Binghamton student fast-tracks her education to earn a Master of Public Administration degree

Veronica Tarascina was born in Brooklyn, but her earliest words were in Ukrainian. With a passport in hand before she could walk, her Ukrainian-born parents made frequent trips back to Ukraine so Tarascina could experience a childhood surrounded by rolling fields and quiet villages. However, when school beckoned, she returned to the United States more permanently, stepping into a world that felt both familiar and new.

“I was born here, but Ukrainian was my first language,” Tarascina said, “so when my parents brought me back to attend school here, I had to be placed in ESL classes because I didn’t speak English.”

Nevertheless, Tarascina had a sibling to model after: her sister, eight years older, who helped shape her aspirations and paved the way academically.

“When I was growing up, I based a lot of my visions for the future on my sister, who was very smart, very accomplished,” she said.

Like her sister, Tarascina attended Brooklyn Technical High School, a magnet school specializing in STEM education. However, while her sister enjoyed math and later majored in economics and math at Vanderbilt University, Tarascina did not consider math her strength. Consequently, when it was time to look at colleges, she favored a school with a more humanities-focused curriculum. While her parents wanted her close by at Brooklyn College, she preferred a school far enough away to offer autonomy, yet close enough to travel home on occasional weekends.

“I wanted to be able to go home and visit my cat and grandmother often,” she said.

Tarascina had been uncertain about which school to attend until she visited Binghamton University during an admitted students’ program and discovered the Nature Preserve. That moment stood out for Tarascina: “I remember hearing about the Nature Preserve and seeing the campus surrounded by hills, and I thought, ‘yeah, I think I’d like it here.’”

She first applied to Binghamton as an environmental studies major but later switched to political science. Her parents wanted her to have a technical degree as a backup and suggested she double-major in economics. After trying a few economics classes, she knew it wasn’t the right fit for her.

When she learned about the 4+1 program in public administration, she saw that it aligned with her goals and her parents’ expectations. By sticking to one undergraduate major, Tarascina finished her bachelor’s degree in three years and is now working on her master’s. She will earn both degrees in only four years.

Although she wasn’t initially sure about public administration, she eventually came to love its “hands-on” aspect. It was a human rights class taught by political science Professor David Cingranelli that allowed her to see a practical application of some of the theory she was learning in philosophy and political science courses.

“I was having a lot of philosophical discussions in my political philosophy courses and that was great, but public administration felt like the flip side of this, where I could apply the theory I was learning to real-world issues,” she said.

A highlight of Tarascina’s campus experience has been her collaborative research with faculty, including Cingranelli, and her involvement in the Equity Lab led by Public Administration Assistant Professor Lauren Dula. She began as a volunteer research assistant and later advanced to a graduate assistant position. Dula explains that Tarascina was awarded an assistantship due to her hard work and initiative.

“Veronica is always present, always prepared,” Dula said. “She is extremely intelligent and analytical; she looks at things systematically and is good at identifying key points and common threads across different issues. And she seeks out collaborative environments and guidance, which is to her benefit.”

At Binghamton, Tarascina has become part of an academic community, finding mentors who have helped shape her ambitions and chart her future path.

“I think I’ve been really lucky with my choice of professors because I genuinely adore so many of them,” she said. “There are five or six that I still visit regularly, even though I am not currently in their classes. I will definitely miss the chance to drop by during office hours just to chat or get advice.”

This semester, Tarascina is interning at United Health Services, funded with a grant from the Put God First Family Foundation. She is conducting a transportation needs assessment for Broome County, contacting various agencies, including the Department of Aging and Broome County Transit, to gather data and coordinate existing reports on transportation needs for the local population, as well as identify areas for improvement.

“Everyone knows that transportation in Broome County is a pretty big issue, so I have been reaching out to various agencies, gathering data about perceptions around transportation and needs and writing a report about it,” she said. “It’s been really interesting.”

Tarascina will graduate this spring with her Master’s in Public Administration and is evaluating her next steps. Although she previously considered law school, she now plans to work in public administration for several years before deciding. She admits to feeling a bit nostalgic about her time at Binghamton and the connections she has made in the local and campus community.

“I know the owners of my neighborhood café, and I really like them. I know all the good parks in the city, and feel connected to faculty who have become mentors and friends, so I have really mixed feelings about leaving this spring,” Tarascina mused. “I’ve met a lot of stellar people here, and I just really like this community; they’ve got a really good thing going on.”