Giving Thanks
Each of us remembers our Thanksgiving when we were living in Germany.As a Young Professional, mine was spent around a table at the Augustiner Bräustuben in Munich with the rest of our Bavaria-based cohort, celebrating together how thankful we were for the experience we were all having. It's moments like that—giving color to our time in Germany–which shape our shared experience, and make clear the why our CBYX Alumni Association is so important.
This year has been a particularly special one for our CBYXAA, and next year promises to be a breakout year for us!
In 2021, we brought 11 new and wonderful alumni onto our Board of Directors, each of whom has worked hard this year at building CBYXAA into a self-sufficient, active, mission-driven, and engaged member community. Our Board was able to use funding from the Department of State to invest heavily in the Association, including by developing a new alumni directory and social platform that will launch to each of you before the end of this year! We had a number of wonderful virtual events highlighting some of our high-achieving alumni, and our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee has done important and intense work on ensuring that our community remains open and accessible to alumni of every background.
With the launch of our new alumni portal, we look forward to 2022 being our best year yet. Our virtual community will help us connect with old friends, make new personal and professional connections, and even organize regional, in-person events directly through the platform–engaging each of you in building up a sustainable and mission-driven CBYX alumni organization here in the US!
So this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for each of you–our alumni members–for being a part of our community. Your engagement, excitement, and interests guide everything that our Board and committee members strive to accomplish, and a strong CBYXAA ensures that future generations of students will get the same amazing chance each of us did to live and grow in Germany.
From our CBYXAA Board to each of you, Happy Thanksgiving!