This week reflects July 18-24, and this was my second craziest week of the LiA, because week 6 takes the cake (the C in cake definitely stands for crazy).

This week, I was supposed to give two lectures of the science camp, and all was according to plan until I ended up in the hospital on a Monday night from fall damage I sustained on Sunday. I was walking down a flight of steps and at the last step, I violently flew off and scraped my knees pretty bad. But I casually got up and walked 15k steps after that fall and felt fine, but the next day I was in bed for the most part all day because I was tired from my activities on Sunday, and then when I woke up from my 5 hour nap, I couldn’t move. So I had to go to the hospital (shout out to Ucchee-san for taking me to the hospital).

Also, I was informed that Thursday that my flight for Sunday most likely would be cancelled, and so my host on the island tried to get me to leave the island that Thursday when the typhoon hit Yoron pretty bad, with a two hour time limit to pack everything in my apartment. I didn't end up leaving the island, but I tried exiting the island that Saturday, and well... it was an experience (on next week's log).

What went well?

Well, celebrating last week’s feats I suppose, I got featured in a newspaper for giving an English lesson to pre-school children. Furthermore, Yoron High School featured me in a weekly newsletter about how I gave a lecture on eating halal and the workshop we did. I was glad to see there was community engagement with my work. While my Pen Pal project couldn’t be covered, I’m grateful to have been able to bond with the community and contribute to their learning.

I did end up giving a science camp lecture that went on for 2 hours about creating the actual presentation. Before that, due to my inability to give a lecture on Tuesday because of my back, I gave the students feedback instead asynchronously, followed by the lecture in which they would further learn about creating presentations and generating graphs, as well as creating scientific diagrams. 

This is the part they were enthusiastic to learn about, and I’m sure this is usually the case for many students. The data analysis of the results is always fun, but this is also the week I found out that the students would be doing all of their data analysis in Tokyo, because the equipment to do the data analysis wasn’t in Yoron. So I was alarmed at this point as to how they would be able to finish their presentations on time.

This week was just wrapping up all the activities conducted and saying goodbye to all the schools. I went to the schools to thank them all for their time and left on very good terms with everyone.

What could have gone differently?

If I planned to work on Model UN content throughout my LiA instead of make that a sub-project during my last week, I possibly would have had content ready to give out to Yoron High School. However, due to my back problems persisting, I couldn’t create any new content beyond the science camp. I was spending a lot of time giving asynchronous feedback to the students as well, since a lot of the presentation wasn’t yet complete.

I also wish I created more workshops to help them grasp onto scientific knowledge better. If I planned this out properly by communicating with the teachers beforehand, I would have wanted to give 12 workshops in the span of 5 weeks. One problem is that on top of science camp, the students pursue extracurricular activities that are practiced every day except Wednesday. They usually stay at school until around 6-7pm every day, which is much different from how long students in Canadian high schools spend their time. It’s also why Japanese students usually don’t have part-time jobs. Their schedules are really busy and understandably so, if I treated the science camp like a rigorous extracurricular, they wouldn’t have breaks. So a lot of work on their presentations was done asynchronously.

What did I learn about myself when working with others?

I suppose I forgot how far I would be willing to go to make sure the students would do their best during the presentations. The vice-principal and English teacher, Kagi-sensei and Tanaka-sensei, thanked me a lot for putting so much effort into making sure the students would have wonderful presentations. The last time I worked to this end was when I ran my high school Model UN club, where I had numerous office hours, created countless materials, spent time reviewing others’ materials and giving feedback. I remember how obsessed I was with Model UN back then, haha. My university experience with Model UN didn’t really capture how far I would go, except when I ran the conference this February. I think there’s a stark difference between teaching and running an event though, in terms of where and how the effort is conveyed. I like being a mentor better than being a conference organizer in the same activity. 

To that end, I also realized how much I valued social interactions and relationships with people within activities. More so, I feel a sense of loneliness without being around my family. I wish when I came back to my apartment in Yoron that I would come home to my siblings play-fighting, or my parents sitting down and having dinner together. But instead, I return to a ghastly silent accommodation with sometimes bugs or caterpillars having snuck under the door. I will say, however, my experience really hasn’t been lonely with the people of Yoron inviting me on weekend outings, going to English cafes, learning about old traditional Yoron life, and seeing all the students as I walk through Chabana.

What did I learn about leadership?

I think I reached the pinnacle of my reflection during the LiA during week 4, because I didn’t gain many new insights this week due to my limited time with the students this week as a result of the many incidents. But I did have my coaching session, and I was telling my coach how I overcame my imposter syndrome since the last time I met with her. She was really curious how my mindset shifted so drastically after spending a few weeks in Yoron, and I told her about how value-driven many people in Yoron were. For me, finding my place and purpose was key in getting rid of the imposter syndrome.

The reason why I share this story is because leadership can make or break people who are driven by their values. Leadership can only be fulfilling if the heart and intentions are in the right place, and those intentions are being conveyed to the community of interest in a way that’s honest. I don’t know how to explain it, it truly is a concept that transcends words. I know I’ll discuss this more in my LiA reflection. The point is, leadership reveals what your interests are to the community you are serving. It tests you on how far you are willing to go for a cause, and I think that brings out the best and worst in people. I think this experience or realization or trait (whatever it is I’m trying to describe here) is fundamental to tapping into the quality of leading with love, which I still believe is the most important trait for leadership.

I’m sure what I’m trying to describe has a word for it in Arabic. I don’t know why. I just have a gut feeling there isn’t a word in English but there is a word for it in Arabic (that’s not my native language if you’re wondering, haha). The closest word in English is altruism, but it doesn't encompass everything I'm talking about.

I’m going to do some research and report back on my LiA reflection, so stay tuned!

What do I want to develop or focus on next?

I want to focus on discovering the underlying reason for leading with love, so I can reflect on it and apply it for when the science camp students give their presentations next week. 

I did everything I could to leave the island to reach Tokyo with them, and although I cried because of the journey from Yoron to Tokyo during week 6, I think there were a lot of things I learned from that experience.