The Conference on World Affairs annual program is designed by volunteers and student involvement is crucial to its success. Now through the 2020 conference, CU Boulder seniors Annie Miller and Lindsey Visscher will lead the CWA student committee (a group of close to 100 CU Boulder students) as the Student Volunteer Coordinators (SVCs), overseeing the group as they invite speakers, assemble panels and assist with other year-round CWA events.
Annie Miller is a senior at CU Boulder majoring in International Affairs with a Middle Eastern concentration and a minor in Arabic. Orignially from Golden, Colorado Annie grew up hiking, skiing and playing lacrosse and her love for Colorado kept her in-state for college.
Annie first joined the CWA Student Committee her sophomore year. She has served in other volunteer roles including Transportation Coordinator (alongside Lindsey for the 2019 conference), and participated as a CWA Student Ambassador. "One of my favorite elements of volunteering has been the student ambassador program the student committee coordinates. This programs pairs students with a speaker that interests them, creating the opportunity for students to get to know a speaker on a more personal level."
One of Annie's and Lindsey's goals for the student committee this year is to grow participation in the ambassador program as well as boost student attendance at panels.
I wish more students knew there is a panel for everyone at this conference, and so much of what we do within the CWA is geared towards the students and their interests. While its title may be misleading to some, this conference is more than just international affairs, in fact, we cover topics ranging from media, politics, science and technology, human condition, and even put on a jazz concert! This is truly a conference on everything imaginable and there is truly nothing like it!
Lindsey Visscher is a senior from Colorado Springs studying Integrative Physiology and minoring in Business with a certificate in Care, Health and Resilience at CU Boulder. She plans to pursue a doctorate in clinical health psychology after graduation.
Lindsey first learned about the CWA as a junior in high school when her literature teacher brought her class on a field trip to CWA. "Those field trips my junior and senior year really got me excited about the conference and it became a big reason why I chose to study at CU Boulder."
She began voluteering as a freshman at CU and has been involved every year since in various positions. Lindsey's favorite part of the conference is getting to meet the speakers and hear their stories/advice and getting to interact with the CWA community. "We have an interesting blend of both Boulder community members and student volunteers which gives the conference a unique mix of concepts and projects."
Lindsey's advice to students interested in the conference is to get involved in any capacity as there is a place for everyone with so many volunteer opportunities.
Conference week is addictive. Once you're involved once, you'll want to be more involved the next year and even more involved the next. CWA will do that to you-- you start out volunteering, maybe tabling a couple times in the UMC, and before you know it, you're SVC.
For more information on student volunteer opportunities and the CWA student ambassador program, visit the CU Student Volunteer page.