Meet Maya Budhrani, class of 2024 Master of Public Service & Administration (MPSA) candidate, as she discusses her experience at the Bush School and what inspired her to chose public service and the Bush School!
Introduce Yourself
Hi, my name is Maya Budhrani. I am a first year MPSA student on the public policy analysis track with a concentration in nonprofit government relations. Prior to coming to the Bush School, I was an undergrad at Texas A&M studying political science with a minor in Spanish. Now that I’m here, I’m very excited to be learning and continuing my education from political science.
Why did you choose to come to the Bush School?
I chose the Bush School because of the atmosphere of the professors. I like that we have professors of the practice. I think learning from people who have been in the field is just incredibly important and a useful and vital skill to have. I think that they have a lot of perspectives that differ from those who are traditional professors. I would tell someone to come to the Bush School so that they can have the same experience. There’s a lot of connections to be made here, and there’s just a lot of truth to the Aggie Network providing so many opportunities.
What did you appreciate the most about your first semester?
I think what I appreciated the most from my first semester was the atmosphere of the Bush School, allowing us to get to know each other. A lot of the second years made a lot of effort to get us to get to know each other outside of class and to create those connections and friendships so that being together in a classroom setting was a lot less intimidating. So I think the community building that we made at the beginning was really important to my happiness here.
Tell me about an experience that inspired you to chose public service.
The most influential experience that persuaded me to go into public service was in 2013, I believe. Wendy Davis did the filibuster to protect abortion rights access in Texas for women. And I really admired how passionate she was and how she stood up for something she believed in. And while I don’t necessarily agree with all of her politics, I really admired that someone stood up for what they believed was right and actually impacted change and blocked legislation from passing. And I wanted to be just like that, and I still do.
What advice would you give a younger version of yourself applying to the Bush School?
I think the advice I would give to my younger self when applying to the Bush School is to just do it and to stop doubting myself because I’m a lot more capable than I give myself credit for and I can make a good impression and so I think, yeah, I would tell myself to stop doubting myself so much and if I’m really concerned that I won’t get in or that I won’t make it to let other people tell me no and to not say it to myself upfront.
