I come from a place where higher education is mythological: it's this nebulous ideal you aspire to, but isn't quite tangible or fully understood. I always knew I'd go to college---since preschool, adults would always say that college was the goal. But beyond that, little was ever mentioned. I knew master's and doctoral degrees existed, but I never really knew what it meant to aspire to pursue a PhD, for example. That's why at Cornell I've made it a point to seek out the wisdom of professors and students alike on what life beyond undergrad looks like — to ask "I got here, now what?" I've asked so many professors to meet and discuss what their academic and career journeys looked like because I wanted role models. People to look up to and say "I want to be like you" in the policy world.

So when I think of what inspires me, I think of the professors who've shared their stories with me. I think of the professors who came from backgrounds like me — lower income and underrepresented — who persevered and persisted until they became leading experts in their respective policy domains. When I look ahead, I see myself in the image of my faculty role models who've shown me what the "now what" of life can be. And that's ultimately a testament to the power of role models in shaping the bounds of what we see possible for ourselves.

What inspires you?