When reflecting on the Laidlaw program, it is hard to know where to start. So many different things come to mind, what they all have in common, however, is positive mental associations. This programme has taught me so much. Starting chronologically, I think the first few Laidlaw sessions taught me a lot of practical skills and tools that I could later apply to future Laidlaw tasks, and indeed, to life writ large. The first session with Cathal Quinn, the Lir’s voice coach, certainly taught me a lot in terms of best utilising my voice, along with various handy little tricks to improve my verbal speaking skills. However, even more than that, it pushed me to be confident in my expression, and forced me to challenge myself to put myself out there in front of others, I think that this definitely improved my confidence in my ability to get up on stage or speak in front of a crowd, be it for important things academically or professionally, or other areas of life, like Karaoke. 

The focus on communication skills was complemented by some really good technical sessions on leadership from various professors at Trinity Business School. It was very interesting to learn some of the theory behind leadership, the various styles of leadership, which types of personalities respond best to the different styles of leadership, the role cultural context has to play in how you should be approaching leadership, along with the most effective leadership styles, depending on what needs to be accomplished. This tied very well into the general focus that the Laidlaw programme placed on improving my people skills. It added to my toolkit that I would later draw during the two summers, and also at the various Laidlaw events where, for example, we interacted and did a few challenges with people from across the world.  These interpersonal skills were constantly developed iteratively over the two years with various sessions. This was complemented by the Oxford Character project program, which was a long-term process of working on various character traits such as virtue and values, prompting me to really examine how I was dealing with people, whether it was right and effective. It made me habitually consider my interpersonal skills and interactions. All of these various foci of the Laidlaw programme combined ensured that I was consistently working on and improving my skillset when it came to interacting with others.

However, communication and interpersonal skills were far from the only things that I felt I improved during the Laidlaw program. Project and time management were key areas of improvement for me during the program. Before the first summer, we were introduced to some of the fundamental areas of project management, for example, deadlines, risk, scope, stakeholders and more. Learning these before starting the research project during the first summer was definitely very valuable, as I was then able to deploy these skills before starting out with my LIA. Of course, as the seminar suggested, no project management plan survives first contact with the enemy. But having a good plan in place, and having safeguards in place for when the inevitable cancellations of interviews, or various other barriers arose, allowed me to both hone my project management skills by project managing my own research, and then figuring out which project management frameworks, and techniques were most useful for my life, and best suited to how I went about projects. I think this was a great thing to have learned from the Laidlaw programme, and it was good to have developed quite early into the programme, as again I utilised these skills for organising and planning the LIA, and have done in various other places in my life, for example, the creation of a spreadsheet for getting a sports team that I coach ready for the season.

Learning from other scholars was also definitely a big part of my Laidlaw experience. The programme has so many interesting, driven, inspiring people who research a really diverse range of interesting things. The emphasis on collaboration creates an environment that is conducive to learning how others go about tackling big research questions and projects, and allows you to pick up different little bits from people that definitely cumulatively are a big aid to your Laidlaw tasks and your general approach to research, leadership, and whatnot. I find the adage, the rising tide lifts all boats, to be applicable to life in general, but I definitely felt that it was doubly true when it came to my Laidlaw cohort, in which there was definitely a really positive collaborative culture, from which I learned a lot. I felt this to be the case too when we went to the Global Laidlaw Conference and met with the other universities’ Laidlaw cohorts, who were also an inspiring bunch.

The Laidlaw Conference was not only about meeting people; at the conference, we had some very interesting Oxford Character Project lectures given by Dr Corey Crossan on what leadership is, what separates good leadership from bad leadership. She delved into the ethics behind leadership, and kept the lecture interactive and very engaging – all the Laidlaw programme’s contents were very engaging, which in and of itself taught us scholars about how to make engaging content. Getting input from all these interesting, curated groups of speakers and instructors definitely created an environment in which we were exposed to much more than simply the topic at hand. I felt that I was able to learn a number of things through osmosis just by being exposed to some of the incredible individuals who were part of the Laidlaw program. The innovation and self-leadership day was also great on this front. The careers service team brought together a great bunch of ethical leaders who were really able to speak authoritatively on ethical leadership and share some really interesting insights from their various fields on what it means to lead, how they approach making tough decisions, etc. Being able to pick their brains was really worthwhile. 

Niamh Hannon’s session in the evening was another session from which I learned a lot. She focused in particular on how to work with others, build and improve your resilience, and how to go about avoiding things like stress, burnout and more. Again, these lessons greatly complemented the other areas of focus of the Laidlaw programme, and added more threads to the patchwork of lessons surrounding leadership, performance, self-motivation and dealing with others effectively. 

In sum, the Laidlaw Programme has been a transformative journey, equipping me with practical skills, fostering self-reflection, and inspiring personal growth. From public speaking and leadership to project management and resilience, every aspect of the programme challenged me to develop confidence, adaptability, and ethical judgment. Beyond the skills themselves, it instilled a mindset of collaboration and continuous learning, leaving me not only better prepared for future academic and professional challenges but also more self-aware and capable of leading with integrity.