I've left the comforts of Ottawa to rejoin field life. Working in policy research is a different kind of challenging, and although I really appreciated the experience, I was beginning to become rather bored. It was really hard to break out of a programming mentality and focus on academia.
On a field research trip I realised - when interviewing NGOs and CSOs - that I was incredibly homesick for projects, and programs, and "doing things". This feeling translated into my work when I returned to Canada, leaving me desperate to get back to implementing and designing projects rather than researching policy alternatives. I needed to get back to there. Not necessarily "in the field", but back in that line of work.
Policy research is extremely important, and I have been so fortunate to have the experience, but there are so many people that are academically focused and would have killed for my job. I, on the other hand, saw it as a stepping stone to gaining experience in a niche area.
So I'm back with the old org. Back in the thick of it. No longer in the Middle East, but in East Africa.
On a field research trip I realised - when interviewing NGOs and CSOs - that I was incredibly homesick for projects, and programs, and "doing things". This feeling translated into my work when I returned to Canada, leaving me desperate to get back to implementing and designing projects rather than researching policy alternatives. I needed to get back to there. Not necessarily "in the field", but back in that line of work.
Policy research is extremely important, and I have been so fortunate to have the experience, but there are so many people that are academically focused and would have killed for my job. I, on the other hand, saw it as a stepping stone to gaining experience in a niche area.
So I'm back with the old org. Back in the thick of it. No longer in the Middle East, but in East Africa.
Hello South Sudan!
