This is what happens when you ask me to deliver a convocation speech

I was recruited to be the faculty speaker at The Fletcher School’s fall convocation. My talk was modestly titled “On Global Governance, Think Tanks, and Angelina Jolie.” Go check it out. One of my opening jokes: I feel like I am obligated to impart some priceless nugget of wisdom, something that can be of use ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

I was recruited to be the faculty speaker at The Fletcher School's fall convocation. My talk was modestly titled "On Global Governance, Think Tanks, and Angelina Jolie." Go check it out. One of my opening jokes: I feel like I am obligated to impart some priceless nugget of wisdom, something that can be of use to you for the rest of your lives. After racking my brain for six weeks, here was what I was able to come up with (take paper out of pocket)?. never, under any circumstances, buy a cheap mattress. You will spend a quarter to a third of your lives on this particular piece of furniture. If you buy an inexpensive bed to save some money in the short term, your back will remind you of this error for the rest of your life. Take it from someone who once made this mistake ? always splurge on your mattress. Just because it's funny silly doesn't mean it's not true. I should add that the student speaker, Isabel De Sola, acquitted herself quite well. Click here to read her speech.

I was recruited to be the faculty speaker at The Fletcher School’s fall convocation. My talk was modestly titled “On Global Governance, Think Tanks, and Angelina Jolie.” Go check it out. One of my opening jokes:

I feel like I am obligated to impart some priceless nugget of wisdom, something that can be of use to you for the rest of your lives. After racking my brain for six weeks, here was what I was able to come up with (take paper out of pocket)?. never, under any circumstances, buy a cheap mattress. You will spend a quarter to a third of your lives on this particular piece of furniture. If you buy an inexpensive bed to save some money in the short term, your back will remind you of this error for the rest of your life. Take it from someone who once made this mistake ? always splurge on your mattress.

Just because it’s funny silly doesn’t mean it’s not true. I should add that the student speaker, Isabel De Sola, acquitted herself quite well. Click here to read her speech.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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