Meanwhile From McCall: Listen, Learn, Repeat

By McCall Hopkin, Dallas Martin Endowment Policy Intern

This week has been a nice combination of learning and application. My internship with NASFAA allows me to do a lot of listening, which I think is the best way to learn. Over the last several days, I’ve attended education funding meetings with K-12 and higher education stakeholders, a Veterans Affairs congressional hearing about GI Bill implementation, multiple NASFAA staff discussions around legislation review and policy research, and joined Forward50 calls on higher education accountability and transparency.

I appreciate the exposure this internship provides to people, processes, vocabulary, and new ideas. Attending and listening to professional conversations about student financial aid helps me connect with the field and feel more comfortable writing and talking about higher education policy.

As I build this knowledge base I am better equipped to apply what I’ve learned to tangible projects. This week those have included presentation slides for NASFAA’s 2018 National Profile release next week, policy memos, research for an issue brief, and various one-off projects for policy team members. Each time I sit down to write one of these blog posts, I seem to feel a little more capable, knowledgeable, and confident than the week before — which is what this experience is all about!

Publication Date: 7/20/2018

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