This week began with an insightful presentation about the Leadership in Action component of the Laidlaw project, culminating in a discussion with an alumnus from a previous cohort whose reflections were very helpful for the early stages of our project planning. The summer abroad offers a unique opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone, continue contributing to social impact, and developing as a leader and as a person. For me, the key takeaway was to start thinking early, keep an open mind, and aim to be clear in how I might contribute to the work of a non-profit organisation when I start sending emails to places of interest. 

Over the past few days, the team has been aiming to finish off a full draft of the project report - which is now almost complete! My contribution to the group has largely focused on writing up our discussion/analysis in light of our results; I found this quite interesting and enjoyable as we were able to identify clear trends in our data (some being surprising) and have begun probing at the contextual factors that might explain these. Our findings have also prompted us to think about the limitations of our project, and what the implications of these may be for future work. It has been rewarding to see our work come together more cohesively, especially as our group initially struggled to form a specific research question. Our impact advisor's advice has been incredibly useful in pointing us towards the right style of language and structure. 

As the research summer comes to an end, I am reflecting on what I have learnt and how I have developed as a leader over the course of 6 weeks. Most of all, I have enjoyed learning more about our local community, how close in proximity certain inequalities exist, and the work currently being done to combat these. At this stage, though we are unsure how much scope our findings have for further use and study, it has been rewarding to contribute to the wider research of our project lead. More broadly, I have enjoyed working with other scholars from different degree backgrounds and experiences - I have learned a lot from them, too, along the way. As someone who enjoys writing, communication, and analytical thinking, the research summer has offered ample opportunities to nourish that interest through weekly reflections, carrying out school visits/surveys, and writing the report itself.

When it comes to thinking about leadership attributes, I have developed my self-awareness: over the course of the previous weeks, I have frequently noticed myself being the person that moved the project along by assigning roles, creating files, and sending out emails to our advisor/community partner/project lead. Through discussions with speakers and working as part of my team, something new I've learned about leadership is how much of it is about enabling others instead of trying to establish authority.

Finally, thank you to @Benjamin Margetts and @Kristen for overseeing our work over the summer, and for giving us the opportunity to contribute to something meaningful whilst shaping us as better leaders.