SPECIAL ELECTION SERIES: Back-To-Back-To-Back Debates Officers of The Cambridge Union | Coffee's on Me, David Quan 权丁文

Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to my Podcast Coffee’s on Me, David Quan, where I strive to give guests legacy-worthy interviews that listeners can enjoy while cooking, commuting, relaxing, or walking their pets. Given that I have just recorded 3 consecutive episodes or back-to-back-to-back, I just want to briefly introduce and contextualize this special election series for Debates Officer of The Cambridge Union. I am a former Standing Committee officer and President candidate for The Cambridge Union, which is founded in 1815 and is the world’s oldest debating and free speech society. If you have been a follower of my Podcast, you may notice other guests who have been or are leaders of the Cambridge Union, including the two current candidates for President Nick and Ellie. It truly is a testament to their courage and openness that many other candidates have been reaching out to be Podcast guest, and I am always extremely appreciative. Honestly, the reason is simple for why I have taken on this challenge of back-to-back-to-back interviews (with Haiwei, Joshua, and Sammy) amidst my final exams, which is worth 100% of my grades for my 3-year degree, and whilst being quite sleep-deprived after handing out water and sandwiches outside Revs for the CU’s weekly Thirsty volunteering initiative until 2am this morning: Having ran or been a part of multiple elections, I personally empathise with these student candidates who will be facing intense public scrutiny during their campaigns. While I appreciate the mixed reputation or perceptions of the Union elections, I sincerely hope that we can first and foremost appreciate who these student candidates are as human beings – where they have been, are now, and wish to go. I hope that I can contribute towards a fair, healthy, and fun election by striving to give these guests, candidates, and students legacy-worthy interviews. ---WHY? COFFEE'S ON ME, DAVID QUAN 权丁文TL;DR: To process my emotions after a grueling campaign for President of The Cambridge Union, I reflected upon the influences of my late Grandfather and wrote him a letter: https://linktr.ee/DavidQuan . Drawing inspiration from him, I hope to learn more from others through genuine discussions – giving listeners heartfelt conversations filled with authentic insights, and giving guests legacy-worthy interviews to treasure. To converse with someone without a strict time limit or structure – meticulously engaging in a curious process of clarifications or elaborations – is not only a rare privilege. This longer format also allows the sharing of otherwise unshared or unappreciated anecdotes. There are appeals to sound-bite media, of course, but the metrics that matter most to me are more about the uniqueness of contribution than measures of virality. Over time, I hope to be able to better deconstruct guests' fascinating experiences – to seamlessly tease out the insights for listeners to enjoy and learn from while cooking, commuting, relaxing, or walking their pet.  But this personal project is fundamentally as much about what we can learn from the guests as it is to give them (current) legacy-worthy interviews. My top priority is for guests to enjoy a unique opportunity to challenge, learn about, and be themselves; hopefully, they will be able to keep recordings of in-depth, heartfelt conversations to reflect on in years’ time. And the best part for guests? Coffee’s on Me, David Quan 权丁文NOMINATE A GUEST Please contact me to nominate someone. This would really help identify the anonymous extraordinaries！Having grown up in Xi'an, China, and Adelaide, Australia, I am a 3rd year undergraduate student at Clare College, University of Cambridge, UK. Please do have the courage to say hello!LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/DavidQuan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dingwen-david-quan/