Jan Raether came to the University of Oregon from Pittsburg, PA for a change of scenery and is leaving with so much more. One of the first freshmen to join Carnegie Global Oregon’s residential FIG program four years ago, Raether takes the time to reflect on how the CGO has impacted his journey through college.

“Getting to know different people, from different backgrounds, from different places in the country at different points in their life has just been really eye opening,” said Raether.

Raether is a Residential FIG Assistant at the University of Oregon graduating with a degree in Geography. Over the past couple years his coursework has focused on climate change and environmental racism. When asked what ethical issues he is most passionate about he chuckles and says, “It changes every week, I swear!”

When Raether looks back on his four years with the CGO, he talks about meeting Sister Helen Prejean, a highlight of his college career.

“Getting to hear somebody that is so passionate about something and who has maintained that passion so late into life is really inspiring,” said Raether. “It’s daunting trying to figure out what you’re passionate about but knowing that there are people out there that can maintain that passion until their late 70’s is so inspiring.”

Being a full-time student can make it challenging to balance academics and involvement with groups on campus. A dilemma that a lot of CGO students face. Raether talks about how the CGO has helped him cope with the stress of school over the past four years.

“The paper that I have due in three days is going to be challenging but it doesn’t compare to a lot of the issues that we [CGO] talk about,” said Raether. “I think just reminding myself of that has put me in a more perpetual state of happiness and well-being.”

One of Raether’s biggest takeaways from the CGO has been the friends he’s made. He says the guest speakers have been phenomenal but the best guests have in fact been the CGO students as a community. The weekly dinners spent talking about what each other are involved in has been the most impactful for Raether.

“Like hearing about Kate and Patrick’s work with Side by Side or other people’s work with the Genocide Prevention Initiative, and you know they’re doing these things as juniors and seniors in college,” said Raether. “In that way I think it’s making me realize that I do have power and a voice at this stage in life already.”

Raether has no doubt in the future of the CGO. He says the amount of support and resources that CGO Director Shaul Cohen and the GTFs have continued to provide for freshmen and other students has been outstanding.

“I’m continuously impressed by Shaul’s dedication to the CGO,” said Raether. “It would be really hard to be passionate about a community like this if there wasn’t somebody at the top who was just as passionate about it. His energy, his commitment to this program, and his commitment to all of us just has kept this thing going.”

With his thesis defense behind him, Raether is looking forward to graduating in a couple weeks and spending his third summer as a wildland firefighter. Beyond that Raether hopes to someday work for a state or federal government agency. Raether says that wherever he ends up in the world knowing that he will always have these relationships with the people from the CGO is the best preparation for his future that he could have ever hoped for.