NKU MPA: 2025 Part One

     Hello, welcome to the beginning of a year long journey through the NKU MPA program. This blog shall serve as a window into the goings on within the NKU MPA program through the eyes of me, Luke Price. In terms of introductions, my story may be one you are familiar with. I am a a student who experienced the COVID-19 Pandemic through my senior year of high school and into my freshman and partially through my sophomore years as an undergraduate student. I had long been decided on attending NKU due to its proximity to me as well as its affordable tuition rates and quality education. I, like many of us, did not know precisely what I wanted to do with myself moving forward out of high school. At the time I only knew that I wanted to pursue something professional and likely outside of the corporate for-profit world.

    I had always wanted to do something where I made a positive difference for my local community and I believed for a time that law school and a Juris Doctorate were the pathway to do so. Thankfully, an MPA informational session happened to be held in a class I was in and everything clicked for me. Not in that exact moment of course, but the seed was planted. I realized that I had wanted to become a public servant all along. I could achieve my newly realized aspiration through a different pathway, being an attorney is a great profession, but I had realized it was not for me. It also didn't hurt that the MPA program was far more affordable and required me to invest fewer years of my life.

    A benefit of learning about the MPA as an undergraduate wasn't just that I knew the option was available for me, it also was in learning about the Public Service minor offered at NKU. The Public Service minor allowed me to take the three introductory courses of the MPA program and learn more concretely if the MPA program was the place for me. I was pleased at the level of instruction provided in those three courses and was convinced that the MPA program was the appropriate next step on my career trajectory. Students within the program enter into it from diverse backgrounds. Many are students such as myself who are entering right out of their undergraduate studies while others are returning professionals whos previous career experiences vary. 

    If you are someone who wants to enter into the world of government or nonprofit management, or if you just don't want to work for a corporation in the future, the NKU MPA program may very well be the place for you. The faculty within the program are all extremely skilled educators as well as willing to help you on your academic journey. The program also participates in lots of different events on campus, as well as outside of campus for networking and community service purposes. Just this past Saturday on 1/18/25 representatives of the MPA program, including myself, participated in NKU's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. In partnering with various local nonprofit agencies NKU as a whole was able to engage in constructive community service in honor of Dr. King's legacy.

    Coming up soon on Friday the 24th MPA students, faculty, staff, and alumni will be present at the men's basketball game against Milwaukee. Finally, if you find yourself interested at all in the MPA program and wouldn't mind learning more about it, please attend the Public Service Career Day on Tuesday, February 4th, in the Health and Innovation Center room 102 at either 9:25AM or 10:50AM to hear from a panel of NKU MPA alumni who are making our community a better place out in the public sphere!