A Packed Day in The Part-Time Life

The life of a part time masters student in Heinz College.

In celebration of Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, we are highlighting the diverse lives, research, and experiences of graduate students at CMU. Check out the blog the rest of this week to see more articles from graduate students around (and off!) campus!

My name is Angelica Perry, and I’m a full time nonprofit development director working in Pittsburgh and part time graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University. Originally from New Mexico, I moved to Pittsburgh four years ago to pursue a career in nonprofit work. I’m currently in my first year at Carnegie Mellon working towards a Master’s degree in Public Management. Here is a little peek into what my typical day as a part time graduate student looks like:

6:30AM - 7:00AM Rise and shine! I am not a morning person, so I usually spend the first few minutes of my day hitting the snooze button and answering some emails on my phone in bed. Today is going to be a busy day, so I don’t dawdle for too long-time to get the day started!

7:30AM I catch my bus from Pittsburgh’s north side to downtown. During my ride, I login to my organization’s social media accounts and answer any messages or comments that have come in since yesterday. I oversee all of our social media platforms as part of my job, but there’s rarely a chance to check in on them during the workday. Bus rides are a great way to catch up on our social media happenings. Before heading in to the office, I swing through Market Square for a cup of coffee.  

8:00AM Our Grants Manager and our Development Coordinator have arrived and are settling in to start their days. I check in with them every morning on my way to my office to see if there is anything I can do as their supervisor to ensure they have a good day. Depending on the week, this can mean providing feedback on a proposal, signing off on donation entries, relaying a new grant lead, or reviewing and approving budgets.

Today, I’m brainstorming strategy ideas with the Grants and Proposals Manager for a grant that we’re having trouble spending down under the current budget constraints. We’ll need to approach the foundation to request a re-appropriation of some of their grant dollars before the final reporting deadline. I make a mental note to spend more time thinking about how we’ll phrase this in our conversation with the foundation as I head to my desk.

8:30AM This is usually my first meeting of the day. I have bi-weekly staff meetings with my own team, bi-weekly meetings with my supervisor, monthly meetings with my colleagues on Executive Team, and quarterly meetings with Senior Leadership and the Board of Directors. If I need to meet with a foundation or donor, I also try to schedule these meetings for the mornings. Today, I meet with one of our program directors to go over her funding needs for next fiscal year and our progress on fundraising goals for her programs. We come up with some new leads for grant submissions and corporate sponsors before our meeting is over.

11:00AM I return to my desk to answer more emails, respond to any voicemails, and check in with donors. We’re gearing up for our largest event in May, so much of this time is spent calling sponsors and doing some last minute requests for table and program ad purchases. I also IM my best friends in Denver and Albuquerque to see how their days are going. I can’t wait to be back in the southwest to see them both again!

11:30AM - I decide to catch the bus and head to Carnegie Mellon for a guest lecture on public policy during my lunch break. As a part time student, it’s easy to get removed from the campus and not take advantage of what CMU has to offer. I go to as many lunch and dinner presentations as possible when my work schedule allows. The bus ride to campus is quiet, so I decide to spend the ride brainstorming strategies for the foundation conversation our Grants Manager told me about earlier. I jot down a few notes to her in an email as the bus pulls up to Heinz College.

1:30PM I return to work and resume answering emails and checking in with donors. I have a few requests from program directors for marketing materials and grant submissions. The early afternoon is fairly quiet, so I spend my time working on these requests and doing some writing. I also sneak in some work on strategic planning documents for Senior Team. Before I leave the office again, I process any donations we received that day and stop by for a quick chat with my team on my way out.

3:00PM I have a major presentation to a potential corporate donor for one of our biggest programs. I’ve spent a few weeks preparing for this presentation, but I’m still nervous as I take the elevator up to the 23rd floor to meet with their community outreach team. I’m competing with another major nonprofit in the Pittsburgh region for the partnership, and the stakes are high. I rehearsed my pitch well, and the presentation was a success-we’ve secured the partnership!

4:30PM Another hop on the bus into Oakland. I’m having dinner with my former mentor and fellow nonprofit colleague before class this evening. She has been a major influence in my career, a wonderful friend in Pittsburgh, and a great sounding board for all things nonprofit. We decide to eat at Ali Baba on Craig Street before I dash off to my 6PM class at Heinz.

6:00PM Class begins! This semester, I’m taking Strategy Development with Tim Zak. My favorite part of being at CMU in a graduate program is how applicable and practical all of the coursework is to my full time job. I leave class ready to take what I’ve learned into work with me for the rest of the week.

On nights when I don’t have classes, I work on homework or attend board meetings for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN). I’ve been a board member for YNPN since 2017. It’s an organization that has done a lot for my nonprofit career, and I’m thrilled I get to pay it forward as a board member.  

9:00PM - The last bus ride of the day. I use this time to check in with family back home in Albuquerque. Because of the time difference, my parents are getting ready for dinner. My mom puts me on speaker phone so I can tell them what I’m learning in school and doing at work. I ask about my chihuahua, Bella, and send her kisses over the phone before I hang up. When I get home, I sit down one last time to answer work emails.

10:00PM - I settle in for the night to sew. My mom taught me cross stitch when I was a little girl. I picked it up again in college, and now it’s my favorite hobby. While I sew, my pet hedgehog, Otis, plays on the floor. He is nocturnal, so he’s just waking up to start his day. We spend a half hour bonding and playing before I put him back in his cage so he can resume his pampered and spoiled life of eating, sleeping, and running on his wheel.

11:00PM - Before bed, I usually spend a half hour reading and editing grant proposals for our Grants Manager. When I first became a manager, my biggest mistake was letting work pile up on my desk and slowing down my team’s productivity, always thinking I would find time during my workday to get everything done. Now I don’t go to bed until each of my team members has everything they need to start work the next day. If I don’t have any proposals or work to review, I might go to sleep early or get a jump start on my readings for class.

11:30PM - My favorite time of day! Time to turn in so I can do it all again tomorrow.