UW’s Riley Coburn Selected for International Exchange Program in Germany

Even though she comes from a small Wyoming community with about 900 residents, University of Wyoming graduate Riley Coburn wants to make a difference in a big way. She hopes that a postgraduation exchange program will lead to achieving her lifelong goals.

Coburn, a 2022 UW international studies graduate from Upton, is among recipients of a prestigious Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX) Fellowship. The program annually provides 75 American and 75 German young professionals the opportunity to spend one year in one another’s countries, studying, interning and living with hosts in a cultural immersion program.

Her UW undergraduate studies centered on global studies that focused on Europe and the former Soviet Union, with concentration in social and cultural issues. She says selection for the CBYX program aligns with her own beliefs regarding the power of education as a catalyst for positive change.

“I hope to contribute to the strengthening of German-American connections by laying the foundations for mutual understanding, contact across cultural borders and a commitment to peaceful coexistence,” says Coburn, a 2018 Upton High School graduate. “These connections are increasingly becoming more pivotal, as Germany is not only an important ally to the U.S., but it is the backbone of European integration.”

She adds that, with its history of successful conflict resolution and more recent struggles with nationalist ideologies, Germany is the perfect breeding ground for her academic and professional interests.

Exchange programs offered through UW, in part, drove her passion of focusing on world events. In spring 2022, she studied abroad in Strasbourg, France, completing the Certificate in European Studies Program at the Institute of Political Studies.

“When I started applying for awards like the CBYX, I didn’t believe that a selection panel would ever choose someone from a remote town of less than 1,000 people. However, I realized that my experience of growing up in rural Wyoming is not a limitation. Rather, it is exactly what gave me the edge over other competitors. No other candidate had a background like I did, thus making my skill set and perspective unique,” Coburn says. “I would argue that living in Wyoming has opened more doors than if I had lived somewhere else because the state is such a tight-knit community that cares about its people. Growing up in one of the smallest towns of the least-populated state is something that I will forever be grateful for and would not change.”

The CBYX program for young professionals consists of three phases: two months of intensive German language training; one semester of classes in the participant’s academic or career field at a university, technical or professional school; and a three- to five-month internship in the participant’s career field.

Coburn has not yet received her exchange program placements, but she plans to take classes that focus on European history, integration, identities and international development. Even though she does not speak German, Coburn is looking forward to the challenge.

During the internship phase of the CBYX program, Coburn hopes to work with a nongovernmental organization (NGO) or a think tank that analyzes the current disconnect between German policymaking institutions and rural populations. She says that, due to this disconnect, farming communities across the country are frustrated with the decisions being made at both the national and supranational levels -- consequently, giving rise to mass protests and the growing sense of nationalism.

“While interning, I would like to conduct interviews with German farmers and research the social, developmental, political, ideological effects of various German and European Union policies on rural communities,” she says. “I also would like to volunteer with NGOs or other nonprofits that help Ukrainian refugees assimilate into German communities. Germany is taking the bulk of the refugees, and I want to help make their transition toward a new life a little easier.”

As for her career goals after completing the CBYX program, Coburn intends to enroll in the Master of Arts in German and European Studies Program at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C.

“Living in Germany will greatly prepare me for both this endeavor and get me one step closer to one day becoming a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. State Department,” she adds. “Simply put, if it wasn’t for UW, I wouldn’t be where I am today. From the class curriculums to the amazing professors, I had a supportive network that fostered critical thinking and a space to be successful in.”

About the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals

CBYX is open to candidates in all career fields, and applicants from a broad range of backgrounds are selected for the program each year. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors CBYX, under the authority of the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961.

Cultural Vistas has administered CBYX for 40 years.

For more information about CBYX, click here.