On the Sunday before Thanksgiving the Ford Fellows of Fall 2009 gathered together to celebrate their own Thanksgiving Day feast. Before indulging themselves to the delicious food set out before tem, the entire group gathered in a circle and said what they were each grateful for. As each member went around the room giving thanks, a theme was established.

As a group we are all thankful for this experience and understand the importance of this unique opportunity. We would just like to take this time to share with you all how grateful we are to a few special people. We are all thankful for those who have supported us here in Washington D.C. This includes the Ford Motor Company, the Washington Center, our internship supervisors, our brilliant professor, Dr. Hoehn, and of course our program advisor Andrey Gidaspov, who has been with us throughout our entire experience here in Washington. We are eternally grateful and fully recognize the sacrifice of time and effort you all have put into helping us grow as professionally and as human beings.

Also, I, Joseph Morrison the editor for this newsletter, would like to personally thank the contributors to the newsletter both past, present, and future. You all have done wonderful work and should all be very proud of yourselves.

Finally, I just wanted to thank all the Ford Fellows of Fall 2009 for making this experience so great. You all have greatly impacted me; know that my future successes will be linked to my experiences here in D.C. and thus, to you all as well. I know that you shall all prosper in the years to come. It is no coincidence that we all came to meet each other through this prestigious program. We shall always be connected by this experience and our futures shall be linked together by common purpose and responsibility. We are all so blessed. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!