Highlights from My MPP at the Harvard Kennedy School
Two years ago, I made a decision to leave Google to pursue a master's degree at the Harvard Kennedy School. In June 2020, I graduated “virtually” like millions of students across the globe. The purpose of this post is not to “breach” grad school, but to share my own experience and learnings. Since graduation was also canceled due to COVID-19, it is an opportunity for me to pause and reflect on the crazy roller coaster — grad school.
Highlight #1: Meeting brilliant classmates
Meeting brilliant people in grad school is an everyday occurrence. I found that the type of people who apply to policy school tend to care deeply about having a positive societal impact. I learned about different policy areas beyond my focus — from environmental policy to criminal justice reform. It was intellectually stimulating to chat with different classmates in the cafeteria, hear different viewpoints in classes, and learn about the cool things my classmates were doing before and during grad school.
Highlight #2: UAE Visit to learn about Government and Technology
During my first year, I visited the UAE for the first time as part of a school trek. During our time in the UAE, we visited the Crown Prince Court in Abu Dhabi, met with H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Minister of Culture Noura Al Kaabi, along with different HKS alumni. It was interesting to learn about the UAE government’s recent initiatives directly from people who set these policy agendas.
Highlight #3: Michigan Trip to Learn about Immigration
As part of my fellowship requirement, we were asked to plan a domestic trip in the US, and my fellowship cohort voted to visit Michigan because of its large Muslim and Arab population. The goal of the trip was to learn more about the Arab American experience, with a focus on integration efforts and the economic challenges faced. We visited the Arab American National Museum, spent some time at a local high school, and met with policymakers, and nonprofit leaders.
Highlight #4: Interviewing 20 Startup Founders in Vietnam
My thesis focused on Vietnamese startups particularly on healthcare, and as such, I went to Vietnam for a month to conduct my research. During my time there, I interviewed policymakers and startup founders to learn more about the digital health ecosystem in Vietnam. Building enough confidence to be able to travel to a country I never visited and cold email to arrange 25 interviews was a big undertaking. It was one of the most challenging, but most fun experiences I had.
Highlight #5: Working as Teaching Assistant
During my second year, I worked as a teaching assistant for two classes — statistics and behavioral economics. Having the opportunity to teach allowed me to learn the materials better, and to practice communicating more effectively.
Highlight #6: Hands-on Projects
During my first year, and as part of a class project, I worked directly with a client from the Ministry of Transport in Argentina to rethink how a city such as Buenos Aires can introduce Autonomous Vehicles in a way the complements public transit. I collaborated with 3 classmates intensely and we presented our research findings to a senior official from the Ministry of Transport.
Highlight #7: Working at a Startup
Having worked at Google before grad school, I knew that I was eager to explorer smaller companies and to explore the startup world. During the summer, I had the opportunity to collaborate directly with the CEO of a digital health startup in Egypt. I learned a ton about launching products, building financial models, presenting to investors, and really trusting myself more.
Highlight #8: Being encouraged to share and publish my thoughts
One of my personal goals during grad school was to write more and to be a bit more assertive. I started writing on a medium more, and over time trusted myself to share my thoughts and published my first article in the Kennedy School Review. I also tried to practice public speaking — a skill that I have to keep working on — through moderating a panel at the Harvard Africa Business Conference.
Highlight #9: Taking Multidisciplinary Classes
I took classes at the Design School, Law school, and Business School. I took very different classes on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, finance, economics, and tech policy. I also took classes on core skills that I wanted to develop such as negotiation and product design.
Highlight #10: Endless Interesting Events
The number of events Harvard has is… huge! Every day there are at least 50 events that one can attend. One of my favorites was by Prof. Marshal Ganz on the value of public narrative. I also learned a lot from a workshop session on Op-ed article, and another session on art and politics by Sultan Al Qasmi.
Highlight#11: Finding quietness & exploring Cambridge
Cambridge is crazy — with so many smart people in a very small place and many brilliant professors that are approachable. The opportunities feel limitless and it can be overwhelming sometimes. Some of my favorite moments were times I could just sit by the Charles River to watch the sunset and take all of this in.
