Introducing Alex, first-year MIB student
Next up among our first-year student bloggers is Alex, who introduces himself here. He has spent eight years abroad in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from The College of William and Mary.
Hi everyone, my name is Alex Schulte, and I look forward to contributing to the Fletcher Admissions Blog during my next two years here. Let me tell you a little bit about myself, and why I’m so excited to be at Fletcher.
My passion is finding creative solutions to difficult problems. Specifically, I am interested in figuring out how to bring clean energy technology to commercial scale in order to help address three of the biggest and broadest issues we face today: 1) running our economy more efficiently and productively; 2) easing geopolitical tensions that arise from securing and allocating conventional energy resources; and 3) maintaining a sustainable environment for future generations. I believe that clean technology represents one of the 21st century’s greatest opportunities to create a more prosperous and inclusive world.
The energy sector is complex and global, and requires a very firm grasp of both international business and policy. Before Fletcher, I was already working to develop the experience and skills necessary to operate effectively in this area, including:
- Consulting at Monitor Deloitte for emerging-market and defense clients, which exposed me to world-class strategic planning and data analysis skills.
- Managing the start-up of a multi-million dollar nutritional food production business in Ethiopia, which taught me the tactical side of entrepreneurship in a difficult environment.
- Working at a Chinese nuclear energy joint venture in Beijing, which gave me experience analyzing a novel clean energy technology and its competitive situation.
I learned a lot from these experiences. Most importantly, I discovered that I still have a lot to learn. This is why I am excited to be starting at The Fletcher School’s Master of International Business (MIB) program, focusing on finance and energy.
On the finance side, I recognized my need for further education in financial matters when I was confronted with the challenge of securing a $5 million loan for my business in Ethiopia. Since starting at Fletcher, I have already learned concepts in my Corporate Finance class that are directly applicable to this experience. Furthermore, I look forward to learning even more from the International Financial Management and International Business Transactions classes I will take next semester.
On the energy side, I realized that a more structured and comprehensive understanding of the energy landscape would have been useful when I was conducting market analyses for the Chinese nuclear energy firm. The insights I have gained from my Climate Change and Clean Energy Policy class are invaluable, and I look forward to taking International Energy Policy next semester. Already, the MIB program has provided me with the broader contextual intelligence that I need, and the intellectual rigor that I crave, to be successful in a sector as complex as energy.
Possibly even more important than the content of my education are the relationships I am forming. At Fletcher, I am surrounded by a community of peers and professors who are also interested in the intersection of business and international affairs, and crosscutting solutions to solving global problems. I am honored and excited to have joined the Fletcher community, and to attend one of the foremost international affairs schools in the world. I look forward to taking you with me on my journey through the MIB program.