News & Features
MPP student’s internship in China takes policy from abstract ideas to real world
By Sidney Cruze
After graduating from Duke in 1993, MPP Candidate Elizabeth Sasser spent her summer vacations fighting poverty. Her volunteer efforts to help build and repair homes for impoverished families took her from Appalachia to Mexico City. In 2005 she returned to Duke to gain the analytical skills that would prepare her to create change at the policy level.
This summer, Sasser completed a month-long internship in China that gave her a chance to see first-hand how education policies affect rural and migrant families. The experience prepared her to better advocate for these populations and renewed her commitment to working with disenfranchised communities.
“My internship was vastly different from my first-year core courses, yet both are policy-oriented,” Sasser said. “It was helpful to learn there’s more to policy work than working in an office. I think it is important to spend time in the communities that our policies impact, to see how families and communities are affected.”
Growing up in Washington, D.C., surrounded by politics and policymakers, Sasser developed a passion for helping people who have little or no access to opportunity. Before starting the MPP program, she spent three years working in Beijing and learning to speak Chinese. She also traveled across Asia, which sparked her interest in global policy.
next page >>>
1 | 2 | 3
