While in Ottawa in 2011 to participate in practicum with the Conservative Party of Canada, Alexandra Valcour fell in love with the capital city and knew she wanted a career in politics. Valcour enrolled in the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to learn the fundamentals of how the Hill works,\u201d says Valcour. \u201cThere are things that you don\u2019t get taught when you\u2019re thrown into a role in any political office. You\u2019re supposed to learn it as you go as a staffer, but it\u2019s nice to have somebody sit down across from you and really explain the rules. At the Riddell Program, you get to have those nitty gritty conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valcour says the program exceeded all her expectations. \u201cInevitably, you become good friends with someone who sees every political decision and activity in a polar opposite way from your own views and it\u2019s really helpful,\u201d she says. \u201cIt never changed my political ideology, but it opened me up to thinking about things in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valcour did her practicum working for the president of the Treasury Board, and today works as a senior policy adviser in the Office of Ontario’s Minister of Long-Term Care.\u201cThe practicum is pivotal. It gave me an opportunity to translate what I had been learning in school and apply it to the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
For any future students considering the program, Valcour has one word: \u201capply\u201d. \u201cI don\u2019t think I would be where I am if I hadn\u2019t done this program,\u201d she says. \u201cI can put the letters behind my name, but I think the bigger part of it is the confidence I now have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last Revision: May, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"people-type":[34,52],"yoast_head":"\n