The Director of Student Affairs at SPIA, Paul Welch, sends an email to every SPIA student at least once a month informing them about the unique opportunities that SPIA is currently offering. He informs students of guest-lecturer events, extracurricular activities, scholarships, and interesting electives. As a rising senior, I was struggling to decide what 1-credit course I was going to take to make sure I reached the required 120 credits by graduation. I looked at all of UGA’s offerings of courses, including Horticultural Professionalism, Glee Club, Practical French Conversation and many more. Although they looked very interesting or fun, nothing was really pulling me towards a specific course. Then, I received another email from Paul Welch, describing a course that would be offered in the Fall called “National Security Decision-Making” and taught by a retired U.S. Marine Corps General. Although the class may have steered some away with the meeting time of 5:30-7:30 PM on Tuesday nights, I knew I was definitely going to register for this unique opportunity.
General Arnold Punaro has dedicated his whole life and career to public service, specifically national security, making him the perfect person to learn from. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for many years and rose to the ranks before he switched to a different role within the government. He worked in both the executive and legislative branches, giving him a unique perspective to national security from every angle. In our first class period, he explained that if we wanted to learn about national security as taught by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, we were in the wrong class. Instead, he told us that we would be learning about the government through the learned experiences of industry leaders and professionals, an experience that could not be taught in a traditional educational environment.
At the start of every class period, we began by learning background information about the topic of the day, such as the Department of Defense, national security budget, the intelligence community, or the private sector. After learning the necessary background information, we were joined by a guest lecturer that was an exceptionally experienced individual in our topic of the day. By the end of the semester, I had heard from the former Director of the CIA during 9/11, a former DOD Comptroller, senators, a former White House National Security Advisor, and even more valuable mentors. Listening to these influential individuals talk about their unforgettable experiences in public service only reaffirmed my decision to enter a career in national security. I have learned so much from General Punaro’s course and will remember his advice long into my career. I encourage every SPIA student to pay attention to emails from Paul Welch because SPIA is always offering life-changing opportunities like this one that will only help you succeed in any future endeavor.
Written by Elizabeth Cardini
