It was another great week in D.C., but with just over half of my LiA completed, I’m definitely starting to feel the pressure of finalizing my projects. At the beginning of the summer—before I had even moved to D.C.—I had a check-in with a few members of my Laidlaw cohort. One of my peers joined the Zoom call on the last day of her LiA. I remember her sharing how, during her final week, she had come to accept that not everything would be perfectly wrapped up. She explained that it’s normal to have a few loose ends after spending only six weeks with an organization. At the time, it felt surreal that she was already done with her LiA, but now that I’m nearing the end of mine, I find myself going through a similar process of acceptance.

I spoke with my supervisor about these feelings, and she was incredibly helpful. She offered a few ways I could more neatly tie off what I’ve accomplished over the next two weeks. For example, she suggested I focus on finalizing the parts of my project that feel more complete, while framing the sections that need more analysis as footnotes or directions for future development. Her most helpful reminder was that this project can feed into my senior thesis, so rather than feeling like I’m falling short, I can see it as the beginning of a larger academic journey. It’s actually exciting that there’s still so much I want to explore. 

Outside of my personal project, this week’s tasks were very manageable, and it was a nice change of pace since they fell outside of my usual responsibilities. Last week, I offered to help with graphics (because who doesn’t love Canva?), and the team took me up on it by assigning several design-related tasks. I really enjoyed working on them, since I don’t often get the chance to tap into a creative vision through my work. This week, I created infographics on two policies we are monitoring, as well as one related to a lawsuit we are preparing to release. It was a refreshing way to contribute while exploring a different skill set. 

Reflecting on the past four weeks, I’ve definitely grown in my ability to advocate for myself when I want to get involved in certain projects. At the same time, I’ve learned to recognize my limits and resist the instinct to take on everything (especially when I don’t have the capacity to do so). This growth has largely been the result of working under my supervisor, who sets a strong example of self-advocacy.