I came to the Maya corpus just as the project was wrapping up, so my last week in Mexico was also a few colleagues' last weeks as part of the corpus team. This means I got to leave my Laidlaw project with a sense of completion; even though there's still work to be done on the corpus, most of the big steps are in place and the website is operational. As things came to an end, I also got to reflect on the work with some colleagues, and talk with them about their visions for the future of the corpus. I was really excited to hear that some people have already started using the corpus, mostly for pedagogical purposes. From the very beginning, the corpus was meant to serve as a tool for Maya speakers, so seeing it used for teaching definitely fulfills this goal. I was also impressed by the excitement and energy that showed through when they talked about the project, even after a couple of years of sometimes-frustrating work. Everyone I worked with believes strongly in the value of the project, and I'm starting to see how this confidence is a major part of good leadership.  

I was also impressed by the kindness and openness that I was shown during my time in Merida, both while working on the corpus and also more generally. Everyone that I worked with welcomed me enthusiastically, helping me feel connected and included. The passion that my supervisor and other coworkers all felt for the project translated into an exciting work environment; I was struck by how everyone working on the campus seemed to have genuine friendships with one another, and at how nobody hesitated to incorporate me into this social fabric. I used to think that this kind of teamwork only happened by chance, when peoples' personalities just happened to blend well together, but while working on the corpus I saw that this environment was built carefully, intentionally, and diligently. A collaborative and positive team environment isn't dependent at all on any individual personality. This is an understanding that I plan to bring back to group settings at Columbia, and in any other context as well.