Class of 2012 Student Profiles

Thomas Granado , 2012, United States

Why I chose Fletcher: I chose Fletcher because of its flexibility and vibe. Perhaps more importantly, Fletcher chose me. It's a fascinating place, full of both experts and generalists who share a desire to make a broadly positive impact on our societies. In order to accomplish this goal in a globalizing world it's important to understand the interplay of government and the private sector. To that end, many of us would like to contribute—over the course of what we hope will be dynamic careers—to the success of a private enterprise as well as the influential agencies and organizations that operate outside the profit realm. Fletcher is, by far, the best place to prepare for such a future. You don't come here to get branded, though the Fletcher brand is world-class; you come here to get your world rocked and contribute to something bigger, period.

Something that has surprised me about Fletcher: One of the surprising things about Fletcher has been the lack of an unhealthy competitive culture among students, which is often prevalent in such graduate programs. Students are individually competitive, but there is no class ranking system that might pit one against another. You won't find Fletcher students (as far as I know) ripping pages from books to get a leg up. It's largely congenial, collaborative, and conducive to learning from one another.