Josh Growney, a Trinity College Public Policy & Law graduate from 2011, is now living in Vienna, Austria and interning at the U.S. Embassy in the Political and Economic section. He comes originally from Rochester, NY; and during his time at Trinity served three times as class president, co-chair of the Student Alumni Association and co-chair of the Senior Class Gift Committee. He is currently participating in a master’s program in Urban Studies that brought him for one semester each to Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen, and Madrid over the course of two years, and he will graduate this September.
Policy Voice: What drew you to the PBPL major and how did PBPL prepare you for your current position?
Josh Growney: When I interviewed at Trinity as a senior in high school, my interviewer was a senior PBPL major. She handed me a PBPL brochure at the end of the interview, and other than knowing Trinity was my top choice, I knew I wanted to be PBPL major! I was really impressed by how eloquent she was, and we were able to discuss political issues during the interview objectively. I’d say the best thing about PBPL is all the writing you have to do – it prepared me to write an official cable for the U.S. government on youth political movements in Austria. The oral arguments helped me learn to think on my feet, an important skill when working at an Embassy!
PV: What was your favorite class in the major?
JG: My favorite class was actually something I never thought I would be interested in, Bioethics with Justice Barry Schaller. I had taken another course with him my previous semester, and I thought he was a great professor, so I signed up to have him again as a lecturer. Bioethics challenged me to explore my own personal beliefs with a political lens, we discussed a variety of topics beyond the “pro-choice”/”pro-life” debate that forced us to defend our opinions with policy and legal instruments. It tied in well to my senior seminar on religion and the Constitution with Professor Fulco, another favorite class of mine.
PV: What advice would you give future Trinity graduates looking for career opportunities?
JG: Don’t get caught up in the trap of comparing yourself to others. I graduated Trinity with no idea what I would do next, even though many of my friends were already committed to a job or graduate school. Now I’m living and working in Vienna, I’m much happier than if I settled for something that didn’t interest me.
PV: How do you feel about the direction Trinity is taking with the new social policies adopted by the Board?
JG: I have to admit, I only have seen what my friends post on Facebook and quickly read the official college emails. I hope that Trinity continues to attract top high school students and gives the best opportunities to current students as well, both academically and socially.
PV: Is there anything that you recommend Trinity students experience before they graduate?
JG: Well maybe it’s because I’ve been out of the States for too long, but I’d say Max Burger and Plan-B.
PV: Do you think young people are apathetic and/or misinformed about politics these days? If so, why and how might that change?
JG: I think both young and old people can be misinformed, but I wouldn’t say apathetic. At least in my experience at Trinity, I felt many students were politically active and aware, even if their opinions were radically different from mine. That being said, I hear stories all the time from Europeans who travel to America and are asked the most shocking questions: for instance “How long have you had cars in England? I thought you still rode around on horses…”, but I’ve also been asked questions about how often I eat at McDonalds by Europeans!
PV: Where might we see you in five years?
JG: I hope to continue with a career that allows me to travel, I enjoy seeing Europe now and I hope that I can explore more of the world in the years to come. My colleagues at the Embassy call me “the politician”, but I won’t comment on that.
PV: So…Fox, CNN or MSNBC?
JG: I’m going to plead the fifth on this one…