1. What Went Well?
This week I finished my first project, which I was super excited about! I felt like I had a much better rhythm with the work and was more easily able to complete the later parts of the project. I think having already completed the first portion of my work made the second and third much easier to do. I also started a second project on a different topic. This project is in a more preliminary stage, so the research has been a bit easier and less involved.
I also have started to do a lot better with both German and Polish! I’ve begun picking up a few additional and essential works like thank you (Dziękuję in Polish) and bye (tschüss in German), which has been very helpful for getting around day-to-day. Since I have no background in either language, I’m definitely proud of the words I’ve been able to pick up!
I also attended several lectures this week on topics ranging from Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine to Adaption of the EU Cohesion Policy Acquis in Ukraine to Minority Protection in Wartime Ukraine to Humor as a Strategic Weapon in the Russo-Ukrainian War. All of them were incredibly interesting!
2. What Could Have Been Done Differently?
I did much better this week with managing my time and meeting my deadlines. One issue that did arise was a slight delineation between the plans my supervisors had for my second project. While carrying out my research, my primary supervisor on the project was specifically focused on a specific area of the city I was looking at and specific industries within that area. As a result, most of my time this week was spent looking into those specific areas and industries. At the end of the week though, I had a check-in with one of my other supervisors, who was much more interested in other aspects of the city and the attacks it faced. Since I had been focusing on industry, I did not really have all of the answers she was looking for. Going forward, I plan to check in with both supervisors before beginning my research process on a new project to make sure that I incorporate everyone’s ideas.
3. Leadership Reflection (3Cs Model)
Values
This week curious and good were most visible in my research. Both projects I’m currently working on are super interesting, and I’ve found it really valuable getting to learn more about them. I also think I did a good job with the work and the pacing this week. I didn’t experience any tension in the values this week.
Character
This week primarily tested collaboration as I was working between two supervisors on my second project. Judgement really mattered in deciding which research avenues to prioritize and how to best do so. I think I responded fairly well under pressure, though as I mentioned, I did not do the job I would have liked in incorporating my second supervisor’s vision for the project at the outset.
Capacities
I most relied on process this week as I continued implementing the research procedures I developed last week. I found this to be incredibly helpful in speeding up my work while maintaining the same level of detail this week. I felt a bit stretched in adding in the additional research avenues on my second project, but I do think doing so gave me a much deeper understanding of the topic.
4. Ethical Engagement
This week I spent a lot of time thinking about the nature of this work. Since OSINT is primarily reliant on materials available on the internet, I am certainly incorporating the voices of community members in the city I am examining, but not in collaboration with them. While I see this as acceptable since the content was posted publicly online and the outputs of this project serve the city community, that reflection was something I found interesting as I examined it more deeply this week.
This week I continued to occupy a supporting role as I assisted with different projects for my supervisors. Thus far, I think my primary impact has been making the research process flow a bit easier, though I think that will be greatly expanded once the outputs from this project are published.
5. Adjustment & Development for Next Week
Next week, I plan to check in more frequently with both of my supervisors to make sure that each project matches their vision. I will also intentionally workshop curiosity, going even deeper into both of my topics. Next week, I will also spend more time talking to the PhD students in my office to get a deeper understanding of their work and to share my own, building my communicative skills as a leader.