Working at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Peru was a formative experience that brought economic theory face-to-face with the complexity of field research. As a Research Analyst, I contributed to randomized controlled trials examining intimate partner violence, school management, and STEAM education — projects that demanded both rigorous methodology and deep community engagement.
The experience taught me that good research requires more than clever identification strategies. It requires building trust with communities, navigating institutional constraints, and translating academic questions into protocols that work in practice. I came away with a profound appreciation for the gap between research design on paper and implementation in the field.
[Add your personal narrative here — specific moments, lessons learned, people who influenced you, or how this experience shaped your research agenda.]