What were you doing before you joined the MPA programme at LSE?
Before joining the LSE MPA programme, I lived in Argentina where I worked for a regional NGO coordinating international development actors in the Southern region of Latin America, finally became fluent in Spanish and learnt how to dance the tango. I was already equipped with a Bachelor’s degree in political science and international law but I knew I wanted to do something more policy-focused for my Master’s degree.
Why did you choose the LSE MPA?
After my theory-heavy undergraduate degree I was looking for a possibility to get the best of two worlds: Studying in a high-quality academic environment while at the same time applying the acquired knowledge in a real-life situation. The MPA at LSE provides this option through the Capstone project - the real-life group consulting project during the second year of the programme. There is hardly anything better to prepare you for work-life after university than actually working on a project for a real client during your studies. My capstone provided me with an invaluable teamwork experience while consulting the OECD on public sector innovation.
How has the LSE MPA programme influenced your career?
The variety of inter-departmental subjects the MPA course covers plus the wide range of selective courses offered at LSE definitely broadened my horizon in terms of where I wanted to work and what I wanted to do. I became interested in Asian policies and development after studying poverty, inequality, as well as demography in the Asian region in various courses. I also realized I had a strong interest in public management during an elective course. Combined, these interests and acquired skills have led me to pursue an international career that has so far brought me to China and Myanmar, working in international affairs and development for the Swiss government and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Had I not had the MPA in my toolbox, I would not have been half as well-prepared to work in such challenging and fast-paced diverse environments.
What one piece of advice would you give to a future MPA student?
Most of all, however, my time at LSE was defined by the extraordinary people I met. Not only did we all come from different parts of the world, but we were also of different ages, had different undergraduate degrees, and the most varied previous work experiences and future career plans. Consequently, the MPA created an unbelievably rich environment to learn not only from LSE courses and professors, but also, and probably even more, from my fellow MPA classmates. Almost needless to say that some of these amazing classmates are now my closest friends and we visit each other regularly all over the globe.