It All Started At Brown

Like the bloggers before me, I think I’m still wrapping my head around the reality of our impending 5th year reunion. It’s almost hard to believe that we’ve now been out of Brown longer than we were there. Especially when I consider how close I still feel to our alma mater, and how often it impacts my day-to-day life.

But hey, if January isn’t the perfect time to reflect on the past and imagine the future, I dunno when is. So here goes.

I graduated Brown with a political science degree and absolutely no idea what to do with it. (This story gets better, I swear.) In fact, after turning down a consulting offer, I had but one job prospect still in the works as I packed up my Young O dorm- a constituent service position for a Massachusetts state Senator, Susan Fargo. I, by the way, am a New Jersey native… so yeah, the situation wasn’t looking so hot.

Yet after several weeks at home (and far too much television and self-loathing) the call came in: not only did Senator Fargo’s office want me, they wanted me tomorrow! Good thing all my TV commitments were easy to break.

So in what felt like the blink of an eye, I moved my life up to Boston. I’ll never forget that first day of work as I literally followed the freedom trail to the State House’s iconic golden dome. Oh the possibility! The power!

Okay, okay, I know… any of you who have worked in state government (or I would venture to say any level of government) know that it doesn’t take long for that wide-eyed idealism to change into a far more cynical pragmatism. But I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way.

For all the inevitable set-backs and frustrations of government work, the victories (even if they are small and far between) make this one of the most gratifying undertakings I have had the privilege of experiencing. And what a place to learn the inner workings of government – in a state that prides itself in its bold social policies and pension for experimentation, my four years in the State House encompassed a heated battled over same sex marriage, the implementation of a landmark universal health care system, a drastic reorganization of the state’s public transportation bureaucracy, and the devastating realities of a national economy in decline.

While I have since left the State House to pursue a Master of Public Policy at the Kennedy School, I have no doubt that the past four years were only the beginning of my work in the legislative arena.

And even now that I’m at Hahvahd (don’t worry- I have refused to buy even a single Crimson shirt), there is no denying the impact Brown has had on my life.

In fact, I was reminded of that just today as the Kennedy School took a break from the chaos of shopping period (I know! Shopping period! Some things never change.) to reflect on the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s presidential inauguration. While the words of his speech (see the video link below) echoed through the halls of Harvard this afternoon, I was very conscious of the fact that for me, they expressed an optimism and a political ethos that very much took root during my four years at Brown.

Like I said, almost 5 years out, and I feel as connected to the University as I did my first day on College Hill.

See you at the reunion.



Danielle Cerny

(Danielle.Cerny@gmail.com)