incredible people and learned so much about myself in the process.

The PPIA JSI Fellowship at the Humphrey School presented me with a group of students from across the country who represented their unique views, ideas, and experiences. I was exposed to new coursework topics, researchers, and the Stata data software, which I hope to use more as I go into my future career. I plan to enter the workforce following graduation this spring, and later obtain a Masters of Public Policy. This program has confirmed my long-term vision to reside in the Midwest and work on community development policy at the state or local level.

The Junior Summer Institute has allowed me to look at the potential of grad school through the lens of social justice, equity and policy. It has taught me about how a room of change makers are able to learn from one another sincerely and make each other better. I had a wonderful time this summer and I cannot promote this program enough!!

I was thrilled and also terrified after learning that I had been accepted for the PPIA JSI at Humphrey! Over the course the seven week program, however, I gained a tremendous amount of confidence in myself and ability to make a positive difference in the World. I even found myself able to help my fellow class mates in Economics and Statistics, which provided me the unique experience of getting to act as a student while also disseminating knowledge. At the end of this program, it’s become apparent to me that I do have what it takes to make it in public policy and I should approach every problem as a student as well as an educator.

I had a wonderful time at JSI Humphrey! I learned so much about economics and statistics and their subsequent application. I also learned how to be a better ally for various communities. My favorite part of the program was our Global Lunches where we got to not only support local ethnic food restaurants but also enjoy cuisine from all around the world while socializing with each other. My next step is to finish my senior year of college and then take a gap year to determine what graduate school I want to attend and for which program.

This summer as a JSI Fellow, I was given the space and opportunity to dream and pursue like I never have before. From the fact that this was my first experience in a large city to the cohort model of living with incredible scholars, my time was full of making memories. The course material was accessible and rigorous which allowed me to push my boundaries. I am so thankful that I was able to participate in this program because it solidified my desire to pursue a Master’s in Public Policy or Public Administration.

Through PPIA JSI, I learned about the various options, pathways, and applications of public policy through a variety of lenses. The program allowed me to consider a variety of options outside my general disciplines of international public policy, human rights work, and immigration policy. These two new public policy disciplines I academically learned through JSI were criminal justice due to our guest lecturer Dr. Joe Soss and public health due to my group's final project being on mental health. Exploring different topics outside my expertise was interesting to do while also socially pushing myself while working with a variety of people with different beliefs, backgrounds, and strengths. Doing so while being supported by the amazing professors, TAs, and incredible coordinator Satomi was even much more great.

I definitely enjoyed the guest lecturer with Dr. Joe Soss as this revived the criminal justice interest and work I previously had as a teen during high school. The lecturer reminded me a lot of my roots in grassroots organization and motivated me to reconsider my motivations and truly grounded me. The graduate school fair hosted by PPIA was also another activity I enjoyed. Having the opportunity to connect with admissions representatives in one place with such accessibility while asking personal questions was such a treat!

I hope in the future to attend an international affairs graduate school among the PPIA JSI partner graduate schools in the future. However, post-graduation I hope to find a role in an NGO/INGO work where I can participate in furthering my personal growth experiences. I strive to someday work abroad and travel while striving to exceed in a career of my interests through public service.

Throughout my experience in PPIA JSI Humphrey, I have strengthened various skills, such as my research skills and essential fundamentals of economics and statistics. These skills and others I have gained from this program will be the ones I will carry for my professional career and education path. One activity I enjoyed the most was going to MOA with some people in the cohort. My next step after this program is to take a gap year before starting my master's program and use that time to reflect and gain valuable experiences that will contribute to my professional career.

From the JSI at the Humphrey School I learned that collaboration, while being difficult, is key to making a difference. Navigating interpersonal differences is never an easy task, and in any situation expect a level of conflict and discord. While it may feel like a failure of working together, that’s where the real work begins. Don’t shut down at that moment, open up. It’s going to be difficult, and there will be moments where it’s going to be dicey, but having an open line of communication with others will make your policy move from good to great.

I enjoyed my time at the PPIA JSI Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. When I learned that I had been accepted, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. However, as I progressed through the program, I began to learn several things about myself and about changing the world. First, I learned the importance of research. While I am still not sure how I want to participate in research in the future, it was evident that research can be a starting point for so much good in the world. Without it, we may not be able to make changes in society that are actually productive or helpful to those who need it most. I also learned that not having your future plans mapped out day-by-day is 100% okay. I think that the program helped me learn that, as long as you stick with your convictions, values, and beliefs, it does not matter where you end up, because no matter where you land, you will be able to change the world in some way.

