---
title: "Bridging My Passion to My Profession: Getting an MPA at Cornell University"
description: CIPA provides the missing link that bridges my passion to my profession. Just over a quarter of the way into this graduate program, and I’m already more empowered to navigate many of the professional obstacles I endured prior to enrolling at Cornell.
---

[Public Policy in Action | Cornell Institute for Public Affairs ](https://mpastories.publicpolicy.cornell.edu/blog)

# [Bridging My Passion to My Profession: Getting an MPA at Cornell University](https://mpastories.publicpolicy.cornell.edu/blog/bridging-my-passion-to-my-profession-getting-an-mpa-at-cornell-university)

 Written by [Grant O'Brien](https://mpastories.publicpolicy.cornell.edu/blog/author/grant-obrien) | 2/21/19 11:21 AM

Professionally, I’m admittedly “all over the map”. I’ve explored careers in financial services, advertising, and have sustained a part-time career as a musician since first entering the workforce in 2011.

An unwavering fascination of democracy and the democratic process, however, was instilled in me during my first job out of college when I joined the *Obama-Biden* reelection campaign (headquartered in my mid-west hometown of Chicago, Illinois) as an entry-level member of the organization’s *national advance team*. My level of excitement and engagement as an *advancer* far exceeded anything I considered professionally possible.

Following the campaign’s victory that November, the organization that provided to me my first “real job” naturally dissolved, and I was faced with considering other professional avenues — at least for the time-being.

## Returning to my political- and government-related aspirations:

Financial services and advertising never captured my attention in the way that political campaigns had and I consistently returned to political contracting in between (and sometimes alongside) those less compelling pursuits. This recurring tendency is what encouraged my return to graduate school as a candidate here at Cornell University. Earlier last year, a less enthusiastic foray into financial services was straying me away from my true aspirations for a career politics and government and the window to fully commit myself to public service had opened.

## Choosing CIPA's MPA Program:

Despite my tenacity, however, I struggled to identify a way to support this endeavor by staying relevant outside of political election cycles. The decision to pursue a *Master’s of Public Administration *degree through *Cornell’s Institute for Public Affairs* (CIPA) was arrived at after recognizing that my prior experience had not afforded me the skillset needed to migrate from a successful campaign towards an effective administration in a role that felt fulfilling. My developed skillset, while having served me well thus far, simply wasn’t transferable towards other careers within politics and government.

*It was widely apparent that a more comprehensive understanding of political theory and quantitative analysis was clearly required in order to make the positive impact that I desired.*

Without delay, the CIPA curriculum efficiently hits the ground running through its foundational course offering. One semester in: *Intro to Public Administration* explored a series of analytical case studies addressing real-world consequences of effective and ineffective public management practices. *Politics, Policy Studies, and Political Management *introduced the full gambit of all important policy positions ranging from health care to comprehensive immigration reform. Into the spring semester, *Intergovernmental Relations* lends insight into an area of public management my professional career has been largely devoid of until now and our understanding of the concepts learned is challenged through *Consulting for the Non-profit and Government Organizations*; a course that organizes its students into consulting teams with actual clients in the spirit of aiding a topical cause.

Evidently, CIPA provides the missing link that bridges my passion to my profession. Just over a quarter of the way into this graduate program, and I’m already more empowered to navigate many of the professional obstacles I endured prior to enrolling at Cornell. CIPA approaches skill-development aggressively — it’s well-resourced, efficient and to-the-point from day one onward. Through CIPA’s influence, I’m unquestionably more capable of ensuring that my professional career is well-aligned with my personal ambitions.

*Grant O’Brien is a first year CIPA student from Chicago, Illinois focusing his studies on government, politics, and policy studies. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree studying political science from Loyola University New Orleans in 2011 and a Masters of Business Administration from DePaul University in 2013. Among other professional considerations, Grant has remained politically active primarily as a logistics (advance) coordinator for members of the Democratic Party during most of the last decade.*

## Explore our digital resource page — **An Educational Guide for Future Leaders in Public Affairs** — for an in-depth look at what it would mean to pursue a Master of Public Administration!

[View full post](https://mpastories.publicpolicy.cornell.edu/blog/bridging-my-passion-to-my-profession-getting-an-mpa-at-cornell-university)

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