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I graduated two years ago from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in political science. I did it because I want to work in government for elected officials, organizations and institutions I admire, so I can help make a difference for the better in the lives of Americans. In the interest of accomplishing this goal, I'm returning this fall as a graduate student in the Master of Public Policy program because I want to learn quantitative, statistical and technical skills to complement the critical thinking, conceptual and writing skills learned in my undergraduate education. For this reason, I am well aware of the student loan debt crisis in our country and the financial lengths to which borrowers go to attain an education. In fact, my sister is one of them. I have been witness to the financial and personal hindrances and constraints resulting from her student loan debt. And now, with the prospect of graduate school before me, I find myself in a similar situation. I was one of the fortunate ones to get a free undergraduate education, but I now unfortunately find myself facing the reality that, contrary to undergraduate funding, graduate funding is provided by the academic department to which you apply. Unfortunately for me, my academic graduate department, the School of Government and Public Policy, is rather small and does not count with the funds to help all of its graduate students financially or to the extent that would be ideal for them. Aware of the financial difficulties of student loan debtors, I find myself desperate to avoid a similar fate. If I had my druthers, I would like to go into this first year with the funds necessary to reach solvency and avoid the necessity to take out loans. I am applying to this scholarship and others in an attempt to raise these funds. If I ultimately fail at this, instead of taking out loans, I will enroll on a part-time basis, so I can work part-time simultaneously and finance my education that way. This would provide me with the best opportunity to balance school and work successfully, as I am not confident I can do both full-time just yet, with this upcoming fall semester being my first in graduate school. The problem, of course, is that it will then take me more than the usual two years to complete my degree, and this will likely have personal and academic ramifications for me. Personally, my time in Tucson will eventually come to an end. My parents are both sexagenarians and have been planning for several years to relocate to Texas, where my older sister and her children live, to retire and reunite with them. Because of their advanced age, I also plan to relocate to Texas, to be near them in case of an unforeseen medical emergency and to enjoy them for as long as I can. They plan to relocate sometime in the next two to three years, which is roughly equal to the average length of a graduate degree. I could complete my degree online, but I do not want to miss out on the value and perks of in-person learning. My desire to stay close to family and reap the benefits of in-person learning puts a lot of pressure on me to complete my public policy degree in the traditional two-year window. The prospect of enrolling on a part-time basis complicates this situation. The same can be said academically. I have the next two years visualized — the classes I will take, the internship opportunities I will seek, and how and when — and anything less than full-time matriculation threatens to disturb these plans. The MPP program mandates for five of the eight core courses required for graduation to be taken in a specific sequence, restricting the availability of three of them to the fall semester and the remaining two to the spring semester. In addition, the MPP program highly recommends for them to be taken in my first year of study. If I do not have the funds to justify full-time enrollment, I will have to enroll on a part-time basis, which, depending on my ability to juggle school, work and personal responsibilities, could limit me to one or two of these courses per semester. This could make the completion of my first year of study even longer than it is already projected to be, as the mandatory sequencing and year-round unavailability of these courses will require more than one fall and spring semester to complete them; and the expectation that they be taken in my first year of study will make it undesirable to jump ahead in the program because they are considered fundamental to understanding the rest of the curriculum. This means that I am essentially stuck in place until their completion, which their seasonal nature and part-time enrollment only delay and make more difficult. This, in turn, will likely negatively affect the timetable for another one of my goals: apply to the competitive Arizona Legislative Internship Program. This internship would be of great professional importance to someone interested in public service like me, as it would allow me to put into practice what I learn in the classroom and gain much needed experience conducting the kind of legislative work that occurs in public institutions. This internship takes place in the spring, and depending on how my type of enrollment throughout the degree affects the rate and sequence in which I take and complete courses, it could end up being that I graduate in the fall, and not traditionally at the end of the spring semester, which would render me ineligible for the internship, as only students can apply. I am in a difficult situation, where incertitude about my ability to pay for my education begets incertitude about my family affairs and academics. If I were to be awarded this scholarship, it would bring me closer to reaching solvency and provide me with the opportunity to matriculate as a full-time student. Instead of having to deviate from my academic goals, I would be afforded the time to focus entirely on my education, engage in activities and opportunities outside the classroom related to my field of study, and the privilege to sort out my personal life.