Joshua Hawkins in his own words:
I graduated in August 2007 from MSU with my bachelor’s degree in Political Science. My fellow graduates gathered prior to the ceremony to exchange congratulations and thanks. I vividly recall the discussion involving what each of us would be doing next. As a runner for Strong Law Firm, I received great advice from some of the partners (including current MSU President Clif Smart) not to rush into a six figure student loan for law school. I had become gainfully employed in the private sector, but I had also begun contemplating graduate school to study emergency management and hazard policy. To this day, I can distinctly remember Dr. Connor and Dr. Kernen encouraging me to take this path. This piqued my interest given the renewed societal focus being placed upon the value of emergency preparedness, especially in the aftermath of 09/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Minneapolis bridge collapse.
I enrolled in the University of New Orleans Master of Public Administration program in August 2008, a week before Hurricane Gustav hit the region. The opportunity to study hazard policy in a city rebuilding itself was an incredible experience. While enrolled, I worked full-time as an assistant to the Executive Director for the Jefferson Parish Council on Aging where I gained valuable management and policy skills before graduating in May 2010. Jazz musician Irvin Mayfield, Jr. was our commencement speaker and thanked the graduates for choosing UNO so soon after Katrina, as we would forever be part of the great city’s recovery.
The seven-term Mayor of Gretna, Louisiana, Ronnie C. Harris, was on the JCOA Board of Directors at that time and noticed my efforts. His Chief Administrative Officer retired and he had 30 months to fulfill his last term and wanted to know if I would be interested. I jumped right into it and received a crash course in local government management and politics. I served as the city’s Incident Commander during Hurricane Isaac and helped secure a Community Development Block Grant to redevelop two ball fields in a minority neighborhood which had been damaged by Katrina years earlier.
I am now the City Administrator in Ashland, MO. Ashland is a growing community in Boone County and provides a valuable opportunity for me to continue my municipal management career while working in public works, municipal finance and economic development. You don’t have to be an expert in one field to be a successful municipal manager but you do need to be able to think critically and solve problems. My political science education at MSU helped me to cultivate these skills. The faculty demanded logical explanations for our conclusions in academic work as well as classroom discussions.
My advice to any political science student is to take a logic class, develop your public speaking skills (I highly recommend joining a local Toastmasters Club), learn a foreign language and do not accept sloppy work from yourself in the classroom. Your undergraduate degree will help you develop necessary critical thinking and problem solving skills which employers of all industries and disciplines crave but you must put in the effort while you are a student. It is also necessary for students to secure an internship if they do not work at a job which will lead to valuable experience and networking. It is a difficult job market for new graduates so it is important that you take the opportunities presented to you and make the best of them as I have done with the opportunities afforded to me.