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Humans of Duke Sanford

I’ve always just wanted to help people in the career I pursue. In high school, I found that environmental issues are something that I feel really strongly about. I came to Duke originally planning to double major in Public Policy and Environmental Science. But after taking classes at Sanford I found myself more drawn to the big-picture planning of public policy than the more detail-oriented work of a scientist. At Sanford, I did an independent study project with Professor Nicholas Carnes. I took an elective with him called Climate Politics, and he suggested that I develop an assignment I had done for the class about wind energy opposition into a research project. The idea is that if you reach out to people and understand why they oppose renewable energy projects, you can do more to alleviate those problems in the future and make renewable energy policy more inclusive. I learned about the accelerated master's program, also called the 4+1 program, during my freshman spring. My TA for PubPol 155 was in the program and spoke highly about her experience. So I finished my major, minor, and Trinity requirements within three years at Duke to apply. Planning it out took some foresight since a lot of classes within the major lead into each others. And now, what is technically my senior year of undergrad, I’m taking first-year courses for an MPP degree. Taking master’s level classes is exciting. It is really enriching to have people in the classroom who can draw on their own experiences working in the policy field, the kinds of jobs that, as an undergraduate, I only discuss theoretically. Also It's nice being able to walk into Sanford and recognize so many people. I still get to see my undergrad friends, and I’ve gotten to know a bunch of people in my master's class. The biggest difference to me is just having so many people to say hi to. It’s really cool to feel the convergence of those two parts of my Sanford experience. - Kathryn Anderson PPS’24 MPP’25 #HumansofDukeSanford #MPP #Undergrad The 4+1 program is now open to all undergrads at Duke! (Not just pubpol undergrads.) Link in comments

I’ve always just wanted to help people in the career I pursue. In high school, I found that environmental issues are something that I feel really strongly about. I came to Duke originally planning to double major in Public Policy and Environmental Science. But after taking classes at Sanford I found myself more drawn to the big-picture planning of public policy than the more detail-oriented work of a scientist.

At Sanford, I did an independent study project with Professor Nicholas Carnes. I took an elective with him called Climate Politics, and he suggested that I develop an assignment I had done for the class about wind energy opposition into a research project. The idea is that if you reach out to people and understand why they oppose renewable energy projects, you can do more to alleviate those problems in the future and make renewable energy policy more inclusive.

I learned about the accelerated master’s program, also called the 4+1 program, during my freshman spring. My TA for PubPol 155 was in the program and spoke highly about her experience.

So I finished my major, minor, and Trinity requirements within three years at Duke to apply. Planning it out took some foresight since a lot of classes within the major lead into each others. And now, what is technically my senior year of undergrad, I’m taking first-year courses for an MPP degree.

Taking master’s level classes is exciting. It is really enriching to have people in the classroom who can draw on their own experiences working in the policy field, the kinds of jobs that, as an undergraduate, I only discuss theoretically.

Also It’s nice being able to walk into Sanford and recognize so many people. I still get to see my undergrad friends, and I’ve gotten to know a bunch of people in my master’s class. The biggest difference to me is just having so many people to say hi to. It’s really cool to feel the convergence of those two parts of my Sanford experience. – Kathryn Anderson PPS’24 MPP’25 #HumansofDukeSanford #MPP #Undergrad

The 4+1 program is now open to all undergrads at Duke! (Not just pubpol undergrads.) Link in comments

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