What does a typical day look like for you:
I'd say every day is quite different here. The team I'm working with is very small, so I support on different projects throughout the week—doing different things during every day depending on what's needed. This week, I learned website maintenance/design and was working on back logging my organization's workshops onto its website. I also presented my research on a Chinese renewable & nuclear energy company, through my organization, to an sustainability expert in Paris. On top of that, I was involved in planning for events that will take place in the following few weeks: an Ocean & sustainability workshop in late June, a UNESCO visit, as well as some other workshops (still working on this!). So, everyday looks a bit different depending on what's needed of me.
Has your work in a community to this point introduced you to any new fields or topics that are of interest to you?
Yes. After participating in an energy & sustainability workshop and doing energy research, I became very interested in this topic. This is something that's very unexpected for me, as I remembered being bored by the energy topic during high school physics; I think learning about energy from a sustainability standpoint changed that for me.
How, if at all, has your work narrowed since the beginning of the project?
I have since narrowed my scope. Before coming to Paris, I wanted to do everything—to help with website design, U.S. growth, social media marketing, organizing in-person workshops, develop new workshops... I realized that I would not be able to do all that in six week. After exploring each of these interests and understanding the work of my organization, I realized that I really enjoy working on social media marketing and organization in-person workshops. I thus want to focus on these two aspects in the following weeks.
Photos: designing the in person Ocean & sustainability event
photo: presenting to French energy sustainability expert
photo: My friend from Columbia came to visit me!