Global Security Forum: Age of Instability, at Goodwin College was one of the first events I was able to participate in with the Global Studies program at Watkinson School. The conference outlined and discussed a range of issues, by speakers like the former deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament Fawazi Koofi, and 32nd chief of naval operations Admiral Michael m. Gilday. One of the topics I found most interesting was the trajectory change Afghanistan experienced after America pulled military support, discussed by former speaker Fawazi Koofi.

I was made aware of the Abraham Accords Uconn Global Congruence by the global studies program at Watkinson and honestly was very surprised by its contents. One of the speakers was Amna Almehiri, UAE consul general to New York who spoke from what seemed like a place of supreme optimism. Going into the digital conference I expected a lot of conversations about the progress made but the still large hurdles that would need to be overcome for an enduring peace in the middle east, the conference instead was very focused on the size and severity of the achievements made with a very cut and dry idea of how the accords will hopefully progress in the future. A story Almehiri told which to me stood out from the whole conference came from her family's dinner table, about her son and a friend he made from Tel Aviv joking about the military service and how they both had an interest in visiting the home cities of the other, a prospect to me which seemed to propose in some way a weariness of my and their generations toward the enduring conflicts of the past.

Local politics are a major part of the wider political landscape which goes under-reported and underrepresented in the collective consciousness. I've always been interested in local politics but recently was able to watch the 4th Connecticut Secretary of State debate between Dominic Rapini (R) and Stephine Thommas (D). In this current era of the politicization of the legitimacy of the election process, I thought that of any local debates I would have the opportunity to view live secretary of state would be most interesting.

This November I was able to experience the ADL Never is Now conference at the Javits Center, and it was a powerful and valuable experience for me. With speakers like the director of the FBI Christopher Ray, Albert Bourla chairman and CEO of Pfizer, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, and CEO of the ADL Jonathan Greenblatt. I also got the chance to participate in multiple break-out conferences which discussed in-depth specific issues relating to anti-Semitism and hate, one of which focused on the mapping project in Massachusetts, and another focusing on anti-Semitism under the guise of anti-Zionism in college settings. One of the most exciting speakers in my mind was Mr. Greenblatt himself whom I got to listen to multiple times throughout the day. Greenblatt's thoughts on how the Jewish people should approach anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism were very insightful and thought-provoking.