When we started Thunderbird in Fall 2020, we weren’t on campus. Rather, we joined the brave class of Fall 2020 via Zoom as the COVID-19 pandemic stranded us in Spain (Sophie) and Ghana (Andrea). We started Thunderbird facing a significant time difference with Phoenix. Serendipitously, this time difference led us to Das Tor, the only club holding weekly meetings at a time that wasn’t in the middle of the night for us.
When we started, Das Tor was rebuilding from the ground up. Our website was offline, our social media was dormant, and no publications were going out. While we had an incredibly small team (around 6 on a good day), we used our Thunderbird spirit to tackle the challenge.
Looking back today, we are incredibly proud of what Das Tor has accomplished. Our ragtag gang of 6 is now a team of nearly 30 that represents over 10 different countries. We have published over 150 articles, launched a podcast, created a cooking show, and host vibrant events every month. This growth has led us to find talented individuals like our future Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Editor, Ms. Anna Eades and Mr. David Lugo Robles. We are so excited to see all that they and the rest of the continuing Das Tor team will accomplish.
On a personal note, Das Tor allowed us to become fast friends even when we were thousands of miles apart. It represented a community and a way to connect with our classmates during an era of social distancing, masks, and isolation.
We want to thank everyone at Thunderbird for supporting us during this journey. We are incredibly grateful to Dr. Adam Henry for all his support during this ride, along with Dr. Preethika Sainam, Katie Prado, Angelique Smith, Sogol Homayoun, and everyone else who helped us along the way. We also feel privileged to have worked with a talented team of fellow students that made all of our accomplishments possible. Finally, we would like to thank the students of Thunderbird for being such enthusiastic supporters of Das Tor.
Ultimately, we would argue that while the leadership of Das Tor may change over the years, our values remain the same. Das Tor is about bringing us together to celebrate Thunderbird and each other. For us, Das Tor is a family and made our Thunderbird journey worth every moment. Although we are graduating, we can never truly say farewell to Das Tor because no matter where we are in the world, we are still Das Torians and part of this wonderful family. Thank you, Thunderbird, for giving us the privilege of leading Das Tor for this past year. Congratulations to Anna Eades and David Lugo Robles as they step up to lead this wonderful team!