Returning to a Student Blogger, Ten Years Later

John just stepped out for a coffee and I’m occupying the Admissions blogger’s seat until he returns.

Anyway, I was scrolling through an in-Fletcher newsletter last week but stopped abruptly when I saw the link to an article in The New York Times about one of my favorite-ever students, Mirza Ramic, a 2014 graduate.  Depending on how deep you’ve dug into the blog (possibly not this deep), you may have stumbled on the posts that Mirza wrote as a first- and second-year student.  Since graduating, Mirza has returned to his love of and talent for making music as Arms and Sleepers, and he has built his career in Europe.  In the blog, you can see the music life start to pull him back as early as spring break of his first year.

What caught the attention of The Times was Mirza’s performances in Ukraine since the start of the war, which he documents here.

Mirza’s path through Fletcher and on to a music career isn’t unique, but neither is it common.  It does, however, fit a not-uncommon theme of adding an academic overlay in international relations to a non-IR field.  Where Mirza’s path is unique is due to his personal history.  To understand better how he may have been drawn to supporting residents of a country in the midst of conflict, here is the inspiring short documentary that he created a few years ago.

If all of this has made you a new fan of Arms and Sleepers, there is plenty of content on all your favorite music platforms, and there’s a new album to check out.  Or find Arms and Sleepers on Instagram for updates, and follow one graduate’s special post-Fletcher path.