Rising MPA student uses personal experience to fight for change
What's My Why?
“My main driver was to study public policy in order to do advocacy work to expand some of those laws [for worker protections]. … With a public policy degree and just how connected UBalt is with city and state government, my hope is to mostly either do legislative advocacy through the government or a nonprofit. I feel like this school really sets you up to succeed if you want to work in any sort of government or state role.”
When Alicia Ryan was about 9 years old, her mother went to college for the first time.
Alicia ended up following in her mom’s footsteps. With her family’s support, she, too, chose to pursue a college degree later in life, but for her own reasons.
Alicia spent more than a decade as a nanny and in that time, discovered how few protections she had for the work. When she became pregnant, she lost her job. And that was just the beginning.
“During COVID-19, it was just very glaringly obvious how unfair or imbalanced it is in our country when you're talking about, especially retail workers, nannies, domestic workers, service workers. They just don't get as many protections from the federal government,” she said.
Her adversity became her inspiration. Alicia decided to pursue a college degree in public policy. She wants to use her voice and experience to invoke change that can protect future generations in their work.
“Whether that's local, state or federal, I don't really know yet, but I think it's important that people are talking about it, and it's not just people like politicians, but people who have actually worked in those industries and understand how horrendous it is to lose your job because you're pregnant and have no one to talk to or recourse to take,” she said. “And not just pregnancy, but mental illness, death in a family, any of those things, you have no protections when you're a nanny, and a lot of people don't know that.”
Alicia started at Baltimore City Community College and soon after transferred to The University of Baltimore for its B.A. in Policy, Politics and International Affairs program.
“I feel like this school really sets you up to succeed if you want to work in any sort of government or state role,” she said.
Becoming an alumna of the University of Baltimore was in Alicia’s blood long before she considered going to college herself. Her grandfather and uncle both graduated from UBalt’s School of Law.
She ultimately chose UBalt for her own reasons, though. Her undergraduate program was one of few she found that offered the coursework and opportunities she sought on a schedule she needed.
“I am a returning student who works a lot on campus and off campus and also has a child and a house and a husband and all the things. I like that there's flexibility with classes and that, generally speaking, they're in the afternoon or evening, or there's availability for Zoom or asynchronous classes,” she said. “With busy students, just having the flexibility makes a big difference because I'm not always available every day to be on campus for classes.”
Having that flexibility has created room for Alicia to participate in the various programs and organizations on campus. She works on campus in the Office of Diversity and International Services, the Hoffberger Center for Ethical Engagement and the Helen P. Denit Honors Program. She’s also an honors program student, so she gets to help plan programming and participate in the opportunities it welcomes. One of the most exciting was a global field study to Belize in the spring of 2023.
“I think there's just so much opportunity to do stuff around this campus, whether that is actually on the campus or through the campus, like the NextGen internship program, attending city and state conferences and all these opportunities that come through being an active student on campus,” she said.
While at UBalt, Alicia also helped revive the University’s chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), a national honor society, before stepping down as president to run for president of the Student Government Association (SGA), which she won.
“I do a lot of stuff with SGA and in that, you're in the Governance Steering Council, the Student Advisory Council, the Middle States Re-Accreditation committees. There are a lot of moving parts with committees on campus, which I think is great because it gives students a chance to be involved in the higher end decision-making that's happening on campus, so our voices are being heard.”
After she finishes her bachelor’s degree this fall, Alicia will officially start UBalt’s Master of Public Administration in the spring. She’s already started taking some classes through the University’s accelerated option.
Alicia wanted to pursue her MPA because it is a nationally ranked program. But she also has come to love the University community and is looking forward to spending more time in it.
She has enjoyed getting involved and meeting others who are as dedicated to making their mark in college.
“It's really nice to be part of a group of people who want to make UBalt a better place, and also are committed to doing so,” she said.
Alicia has found a lot of advantages in the University’s size.
“I have never been in a class that was more than 24 students. I think that makes a huge difference, not only in your ability to learn, but in your relationships with your peers and with your professors. I've gotten to know my professors really well and feel comfortable talking to them walking down the street,” she said. “Additionally, because it's small, you also get the opportunity to meet your deans, the provost, the president of the school. I don't think at most collegiate institutions you get that opportunity, so you feel more part of the community.”