Student Profile: Shane Rudy, EMP Class of 2023

Shane Rudy, EMP Class of 2023, never thought he would go to college. "None of my family had gone, and my high school experience was not great," he said. Nonetheless, he figured he would give community college a try and enrolled at SUNY Orange County Community College in his hometown of Middletown, New York.

“I had a lot of struggles at first. I felt I had to figure out a lot of administrative processes, in addition to academics, that I didn't learn in high school,” he said.

Fortunately, Rudy said, he found mentors at SUNY Orange County Community College who invested in him, and he was able to transfer to SUNY New Paltz after two years. He graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a degree in international relations in 2017.

"I joined the Army soon after: I knew people who had joined, and I wanted to be a part of a goal-oriented team and see how the military worked from the inside." Rudy spent four years in the Army, including being stationed in South Korea for nine months. "We were in South Korea during COVID, so there were a lot of restrictions on what we could do. It was a tough time, both personally and professionally." However, Rudy found a beneficial aspect to the challenging experience: "I could see, for both those in the military as well as civilians, how COVID changed how careers looked and worked. I began to think about what I wanted from a career and what interests I wanted to develop and expand."

Rudy decided to participate in the SkillBridge program, which is designed to connect members of the military with internship opportunities. He interned with AbbVie, a Chicago-based pharmaceutical company, in May 2021. "I chose AbbVie because I wanted to join a company that creates a product that helps people."

Working in the pharmaceutical industry also exposed Rudy to how policy can impact businesses—and nurtured his interest in health care. "I realized if I wanted to make a greater impact in health care, I needed to learn the quantitative skills I had avoided so far in my career. I began looking at graduate programs, and the Harris Evening Master’s Program provided the best opportunity to continue working while also advancing my career,” he said.

The University of Chicago's resources for veterans, including Military Affiliated Students of Harris, also was appealing to Rudy. “You normally see veteran-focused programs for law and business schools and rarely for a policy school," Rudy said. "I thought it was unique that Harris had that component.”

So far, he says, the EMP has delivered. "I've been gaining the quantitative analysis and statistical tools I wanted, and the networking has been invaluable. My colleagues have shared—and taught me ways to tap into—opportunities that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. I feel I am already better prepared for the next stage of my career."