ADVENTURES AT FRANKLIN

Students hard at work! A new and exciting happening at Franklin this year has been the successful opening of the Fowler Learning Commons. This space was created through a generous gift from alumna and trustee, Angela Fowler, and has expanded our student study space on campus tremendously. Located on Franklin's North Campus, this space has provided an even better locale for students to come study, hang out, and get tutoring help with our fantastic  Writing and Learning Center  students. The loveliest study space. Our Director of the Writing and Learning Center,  Professor Ann Gardiner , spoke of the space, saying: "The ways in which students learn today have changed dramatically over the last two decades, with a new emphasis on collaborative and technology-enhanced learning. A typical learning commons space includes not only quiet space for individual study, but also casual reading spaces, group study areas, brainstorming environments, presentation preparatio...

Hello there! We thought it would be fruitful for prospective students, parents, and possibly even current underclassmen to do a post on how we chose our majors. As we are both senior students, we can lend a unique perspective to this dialogue and explain a bit of our thoughts on the academic paths available here at Franklin. Morgan : I am an International Management and Finance major, graduating in May 2016. I had always believed I would study international business here at Franklin, and declared my major during my sophomore spring, which is when students tend to formally declare. One of the deciding factors in choosing Franklin was the ability to truly experience the international aspect of an international business degree. I felt strongly I would be better prepared for an international career and management role if I had the opportunity to study with fellow students from all around the world and glean their intercultural perspectives as related to international business. ...

Downtown Lugano this weekend Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog! I am so thrilled to be joined this semester by our original Adventures at Franklin blogger, Jessica. She is back after spending a year studying in the United States and we are thrilled to welcome her back. We will be combining our experiences and different backgrounds this spring to publish a series of posts that we hope you will find entertaining, informative, and fun to read, including an alumni feature, a spotlight on the academic resources at Franklin, a post about the Graduate studies program, an Academic Travel post. But we also want to hear about topics you want to learn more about, so tell us more in comments section. Parco Ciani , a 20 minute walk from campus I am looking forward to this spring, but it is so bittersweet. Four years came and went in a blink of an eye and I cannot believe I have finally reached our last semester at Franklin. I am headed to South Africa for Academic Travel...

Last week, I had the opportunity to share a bit of a typical day at Franklin on our official  Instagram  page. While the day-to-day routine can vary, there are definitely common threads that happen every day at Franklin that I wanted to highlight. So, let's get started! First thing in the morning, I get coffee in the Grotto, one of our school's eateries, and admire the view from the patio there. It's a very central location on campus and you always run into a friend or two on a visit there. This semester, my class schedule is evening-heavy, which is typical for upperclassmen who are studying business and management. So, I try and get downtown in the morning to grocery shop and go for a walk. I love how accessible downtown is from campus (it's about a 15 minute walk) and a lovely walk at that! I was lucky enough to catch a rainbow in the fountain downtown, and just had to share. Some people opt to grocery shop in downtown Lugano, while other students choose to...

Hello there! I just got back from Fall Academic Travel to Cyprus, and it was absolutely magical. This was my second-to-last Academic Travel  and therefore, very bittersweet. I couldn't help but reflect on my very first Academic Travel while I was there, when I went to London to study the Bloomsbury writers (Virgina Woolf, E.M. Forster, etc.). It was during that trip to London in October of 2012 with Professor Peat when I really began to understand what Franklin was about. I made friends on my freshman travel to London who I still count among my closest friends at Franklin four years later. It seemed very full circle to appreciate and remember how it felt to go on my very first fall travel, and now my very last fall travel.  On this trip, we explored the island of Cyprus, and it was interesting to learn about both the Greek and Turkish influences in the country. We focused on the history, culture, politics, and art of the island, and gained an insight on the mul...

Downtown Lugano this past weekend! When I returned to Franklin this fall, I knew one of my first Adventures at Franklin posts would be a showcase of several Franklin student's summer internship experiences! I loved talking to these friends to find out what they learned over the course of summer 2015. Myself and other members of the FlashFunders team at an LA event I'll begin with what I was up to this summer. During my last college summer I lived in Los Angeles, California with a former Franklin student, and interned for an online equity funding platform in Santa Monica. I was one of the Investor Outreach and Marketing interns for FlashFunders , and worked closely with the business development and marketing teams. I focused mainly on curating and developing tools to educate companies and investors on the product and brand. It was a fantastic opportunity to apply what I've learned here at Franklin as a management and finance student in the workplace. I belie...

Driving near campus in Lugano.  Hello there and welcome back to Franklin! I certainly am feeling emotional about this being my fourth and last year here in Lugano. I remember distinctly how many people told me how quickly this time would pass, but of course I didn't believe them and now here we are. Franklin has been a whirlwind experience that has encompassed the highest highs and lowest lows of my life, and I'm grateful for all of it. I wanted to come back here early this fall and participate in Orientation  and it was so lovely to get to meet all of the new students to listen to their fresh perspectives and be able to answer some of the many questions they had. It's a great group of adventurous, smart, and kind students and they are all a welcome addition to Franklin! For me, this year will personally be a combination of finishing strong academically, going deeper with the relationships that have made Franklin the best years of my life, and hopefully findi...