CFD Team Spotlight: Autumn Bachofen, Communications Fellow
The Newsletter Team sat down for an interview with our communications fellow, Autumn Bachofen, for an interview about her work, passions, hobbies, and special CFD projects. The transcript of our interview is below.
CFD Team: Tell us a bit about yourself.
I grew up in Colorado and my family moved to France when I was eleven, so I identify with both places and cultures. I moved back to the US for university, and now I am a sophomore Pre-Law student pursuing a degree in Philosophy and Political Science with a minor in French!
CFD Team: How did you end up at CFD?
My coming to be at CFD was incredibly lucky. The summer before I started at BU, I was perusing job postings and saw that the Kilachand Honors College administration was looking for an office assistant. I had assumed that I would be answering phones at the front desk and sorting files. I had no idea what this position entailed, but I applied anyway. I learned during my interview with Marina, Dr. Preston, and Dr. Zaman about the mission of the Center, and was immediately excited. Kilachand Honors College was so attractive to me because of its emphasis on interdisciplinary problem-solving, and to see this philosophy applied to one of the largest-scale challenges of our time was incredibly inspiring. I had only briefly engaged with the issue of forced displacement during my time as a seasonal hire in the consular section at the US Embassy in France, but at this point in my life it sort of felt like all roads led to CFD, and I couldn’t be happier working here.
CFD Team: What is your role within the Center?
I started working at the Center the year it opened as an Undergraduate Fellow, and since then my role has evolved quite a bit. When I started, I was mostly taking on one-off tasks, but these tasks started being more consistent, usually relating to designing promotional materials and working on the bi-weekly newsletter. Now, my main role is in communications, and I’m the one hitting send on the newsletter every two weeks!
CFD Team: What inspires you about this work?
I feel so lucky to work for a Center with such an important mission. Bringing together a variety of perspectives and experiences to work toward a common goal is always inspiring, but not as inspiring as the individuals themselves. I know it’s a bit cliché to say, but being surrounded by such a hardworking and kind team never gets old, and as an undergraduate with many anxieties about the future, it gives me hope to know that places like this Center exist.
CFD Team: What are your passions and hobbies?
Outside work and school, you can probably find me at the gym or in the dorm working on a crochet project. There’s something very satisfying about consistent, slow progress with tangible results. Although I do my best to keep a healthy life-work balance, I try to keep that philosophy for both work and leisure.