Think I’m Ready To Try Again.

Dear Readers,

As many of you are aware, I made an attempt last summer to crowd-source the remaining funds needed to obtain my degree.

Despite the well wishes and contributions from many in the community, I fell short. Part of it was my hubris, I vastly underestimated the effort and time it would take to raise the amount. Part of it, too, was that my pitch needed work and my perks weren’t great.

Six months older, somewhat wiser and having taken some lessons, I’m back to try again.

The pitch remains the same.

I’m almost done with a graduate degree, one that works to train practitioners for a globalizing world.

If you’ve read any of my pieces on lawfare or trade, those are informed by what I absorb through my course work and through the methodology I’m given. The opportunities available at a place like the LBJ School are wide, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to do everything from research projects focusing on highly enriched uranium (HEU) phase-out in research reactors to seeing in real time efforts to set up new and improved global fair trade certifications. It’s been a valuable experience, but it’s not quite finished.

I’m short a semester’s worth of credits. The funds I raised last summer have gone toward getting financial bars cleared at school and as a cushion built up toward this attempt. I hope, that by stretching the fundraising time to 90 days I’ll be able to combine the online crowd-sourcing efforts with more local efforts like a bake sale (yes, corny as it may be, I plan to hold several) and local fundraising efforts.

As I said last summer:
The experience of having dealt with financial hardships and working past unhelpful school administrations has given me the goal of establishing a study abroad scholarship for international graduate students. Ideally once I’m finished with my degree, I’ll start putting money aside from my paycheck to make seed money for that. Any money raised from this drive above and beyond my needs will also be put aside for this purpose.

If you feel that smart, informed policy analysis is a valuable investment to society, I hope you’ll press the button.

And for the many who already have, perhaps you can reach out and add a personal touch to my appeal.

I’m always looking for suggestions on how to improve the pitch and perks, and if you all have ideas or would like to pitch in with a video clip of a pitch, I’d be in your debt.

Every dollar counts now, and while I know there are plenty of other causes out there, perhaps you can spare a little bit here.

Help me get to the finish line, so I can start to pay it forward.

Thanks for reading.

-Nob