Garret Sobalvarro is an MPA candidate focusing in policy analysis. Garrett currently lives in Highland Park, Illinois, where he serves as a captain in the United States Army currently serving as a detachment commander. Garrett brought eight years of professional experience to the O’Neill Online program.
The level of professional experience in this program is very high and I have learned as much from my classmates as I have from the faculty.
Why did you choose the O’Neill Online MPA program?
The skills gained in an MPA program, I think, are broadly applicable across a number of public career tracks. As a military officer, and as someone who aspires to work in the policy arena after my military service is complete, I wanted a degree that would help me achieve my goals and gain a greater understanding of policy formulation and analysis. It was important to me that I enrolled in a reputable school, known for the rigor of its program, where I was certain to actually learn. At the time I applied, O’Neill was the only MPA program in the top 10 of the rankings that was even offering their degree via distance learning. While a couple of other competing schools have recently begun to follow O’Neill’s lead, the O’Neill Online Program is obviously the most established and well respected of its kind.
How has the flexibility of the online program helped you to balance all of your responsibilities?
In my personal life, I’m a husband and a father to three preschool aged children. In my professional life where I’m an active duty officer serving in the reserve component, or an Active Guard Reserve officer in military parlance. For most of the time I have been in the O’Neill Online program I’ve had two jobs for the army, one as the commander of a detachment of over 100 soldiers and the second as the plans officer form my battalion, working training and operations for a unit of more than 350 soldiers. All of that in combination with pursuing an MPA, you could say I probably keep myself too busy—which is why the flexibility in O’Neill’s program has been what has enabled me to juggle so many different responsibilities. This past spring I got to travel overseas for a week with the Army and I recall listening to one of my economics professors lectures while riding a train across northern Italy—O’Neill Online’s teaching platform is that accessible and flexible.
What are your main academic/policy areas of interest and what led you to those interests?
I am completing my MPA on the Policy Analysis track and my specific area of interest is in U.S. foreign policy. Some might think O’Neill, a school that has earned a stellar reputation with a focus on U.S. domestic and environmental policy, is an odd choice for somebody interested in foreign policy, but I would argue that this is where another aspect of O’Neill’s flexibility shines through. O’Neill Online offers many electives with a foreign policy focus and even the classes which do not explicitly focus on it have been flexible enough in application and assignments that you can tailor them to any policy area of interest. For example, in my Public Program Evaluation class, I’m tailoring my final paper to an evaluation of a U.S. foreign aid agency. In my Benefit-Cost Analysis class, my final paper will review a study conducted on analyzing the value of the post-World War II international order to the United States using BCA methodology. O’Neill even has research and reading courses that students can design to pursue studies that align with their research interests.
Is there anything else you would like prospective students to know about you or your experience in the program?
I’ve been consistently impressed with the quality of candidates O’Neill Online has been able to attract. I’ve taken classes with a United States ambassador, a Foreign Service officer, a Harvard Law School graduate, people with multiple other advanced degrees, elected officials from both sides of the aisle, and professionals from all walks of public service life. The level of professional experience in this program is very high and I have learned as much from my classmates as I have from the faculty.
