This year was a year of firsts. Having joined DEN for the first time, I also had the privilege of attending the 9th Annual DEN Conference. Throughout the year, the conference had been spoken about with a quiet excitement, not only as an opportunity to present research to academics and fellow students, but as a space for authentic dialogue with students from around the world, including Thailand, Poland, and Uzbekistan. It felt like something significant. Something worth working toward.
Over the course of the year, attending DEN meetings week after week, I slowly began to find my footing. I wrote my first blog, shared ideas in meetings, chaired a session, and led discussions. Each of these felt like a small victory in its own right. Yet as the conference approached, I could not shake the feeling that this was a different kind of challenge entirely. The commitment, the quality, the standard, all of it felt like a significant step up.
I had struggled with my political voice for much of my first year. Looking around at my fellow DEN members, people who consistently showed up with passion, depth, and remarkable dedication to their projects, I found myself questioning whether my ideas were good enough, whether my voice carried the same weight. Self-doubt is a quiet but powerful force, and it shaped the decision I made about the conference.
In the end, I chose not to present. Instead, I chaired one of the sessions. At the time, it felt like a modest contribution. Talking, after all, is something I have never struggled with, perhaps a little too much. I chaired alongside a fellow DEN member for a student from Uzbekistan and students from Thailand, and what happened next surprised me. The presenters were genuinely grateful. They seemed moved that someone had stood up there with them, had held the space for them, had made them feel supported. In that moment, something shifted in me. I had underestimated the role entirely.
That experience changed how I saw the conference. It is not, I realised, simply about who presented the most polished research or who committed the most hours to the book. It is about everyone who showed up, played their part, and helped create a collaborative space where learning could happen freely and honestly. Every role, however small it may seem, contributes to something larger. That is what made it special.
And yet, looking back, I wish I had presented. Watching my fellow students stand before an audience and bring their research to life, seeing their passion translate into thoughtful, high quality presentations that sparked genuine conversation across cultures and perspectives, was one of the most inspiring things I have witnessed. The more I watched, the more I felt something stir inside me. A desire to write, to speak, to share what I care about.
That is my greatest takeaway from this year and from this conference. If you are passionate, your voice deserves to be heard. At DEN, your voice has the power to make a difference, no matter how big or small. And next year, I will not be sitting on the sidelines.
David Colville