Read the full interview with these MPA students/grads on the Evans School website
Maddie Immel, MPA ’22, and her younger sister Audrey, a Double Dawg with an undergraduate degree in Public Health-Global Health and now a first-year MPA student, recently sat down with us to discuss what brought them to Evans. Together, they reflected on the values they share and how their unique paths have influenced one another.
What inspired each of you to choose the Evans School, and how did you decide it was the right place for your graduate education?
Maddie: Seattle is the place that I wanted to be long-term, so I only actually applied to Evans. Audrey and I are from Redmond, and it’s important to us to be around family- I knew that going to a graduate program in the place I wanted to settle long term was going to be the best option professionally and personally. Evans has a wide Alumni network, and I wanted to make new friends! I moved back to Seattle and started Evans in 2020 during the pandemic, and I feel like it was the reason I found a job that I’m passionate about and a community of friends who share similar values.
Audrey: Maddie was a huge influence on my decision to come to Evans. I was torn between staying on the East Coast for a health policy-focused program or coming back to Seattle to be near family and start building my community here. I remember Maddie took me to meet Scott Allard, who shares similar policy interests with me, like social policy and food security. I was struck by how warm the interaction was, and walking around the building felt so welcoming. I realized that I wanted to be in Seattle long-term, and having the alumni network and strong professor connections was really important to me.
