Media contact: Savannah Koplon
Ania Krutul, born in Poland and raised in Fairhope, Alabama, has always been inspired by the role of economics and politics in everyday life. However, she did not have any practical experience of how these two could coincide academically. It was not until she enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham that she discovered her passion for sustainability and public policy pertaining to environmental concerns.
Using this inspiration, Krutul, an Honors College student, graduated in summer 2022 from UAB with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the Collat School of Business and a Master of Public Administration degree from the College of Arts and Sciences. According to Krutul, the mentorship of her professors and advisers and her extensive involvement experience guided her to fuse arts and sciences.
Krutul’s motivation to enter the policymaking world was that young people are often discouraged to be involved in politics and they are told that the world of policymaking is beyond their reach.
“We are made to feel that we have no power and can’t make a change,” Krutul said. “But the master’s in public administration empowered me to believe that I have the ability to make change and impact our communities positively. If you feel strongly about something, speak up because, if you don’t, you don’t know if anyone ever will.”
Navigating her way
In high school, Krutul was an International Baccalaureate student, and by the time she got to UAB, she had already completed many of her core credits. By the end of her sophomore year at UAB, she had finished her major classes in economics; but she was not ready for her college journey to be over this soon. Therefore, she met with her adviser to go over future plans; one of the options that clicked with her was enrolling in the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program.
Krutul looked through many areas and disciplines, and after considerable deliberation, she decided to pursue an ABM in public administration.
“I had never heard of public administration before, but I looked into all the classes and they seemed super interesting,” Krutul said. “I didn’t know I was going to be the first student to do this. It sounded great, but it was also a lot of pressure not knowing about someone else’s experience. But I have absolutely loved the program and the faculty here.”
Why ABM
After serving in the Undergraduate Student Government since freshman year, Krutul knew she wanted a future in public policy that impacts sustainability.
“With a background in economics, I found public administration as the best fit for me because of the endless career possibilities it offers,” she said.
Krutul saw ABM as the perfect opportunity to keep advancing her education, which opened doors to scholarships as well as internships. She notes that being a part of the ABM program reflected well on her resume; on applications for internships and scholarships, people recognized ABM as a step ahead — as an accomplishment.
“It was one of the best decisions that I made at UAB.” Learn more and apply to the ABM program in public administration today.
According to Krutul, she gained a wealth of knowledge beyond books in the public administration program and credits her professors with creating opportunities and exposing her to interesting public administration arenas.
“The public administration professors went above and beyond and always looked out for me,” Krutul said. “They created opportunities for me outside of class; Dr. Borry let me help her as an assistant in coming up with content for a new course. Dr. Haque nominated me for a student excellence award from the American Society for Public Administration. I was invited to the ACCMA Conference, where I was selected for the Ronnie Dixon Scholarship and had a chance to network with professionals in the field of public policy.”
Krutul says one of her favorite classes was Administrative Ethics with Akhlaque Haque, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, as he posed the quote on the first day, “Is it our responsibility to clean up other people’s mess?”
“The answer was yes, and it touched me because of its relation to service in policymaking and lawmaking,” Krutul said. “We are responsible for leaving our planet in a better state than we found it. It is something that I am reminded of every day as I progress through my career and try to improve the well-being of our society and environment.”
In her senior year, Krutul got an internship with ReneSola Power and now works full time with them. She was among the top five for the Miss UAB competition, served as a TrailBlazer for three years and was the president of UAB Students for Human Rights. Krutul’s honors also include the American Society of Public Administration Alabama Chapter Student Academic Excellence Award, Tennessee Valley Authority Case Competition Best Speaker Award and Regions Academic Scholar Award.
Looking forward
Other than her passion for sustainability and lawmaking, Krutul mentioned the endless career opportunities that education in public administration offers as one of the prime factors in her choosing public administration.
Currently, she works as a solar energy developer, which gives her a mix of economics, policy and sustainability. In the future, she plans to continue working in the renewable energy field and hopes to get involved with environmental policy; her dream place to work is the United Nations.
Krutul says the ABM program has prepared her well to excel in the field of her interest and “it was one of the best decisions that I made at UAB.”
Learn more and apply to the ABM program in public administration today.