Through our in-class discussion, I learned more about wicked problems and their effects on different communities. Coming from a big state and a big city, my understanding and personal experience on wicked problems, such as land use, food deserts, and international affairs, can be very limited and different to others whose lived experience and research consists of such issues. We each took what we could from the class readings alongside our personal experience to discuss with one another. Seeing how each of us had similar yet different perspectives on wicked problems and working together to find a satisfactory solution. We established criteria and created alternative solutions that would cause the least unforeseen circumstances. Our classes taught us how to look past our own perspectives and discuss not only our own but others in these multilayers and multifaceted problems.

I want to take a break from school before applying for a master’s program in public policy.

After graduating from UC Berkeley, I plan on applying to Peace Corps and to other fellowships revolving around state legislature. I want to gain more professional and real world experience in different fields to broaden my knowledge.

As a student entering my senior year, JSI Humphrey provided me with tools and a strong network of peers and mentors that I will take to assist my community in New York City. The classes gave me skills that I will utilize in my advocacy work and research. The guest speakers provided me clarity on the next steps in both my academic and professional career. Lastly, it was incredible to connect with my fellow peers who are doing similar great work! I learned so much from all the peers, professors and staff that I will take with me throughout the rest of my career!

The PPIA JSI at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs greatly strengthened my research skills and taught me the fundamentals of economics in a nuanced and deep way. Both the classes and other components of the program strengthened and broadened the academic foundations upon which I will build during my senior year and the rest of my academic and professional careers. The Junior Summer Institute additionally provided me with an environment in which I was able to collaborate with peers who were also invested in public policy and public service. I met truly amazing students from across the country whom I would not have met otherwise but who have made my life richer. Alongside them, I created a policy analysis memo and accompanying poster which we presented to our peers, professors, graduate students, and administrators from the Humphrey School at the conclusion of the program. I am excited to take the skills, knowledge, and experiences I gained at the JSI with me to my senior year of college and to my work in public service following graduation.

My experience at Humphrey’s JSI was nothing short of rewarding. Having the opportunity to share space and learn with some of the brightest undergraduates of public policy is an experience that I would not change for the world. During my time, the most important lesson that I learned is that policy is a social art. Creating policy is not only about finding the most tangible solutions to real world issues; it also has to gain trust and support by the community. I enjoyed my time in statistics because I learned statistics is not purely about getting the correct answer. The importance of statistics is how statistical findings are shared with your audience. After I complete my bachelor’s degree, I plan to attend graduate school to complete my Masters of Public Policy. With this level of education, I hope to work in Higher Education Administration to break barriers for racial and ethnic minorities.

This program has improved my academic confidence. I was challenged academically and actually made it all the way through the program. I really enjoyed the courses and the extracurricular activities that were built into the program. The thing that I enjoyed the most about the courses were when we were able to apply the concepts from the courses to explore our interests. For example, I was able to explore my interest in urban planning by working with a group of peers from the cohort while applying policy analysis principles to the work. My favorite extracurricular activity was the Juneteenth festival. I really enjoyed being in close community with this cohort. I enjoyed getting to know everyone; it was an honor to do life with them for 7 weeks. I am really proud of myself because I really leaned in during the program and was a bit confused during the program about what I wanted to do but ultimately, I would like to pursue a dual masters in urban planning and public policy, with a focus in education policy.

My time at the Humphrey School JSI program was insightful and something I will never forget. I not only gained important knowledge and experiences that will help me professionally and academically, but I also made amazing friends and learned a lot about myself. As a low-income first generation college student, my time at the Humphrey School JSI gave me the confidence to do whatever I put my mind to and gave me a diverse community to support me along the way. One of my favorite experiences was seeing my fellow cohort members present their policy memos and research on the final day. It was rewarding to gain practical skills and to learn from others in the cohort. This program gave me the skills and confidence to pursue graduate school for urban planning, which I hope to attend after a gap year or two doing advocacy and community work.

Being a PPIA Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs was one of the most rewarding ways to spend my summer. From listening to scholars discuss their research, to thoughtful group seminars, and finally presenting our group projects, I am so thankful for all of the amazing leaders I have met here. These last 7 weeks have provided me with all the tools necessary to thrive in an academic policy setting and I am so thankful to have been selected for this opportunity that has paved the way for me to enter graduate school and the policy world as a first generation professional, college student, and American. Thank you greatly to PPIA and the Humphrey School for making the path of pursuing a graduate education and professional future career possible for me! Being a PPIA JSI fellow has truly changed my life for the better and this is a fond memory I will look back on as the beginning/start of my career in public service.