Completion of the second semester

Now, faster than I expected, the semester is already over. After the competition in Philadelphia, I continued with the preparations for my exams, and by the beginning of May, everything was over, and the first academic year was completed. It passed incredibly fast. Of course, it hadn’t been a whole year, “only” nine months, but we don’t have any lectures until the beginning of September — which is three months away.

Traditionally, Fletcher celebrates the end of the academic year with the “Diplomats Ball”. This year, it took place on the ship “Spirit of Boston”, and we enjoyed a harbor cruise at sunset and night.

The actual end, however, was Commencement, the official awarding of the degrees to this year’s graduates. For me, this will take another year, but I attended the ceremony in preparation for next year. There is even a live stream on YouTube. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, and it was windy and rainy. However, this did not dampen the joy of the graduates, and the day was celebrated appropriately. On a Side note: Seeing all the professors in their regalia is always interesting.

What am I going to do over the summer? This is a question that more or less everyone is asking themselves. No lectures for more than three months; that’s a long time. What do you do during this time, and what’s the best way to spend the time? I faced the same challenge and was very happy about the fact that I was able to secure an internship. After endless letters of application (and rejections), I was offered the opportunity of an internship at a private equity firm in Singapore. So, I started my journey on May 24, 2024, and arrived safely 24 hours later on the other side of the world. I have a good week to get used to everything (including the climate and time change) and will start facing the new challenges on June 3, 2024. I plan to fly back to Germany around mid-August to visit my family, and at the end of August, I will return to Boston to start my second and final year of the Master’s program.