Economics Newsletter

April, 2008                                                                                                                 Spring Issue

Christiane LaBonte

I graduated from Syracuse in May 2006 with a BA in economics and policy studies.  I loved my SU experience.  Like most seniors, I was nervous about graduating and finding a job and learning how to do this adulthood thing.  After graduation, I knew I wanted to move to Washington, D.C. I spent the spring and summer of 2005 here, and while interning with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I caught a rather acute case of “Potomac Fever.”  Sure enough, within three weeks of graduation, I accepted a job as a research assistant (RA) with The CNA Corporation, a not-for-profit policy research firm in Alexandria, Virginia. My work is in the area of health services research, which refers to the study of the quality, efficiency, financing, and delivery of health care. 

CNA’s health care practice numbers about 20 people and we’re growing.  The majority of our staff hold PhDs in economics, but there are also sociologists and clinical and research psychologists on staff.  At the moment, I am the only Bachelor’s-level RA, so I am busy.  Fortunately, my SU education prepared me for this job extremely well.

Writing my thesis through the Economics Distinction Program was the most challenging academic experience I had and also the most gratifying.  Going through the formal research process was both maddening and enlightening and I ended up enjoying it so much that research is now what I do for a living.   

In addition, my second major of policy studies gave me additional hard skills that made me competitive in the marketplace.  These skills contribute tremendously to my ability to do my job.  In policy studies, I learned how to do things like design and implement surveys.  Well, one of my first tasks at CNA was implementing and analyzing results for a survey on disability compensation for the Department of Veterans Affairs.  In order to analyze survey data, I primarily used SPSS, which I first learned in MAX 201, a required course for policy studies majors.  Policy studies, in general, gave me the skills I needed to apply the theory I was learning in my economics courses.   

Finally, I cannot speak enough about the value of internships or other applied learning experiences that integrate formal coursework.  The summer after freshman year, I had to beg for my first internship (part-time and unpaid) with the planning department at a hospital in my hometown of Chicopee, MA (while I had that internship, I also worked nearly full-time at a grocery store).  I did such a good job that I got a check at the end of the summer and they brought me back the following year, this time for a full-time paid internship.  Internships have a way of building upon themselves – if you start early, you’ll be in a much better position later on to compete for the prestigious placements in DC.  And you’ll have a leg up on figuring out what you want to do after graduation.  

Because of these experiences I had in college, I did not experience a learning curve at CNA.  Instead, I have been able to focus on improving my analytical skills and learning more about how the professional world works.  My colleagues have been gracious and helpful.  CNA is a low-key environment, conducive to hard-core thinking.  I have my own office (no cubes!), which I have decorated with Syracuse Basketball memorabilia.  The work, while challenging, often makes an impact – for example, just last week my boss testified to Congress about that survey project I mentioned a few paragraphs ago.  Our findings will hopefully bring some changes to the VA’s disability claims process.

Outside of CNA, I volunteer as a grant evaluator for my church’s social justice committee, run 5K races, chair a committee for the Maxwell School alumni group, and watch SU games whenever they’re on TV (which is more often than you would think, even here in ACC country).  I live in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, which is pedestrian and public transportation friendly.  

Graduate school is definitely the next step for me.  I’m looking at master’s programs in health policy, both in DC and nationwide, and I have been thinking about going directly on for a doctorate, but I don’t need to decide that immediately.  A wise co-worker advised me to take my life one step at a time while keeping the long-term in perspective and that sounds like good advice.