A journey no one could have ever predicted

I applied to the Laidlaw Research and Leadership Programme because I wanted to be part of something unique. The chance to grow as a researcher, as a leader. The chance to learn more about the world than I already thought I knew, to sit alongside a global cohort of people who saw things differently to me. The chance to challenge myself.

What I didn’t know about the journey ahead was the friends I would make, the memories that would stick, and the numerous doors that would open one after another.

18 months, 2 summers, 7 LEAD days, 1 Scholars Conference, and an Oxford Character Leadership Programme. However, beyond the paper and in practice, it is so much more than that.

The first door to open was research. 6 weeks alongside Dr. Amir Pakdel, exploring the world of nanomaterials and perovskite solar cells. TiO2, MXene and carbon in 3 forms, asking whether these materials could make perovskite solar cells more efficient, durable and less harmful to make. I learnt along the way what  structures look like, what PCE stands for, what materials rank where and why, and what 14.65% could hold for the future of this generation of cells. Some days felt like I could find nothing, while other days felt like I had unpacked something real and useful. However, throughout the project, I began to learn the art of research and power of curiosity and determination. Processes such as design thinking and problem-solving, and impact measurement and analysis became guides for structuring a project that opened my eyes to the world of clean energy, and the potential it has to transform the way we make electricity.

Dr. Pakdel didn’t hand me certainty. He gave me questions instead of answers, which is, I now understand, the best tool. Using 60 cells, 4 categories of material, and 5 nanomaterials I got to know like the back of my hand, I expanded my engineering toolkit and dove into a world of endless knowledge. I stopped being a student relying on the certainty of textbooks and started becoming a researcher building my own confidence and ambition.

The next door to open was the Laidlaw Scholars Conference at Durham University. Grey-skied and humming, we set off early from Dublin airport to go meet the global cohort that is the Laidlaw Foundation, and to find out what the programme truly was all about. I stood before my project built from a summer’s worth of questions, and delivered my findings to a room full of strangers with just 3 slides and a steady voice. I walked into rooms of scholars and posters, exploring worlds of research I had never even heard of before, and hearing the stories of those who chose to apply to the programme alongside our group. I made friends from all corners of the world, and made memories that would last a lifetime. I learnt skills from world class publishing experts, and listened to the stories of LiAs and adventures from the years before. Not only did that weekend broaden my knowledge and understanding of the avenues of research, but it showed me the importance of global citizenship and communication and influencing.

Along the journey, we partook in numerous leadership building opportunities. The Oxford Character Project, which asked me not what I wanted to do, but who I wanted to become. Vices next to virtues, lessons in transcendence, temperance, integrity, and chances to discuss and develop our thinking with scholars across the world. It was the kind of leadership training that pushes you out of the box, and asks you the honest questions about who you are when no one is watching and when nothing, or everything, is on the line.

The LEAD days within the Trinity College Cohort. A chance to connect and challenge one another on what we had learnt and what we hoped to learn in the future. A weekend I will never forget is Carlingford. A weekend away, team building, planning our LiAs, and laughing more than I thought a leadership session would allow. We sat around a circle, working out how to make our projects last longer than the summers we would spend on them, and unpacking the ways in which we could grow our leadership capacities. Somewhere between that, the walks along the coast, the coffee runs, and the countless laughs and jokes, this group of people I had only known for a few months started to feel like people I had known for years.

Then, the second summer arrived, which was different again. I traded the computer and pipette for a camera I barely knew how to use and embarked on an experience that would enrich my life forever. I learnt to listen instead of measure, and found a fence that once divided, now stitched, slowly, into something whole.

A documentary this time, following the partnership between 2 organisations that embody the ideals of Ubuntu and Pfunanani: I am because we are, and helping one another. The Sabi Sand Pfunanani Trust and Good Work Foundation. 2 groups of individuals working together to unify and uplift the Greater Bushbuckridge region. I unpacked the skills of storytelling, shot types, framing, and how to actually hold an interview so that person in front of you forgets that there is even a lens in the room at all. I filmed graduates now working as trail guides and stock controllers in the same reserve that once fenced their communities out, a symbol of the partnership’s impact and success. I sat in on classes with students filled with curiousity, determination, and enthusiasm, building the skills to help develop and strengthen the economy of wildlife. I went on school safaris, mesmerised along with the students beside me by the beauty of the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve. I learnt the stories of facilitators, founders, and community liaison managers, and discovered how passion and determination hold the key to building a better future.

I found through this project that opportunity is not given or discovered, it is built. Brick by brick, story by story, hand in hand. I came home with the red dust of the Sabi Sand encrusted in the seams of my shoes and something new settled in my chest, something quieter than certainty. A durable, well-earned sense of hope, and the pride in a country with potential and a brighter future in sight.

Looking back on this programme and what it has taught me, it feels surreal that it is coming to an end. Not only have these past 18 months shaped me into a person who is ambitious, curious, values-led and moved to act, but I now recognise in myself that this is just the start of a lifelong journey. A journey that shows you what disciplined curiousity, critical thinking, a collaborative mindset and humility can accomplish. It is a journey that demonstrates how much of leadership is simply showing up, being brave to ask the difficult questions, and helping build ideas and solutions that will long stand the test of time.