Recap: NASPAA Simulation Competition

On Feb 28 I participated at the first ever NASPAA Simulation Competition at the USC Sol Price School of Public Affairs in Downtown Los Angeles. The competition itself was an invaluable experience with professionals in my own field. During the course of the day long competition our analytical and critical thinking skills where put to the test in a feat to help a community implement the Affordable Care Act through a series of budget cuts, investments and community intervention programs. The true challenge of the simulation however, tested our ability to account for short term and long term uncertainty as well as the volatile and complex nature of community stakeholders. 

The state of the art simulation technology accrued points dependent on five competing categories, where increases in one could lead to increases or decreased in other categories. The goal was to strike a balance amongst the five categories. The challenge pinned the values and moral compasses of my team against each other and challenged us to make compromises none of us were comfortable defending. Made up of a military officer, a Peace Corps inductee, a university Director, and myself to say we had an interesting dynamic is an understatement. 

After the competition, we were put the ultimate test and had to defend our decisions and present in front of our competing teams. Those teams would score us and give us ranking depending on their evaluation of our outcomes. At the end we didn’t take the win, but we certainly didn’t make it easy. We placed at the top of the teams and celebrated over an open bar, provided by USC. At the end of the night the biggest reward however came as I nonchalantly stroked a conversation with a man at the corner of the auditorium where the winning team was being presented. After about 15 minutes or so, I realized the person I was diverging my interests and career aspirations was none other than Robert Denhardt himself. If you’re a student of Public Affairs and the name doesn’t ring a bell, do yourself a favor and look him up, you’ll be better for it. After an awkward fan girl moment, we exchanged cards and he extended an invitation to connect. 

The competition was exciting, challenging, and nerve wrecking and for those reasons has become one of the highlights of my graduate career. From what I understand the competition begins a new tradition for NASPAA, and I strongly recommend if you get the opportunity to attend you take it!