As a first-year joining DEN, I felt scared in some aspects and excited in others. At the beginning of my first semester, I joined DEN to feel part of a community and enrich my university life. As the weeks went by, I found myself feeling more like a member by writing and reviewing blogs; eventually, I found the confidence to chair meetings. As we started discussing the DEN conference and the summer school. I always thought being a part of a conference sounded too nerve-racking and stressful. However, because I attended DEN meetings every week and participated in discussions, the conference ultimately felt like a day of celebration.
When the DEN summer school started, I took part in a tour guiding the international students, which involved speaking in front of a large crowd. If you had asked me in September, I would’ve thought this sounded crazy, but when it came to it, I was able to do it and even make friends in the process. Without knowing it, I had become ready to speak in front of bigger groups and feel comfortable.
On the day of the DEN conference, I was assigned to chair the last section of the day. I spent the whole day in a panic, worried about what to say and how loud to speak. When it came time to do it, I realised that there was nothing to panic about. Everyone that day had been in the same position and properly felt the same way I did at some point.
I’ve learnt many things from being part of DEN and from the ninth conference. The conference taught me it’s perfectly normal to be a bit frightened when speaking in front of everyone, but at the end of the day, everyone wants to see each other do well and thrive. Furthermore, throughout the day, watching everyone’s presentations and hearing how they viewed different topics gave me time to reflect on my own perspective. Being able to hear different ideas from Uzbekistan, Thailand, Poland and many different backgrounds made me think about global perspectives and how everyone perceives issues differently. The conference also evaluated how special DEN really is and found that having a place where students can feel comfortable sharing their opinions freely with their peers without judgment is a feeling all students should have. At the 10th DEN conference, I hope to take the opportunity to chair and share my ideas.
Anaiya Tyson-Cox