Elizabeth Aritonang

Elizabeth Aritonang is a PhD student studying state-level school finances, state legislatures, and racial disparities.

Summer Program courses are definitely challenging. But they're also very flexible in how you can approach them. You could do it at your own pace. You can talk to people, you don't have to talk to people, the courses are adjusted to fit lots of different needs. And there's just so many resources and folks at your fingertips ready to help.

Her reason for attending the Summer Program

I'm really hoping to gain community and meet other folks who are interested in state-level policy and policy scans. But I'm also really interested in learning various types of quantitative analysis. In the race and ethnicity class we talked a lot about how racism is measured in survey analytics, but I was also interested in learning different types of causal types of models and things like that. Actually, while I was here, I was working on my dissertation proposal, so I thought these would be two separate things I'd be working on this summer. But it was really great that a lot of the things we walked about in class helped me write and finish my proposal, because there were certain things I had to think about and it helped get my brain going a little bit, especially as it relates to race and policy and measurement.

On the Program’s easy-going social atmosphere

It's a very relaxed environment, and all the instructors and TAs are just so helpful. It's less intense or intimidating than a conference setting, like the whole point is for you to talk to them. And the other participants all vary in their backgrounds. Some are faculty members, some are PhD students or candidates, some are researchers. So it's really cool to interact with different types of folks from different backgrounds. It's very relaxed but also just very open, and I feel like it's easy to talk to folks.

Her words of advice

Don't be afraid to be seen trying. I think we all come here with different backgrounds, strengths and expertise, and it's just like... ask your questions! I'm sometimes a little shy in the beginning of these kinds of things; it takes me a while to warm up in these classes. But just don't be afraid to be seen trying. That's what everyone's here for.

Additional resources to draw on in Ann Arbor

I wasn't really familiar with the University of Michigan before coming here. I had never been to Michigan before. But I found out a colleague of mine from undergrad is a faculty member here. I feel like there's just so many resources depending on your background and what your research interests are. There's so many different departments or organizations that you could get connected with. There's just so much expertise here and there are so many people that could help you with your work, or give you advice on your dataset. I've had multiple data sets recommended to me for my future work. So it's very, very practical.

"Summer Program courses are definitely challenging, but they're also very flexible in how you can approach them. And there's just so many resources and folks at your fingertips ready to help."