The [Public] Pursuit of Happiness By Linda Peterson
Entrepreneurial. Optimistic. Driven. Persistent. Sounds like a reference to a high-flying, laserfocused tech-mogul-in-the-making, doesn’t it? Surprise! It’s actually the description of six Willamette alumni who have dedicated their lives and careers to service in the public sector. On Capitol Hill or advocating for social change in their communities, whether they knew exactly what they wanted to do or experimented with different paths until that “aha” moment occurred, these Willamette alumni find fulfillment in important work in the public sector. Public servants in the old-fashioned sense of the title, they address the needs of citizens (or not-yet-citizens), struggling families and students hungry to learn (or poorly equipped to learn). They provide safety in an increasingly complex and sometimes-frightening world. And they fit into a wide range of categories: police officer, congressional or agency staffer, union operations director, legal aid lawyer, nonprofit leader-in-development. Life in the public sector may not be as remunerative as life in the private, but that doesn’t matter. Turns out you can’t really buy happiness, anyway — you have to work for it.
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SUMMER 2015