“The Grand Challenge Scholars Program was an incredibly important part of my college experience. Through the interdisciplinary curriculum component of the program, I took classes that allowed me to critically examine not only the technical, but also the economic, social, political, historical, and cultural aspects of the challenges I was attempting to address. This examination eventually led me to pursue a career in politics, where I hope to support the individuals and institutions that are solving the technical components of the Grand Challenges, while also helping to solve the non-technical aspects. The GCSP taught me to apply an analytical framework to complex problems and gave me a strong background in many of the issues that I deal with every day. After graduating, I began working as an advertising account manager at Revolution Messaging, which is a digital consulting firm that focuses on non-profit and progressive political clients.”