SPIA very much affords you the flexibility to choose your own security adventure—this was perhaps a level of flexibility that I was slightly uncomfortable with as an Army Officer, but I learned to love.

Pre-SPIA, I had not been in the world of academia for quite some time, but I had the good fortune to receive recommended preparation materials from an advisor and likewise attend ICPSR for game theory after encouragement from another advisor the summer prior to enrollment.

Coursework at SPIA is simply a plethora of opportunities, and loading up on additional classes is both a tempting and worthwhile experience. Fellowships outside of the classroom are equally enriching. I had the good fortune to serve as a fellow for CISS, which likewise presented opportunities for practitioner enrichment and camaraderie with both the Politics Department and SPIA community. Additionally, I received a Data Driven Social Science grant to supplement the methodological training SPIA has to offer and use some of the quantitative tools I had learned in real time.

Perhaps the best part of SPIA is its interdisciplinary nature. My mentors and advisors are all dual-appointed, which provides unparalleled and diverse experiences. I’m in the process of launching a survey experiment with one faculty member while simultaneously serving as a consultant for a separate project for another. And of course, the PhD cohort is small but phenomenal. My cohort provides the feedback, support, and camaraderie that I needed to fully appreciate the program, and the intramural volleyball team provided the competitive edge I could then bring back into the SPIA classroom.

Princeton is life-changing, and I am so grateful for the mountain of support I received during my application process, while here, and I am sure well into the future.