By Andrea Grant
noteworthy
What does it feel like to shape the national political discourse before you even finish your degree? For applied politics alumna Mikaela Linder, BA ’21, MA ’22, seeing poll questions she wrote get picked up by major news outlets was surreal—and addictive. Now she’s in her “dream job” working as a junior analyst at the Boston polling firm Beacon Research, a position she landed thanks in large part to a résumé packed with experience writing, analyzing, and proofing several real polls through her independent study with the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
For center director David Paleologos, working with talented students such as Linder is an obvious win-win: Aspiring pollsters get uncommon access to this exclusive field, while the SUPRC gains fresh perspectives.
“What Mikaela and her generation offer are different questions, and different ways to ask questions,” Paleologos says. “That means the Suffolk polls are going to connect with the next generation much better than our competitors.”
“I love to know what people are thinking. Polling is such a great way to gauge public opinion and identify the broader conversations we need to have,” says Linder.
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Photograph by Michael J. Clarke
| Fall 2022
