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Thanksgiving table setting
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Thanksgiving well wishes

Daniel Birdsall

Thanksgiving! A non-scientific, small-n survey of People I Talk To yields the conclusion that it’s pretty close to a consensus favorite holiday. The specific reasons for this likely vary from person to person, as “typical” Thanksgiving celebrations can range from the local and fairly simple to complex and far-flung affairs involving all kinds of extended family. At minimum, most folks can count on a gigantic meal with little of the guilt that normally comes with gluttony. 

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Readying for the fall: your Pre-semester Preparatory Primer

Daniel Birdsall

It’s only early August, and there’s still a full month until the start of classes. Incoming students are hopefully enjoying some summer fun before getting back into school mode. Whether it’s been a brief or long while since you’ve last been a student, though, the transition to the academic year will involve a few adjustments to get re-acclimated to the rhythms of academic life in general, and the culture of Fletcher in particular.

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A word about online grad school forums

Daniel Birdsall

Potential grad students are understandably eager to gather as much insight as possible into the programs they’re considering. Applicants want to demystify the admissions process, admitted candidates want to know more about the culture and community of particular schools, and enrolling students want to figure out how to start quickly to get everything they can out of their program. We do our best to provide as much useful information as we can, as transparently as possible, in a variety of formats (emails, newsletters, online chats, virtual info sessions, in-person events, FAQs, individual correspondence, and this blog, to name a fistful). It’s natural, though, for people to want more from time to time. In spite of our best efforts, we may not always provide the specific detail you’re looking for. Sometimes you may just want insight from an outsider; we’ll always be straight with you, but it’s true that we think Fletcher is a pretty special place, and we want you to think so, too.

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To DC or not to DC, that always seems to be the question

Daniel Birdsall

With admissions decisions now available from Fletcher and most peer institutions, an annual theme is beginning to bubble up in our conversations with many admitted applicants. The importance of location in the decision-making process varies some from applicant to applicant, but nearly all candidates will at some point read, hear, or otherwise come across the conventional wisdom that one simply must go to school in Washington, DC to have a chance at achieving career goals in any number of sectors. Let’s examine this a bit.

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2019 D-Prize winner

Daniel Birdsall

Back in October, I mentioned the Fletcher D-Prize (formally the “Fletcher D-Prize Poverty Venture Solutions Competition,” if you’re not into the whole brevity thing). Administered by the Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC), the D-Prize awards up to $30,000 for a social entrepreneurship proposal to combat poverty in the developing world. It’s one of the coolest things at Fletcher, in my view.

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Who says grad school is all work?

Daniel Birdsall

Spring break is still over a week away, and the weather of late certainly hasn’t indicated that winter is leaving anytime soon, but that hasn’t stopped Fletcher students from taking a study break to make the best of our latest round of snow. This fellow showed up outside of Ginn Library this week, ready with a flimsy high five and general good cheer for passers-by, and even sporting a dash of Fletcher orange.

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Galapagos iguana
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Winter break updates from around the world

Daniel Birdsall

Our students cover a lot of ground during winter break. It’s a long enough period to accommodate internships, field work, and general globetrotting, but also not so long to make treating it as something of a vacation seem unreasonable. For many, it’s a nice respite from the hectic pace of the academic year, and a chance to catch up with family and friends. I asked a bunch of our students what they got up to over winter break, and got some typically eclectic responses.

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