By Helen Gao MC/MPA 2026
It’s difficult to sum up everything that has happened this year as a Mid-Career Master in Public Administration (MC/MPA) student. As I reflect back, a few lessons stand out that I hope will be useful for future students.
Find your people and purpose
At Harvard Kennedy School, you will learn about yourself, where you are, and where you need to go. There never seems to be enough time to do everything, and you will need to prioritize. But your year here is a gift: a chance to reinvigorate and restore a sense of wonder and connection with the world and remind yourself why you are here.
For me, my purpose has always been about relationships and bringing people together. Coming from the world of politics, I know there is nothing more powerful than building bonds with people you truly trust and who share a common sense of purpose. Somewhere along the way you realize: these are your people.
Be ready to drink from a firehose
One of the first phrases you’ll hear at HKS is that the experience is like “drinking out of a firehose.” To give you a sense of what any given day might look like, here’s everything I did on a recent Tuesday:
Caught up with a dear friend
Listened to the President and CEO of the International Crisis Group speak about the future of conflict
Attended our weekly MC/MPA seminar, which is “our time” to reconnect with the cohort
Went to an art museum as part of my law clinic on dispute systems
Participated in interfaith conversations and got to know people and their perspectives more deeply
Ended the day with dinner with friends, discussing the future of multilateral governance
Between events and study groups, classes and assignments, networking and recruiting, and time with loved ones, you will be challenged to choose between opportunities. Here is my advice.
Be selective early: Identify two or three focus areas and prioritize around them.
Build depth, not breadth: You don’t need to optimize everything. Choose what feels meaningful to you.
Leave room for spontaneity: Some of the best conversations happen when you least expect them. It’s cliche, but it’s true.
“The intellectual energy here is hard to replicate. I am always finding people who are not only curious, but who challenge me beyond my comfort zone so that we can move the needle forward, together.”
Prepare to be surrounded by the best of the best
One of the most amazing parts of the MC/MPA Program is, without a question, my peers. It’s not the achievements that matter, but the depth of experience, wisdom, and care that they bring to their work and to this community that been a constant source of inspiration.
In any given class or conversation, you will be surrounded by people who have done it all: negotiated in conflict zones, designed national policies, built companies from scratch, transformed organizations, all in the pursuit of solving some of the world’s greatest challenges. The intellectual energy here is hard to replicate. I am always finding people who are not only curious, but who challenge me beyond my comfort zone so that we can move the needle forward, together.
What this means is that every conversation is an opportunity to learn, to question, to spark new ideas. It means learning from professors who dedicate their time and energy to supporting your goals with doors that are always open. And it means not having to navigate your next step alone—you will be surrounded by peers who boost you up because they see your potential and want you to succeed.
Come ready to build
If you’re considering the MC/MPA Program, my one piece of advice is: do it.
These memories and these relationships will stay with you for life, and the opportunity to work alongside people who are genuinely committed to solving some of the world’s hardest challenges is not something to take for granted.
A lot of people don’t come in with a clear plan, and that’s okay. I didn’t. What matters more is being open to people, ideas, and having your assumptions about the world challenged.
For me, the real value of this place wasn’t just the esteemed speakers I encountered in the halls (and there are quite a few of them). It was finding, and intentionally building, a community of people who make me think more carefully, more ambitiously, and more collectively about what the future could look like.
At the end of the day, the opportunities here are endless, but what stays with you are the people. Your allies, your confidants, your collaborators. I found mine. And if you come ready to build—not just to take from this experience, but to contribute to it—I’m confident you will too.
