How have the workshops and discussions on leadership this week changed your understanding of what leadership means? 

I didn't really have an active definition of leadership before our workshops, as it's never something I thought to define. However, if I accept the definitions from the workshop, I would see leadership as an investment into the well-being of a group or organization. This understanding seems to unify all of the different approaches we were shown.

How might you imagine applying one of the four ways of leading during your summer on campus? 

I imagine applying leading from beside while collaborating with peers, and discussing ideas together. Although my given duty is to conduct my own research project, I definitely want to be able to help others formulate ideas, and work through problems. Everything is better when collaboration is exchanged through goodwill among a group. I want to help others grow, and in turn grow myself.

What is everyone most excited about engaging in as part of their summer research project?

I am most excited to engage with cutting edge literature on online political extremism. Although a decent amount of literature on online political extremism exists, I've found that much of it is written by non-digital natives, who lack an intuitive understanding of the culture, customs, and behavior typical of online spaces. I'm excited to apply my own intuitive understanding as a digital native alongside my empirically/theoretically grounded research to understand my subject matter from a new perspective.