When I began the Laidlaw Scholars Programme, I understood leadership primarily as the ability to take initiative and produce meaningful results. Over two summers of research and community engagement, that understanding changed. I learned that ethical leadership is not defined by how quickly I can provide an answer, but by whether I listen carefully, recognize the limits of my knowledge, and work alongside others to create something sustainable. Laidlaw strengthened my character, expanded my leadership capacity, and taught me that developing a global mindset requires both curiosity and humility.

During my first summer, I investigated trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), an ultra-short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance found across environmental media worldwide. I reviewed evidence from different countries and studied TFA toxicity using C. elegans. Research showed me that environmental health challenges do not remain within national borders. Chemical production, environmental contamination, regulation, and health outcomes are interconnected across communities and countries.

Research also developed my patience and integrity. Scientific progress was rarely linear: experiments produced unexpected results, methods required revision, and findings often raised more questions than they answered. I learned to communicate uncertainty honestly rather than overstating the significance of preliminary evidence. This experience reinforced that research leadership requires accountability because the way scientific findings are communicated can influence public understanding and policy decisions.

My Leadership in Action project challenged me to translate these lessons beyond the laboratory. In Gujarat, India, I worked with the Sevak Project and taught at Swami Shree Krishnanandji Vidya Vihar School. I delivered English and health lessons and participated in village visits focused on hypertension, diabetes, medication use, and preventive care. My health curriculum connected anatomy and physiology to nutrition, exercise, sleep, sanitation, and chronic disease prevention using culturally relevant foods, activities, and examples.

Although I am Gujarati and speak the language, I learned that cultural familiarity does not automatically create cultural understanding. I still entered these communities as a visitor with educational, economic, and institutional privileges that shaped how others perceived me. Leading ethically required acknowledging that position, listening to local teachers and Sevaks, and adapting my plans according to their expertise. Instead of assuming that my original curriculum would work, I modified lessons in response to students’ knowledge, available resources, extreme heat, intermittent electricity, and classroom dynamics.

The students’ progress became one of the most meaningful outcomes of the project. Many began without foundational knowledge of carbohydrates, proteins, organ function, or chronic disease prevention. By the final assessment, class averages ranged from 75.5% to 83%, with many students earning full scores. More importantly, students began applying the material. After learning about balanced nutrition, they brought healthier, more balanced lunches to school and shared the concepts with their families. This showed me that education can extend beyond an individual learner and influence a wider community.

The village visits taught me a different dimension of leadership. Community members faced barriers that could not be resolved through a single screening: medication misconceptions, interrupted access to treatment, distance from secondary care, and unequal participation by women. One encounter with a patient who had undergone cardiac stent placement but had run out of blood pressure medication made the limitations of short-term service especially clear. Measuring a vital sign was useful, but it did not address the system that made continued care difficult.

These experiences shifted my focus from simply delivering services to identifying sustainable priorities. I documented community needs and recommended expanded medication-literacy education, greater inclusion of women, and an annual village-wide health workshop using visual, interactive, Gujarati-language instruction. I also left reusable teaching materials with the school. Leadership, I learned, is not making oneself indispensable; it is strengthening the ability of others to continue the work.

The Laidlaw Scholarship taught me that a global mindset is not simply awareness of international issues or experience traveling abroad. It is the practice of examining how history, culture, policy, resources, and power shape people’s opportunities. It requires resisting one-size-fits-all solutions and recognizing communities as partners with knowledge and agency.

Beyond Laidlaw, I will continue connecting scientific research, medicine, and policy to address environmental and chronic disease. As a future healthcare professional and researcher, I will communicate evidence accessibly, involve communities in decisions that affect them, and consider who may be excluded from existing systems. I will continue acting as a global citizen by approaching unfamiliar contexts with humility, building reciprocal partnerships, and using my education in service of locally defined needs. Laidlaw has shown me that ethical leadership is a continuing practice: listening before acting, reflecting after acting, and remaining accountable for what follows.