[MUSIC PLAYING] The Urban and Public Affairs Program is a master's program for people who are really interested in engaged research and being engaged in public policy. It's one of the things that I think distinguishes us from other programs is that we find that our students have this kind of vibrancy and energy in the classroom, because they realize that what we're learning about-- what they are learning about in the classroom is what they are living. 

Well, I was looking for something that wasn't a traditional program. I wanted something where I can be hands-on. I wanted something where I can actually learn policy, and apply it immediately thereafter. 

The students that we attract are curious, and questioning, and they want to understand the world, and they want to understand their position in it. They want to understand how they can change it and make it a better place. 

The best thing about being a student in the program is definitely my classmates. I think everybody here is really engaged and excited to make a change in the world, and to make a change in their own cities and local environments. 

We wanted to be able to bring together faculty from academic and practical backgrounds to kind of create a new kind of educational experience, where students could be out in the field, and also deeply embedded in books and history through the classroom. 

I really am impressed by our faculty, because not only are they experts in their fields, but you could mention an author, speaker, and they probably already have a relationship with that person. And they're not only there to just teach us our coursework, but really help us figure out what is our passion, and what is it that we really want to do once we graduate from the program. 

One of the key advantages of our program is that we're in the city of San Francisco. We're at the center of Bay Area politics. We encourage our students to be fully engaged in the community on multiple levels, not just in the city of San Francisco, but in Oakland, in San Jose. The region of the Bay Area is an incredibly rich place to learn, and to study, and to grow, and to become involved in all of the issues that are facing cities around the world today. 

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