The Laidlaw scholarship gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about myself and the world around me. As of now, I have a much clearer idea of my place in the society I live in and the impact I want to have in the future. By researching, in the first summer, and going on a placement to Egypt, in the second summer, I have grown a lot and I can confidently say the scholarship prepared me for my future career and helped me understand what to expect from different people and situations. Moreover, it also gave me a clearer idea as to what it means to commit to a project.

Over the course of my Leadership in Action I was not just living alone in a foreign country, but I was there to make an impact. In order to do so, I had to gain a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities as a leader to overcome the challenges I faced both as a foreigner in Egypt and as a project manager for EFRR. The foundation I worked for let me work quite independently, which meant that I had full control of the classes I was conducting. However, having full control over the 5-week course meant that I also had full responsibility for the outcome of the project. I was very lucky to work with Rawan, Nour and Fatma, three girls who helped me with translation and gave me advice on how to conduct the project. Since it was the first time I was working directly with refugees, it took me a while to get used to the dynamic of my relationship with them. When dealing with such a vulnerable community it is very hard to establish boundaries because you automatically feel responsible for all aspects of their lives. Moreover, I was also challenged by the language barrier, which initially made me feel like I did not have total control over the project because I could not fully understand what was going on without the help of the translator. This helped me understand the importance of meeting in the middle with the people and communities you work with.

Overall, I believe the 6-week Leadership in Action really helped me grow as a leader and as a global citizen. Some of the main things I have understood over the course of the project are the impotence of adaptability, which was essential when working in a foreign environment and/or lacking resources, the essentiality of boundaries, which really helped me get through these 6 weeks in the first extremely professional setting I have worked in and the need to keep an open mind, both with the refugees and with the foundation itself. When working in a foreign country, work ethic and commitment can be quite different. In my case, the office had very different timings compared to offices in Ireland and people left the office whenever they were done with their work, meaning that some of my colleagues would stay until 10 pm. In this case, and with so many other challenges I had to face working in such a different environment, it is very important to easily adapt, set boundaries with both workers and refugees and keep an open mind, which in my case meant that I did not compare what was expected of me from the foundation to what could have been expected of me if I worked in another context, since the circumstances are obviously different.