Week 4 did not slow down in the slightest. If anything, it expanded, spilling out of the office and across countries and borders: from Luxembourg by train, to Paris on three hours of sleep, into a general assembly where I had to defend a research position I believed in in front of people I deeply respect. By Sunday night, running on straight fumes and still buzzing from Fête de la Musique, I felt a sort of inexplicable emotion of almost contentment. Although chaotic, this is the summer I came here to experience. 

What went well

Holding my ground at the General Assembly.

During the European Brain Council (EBC) General Assembly, I experienced one of the most charged professional encounters in my internship thus far. During the meeting, the president of EBC expressed skepticism about the gut-brain axis after my colleague had finished presenting the agenda of the HEREDITARY Advocacy workshop, which struck a cord since its the very research underpinning not only the workshop I spent several weeks designing, but also the research field I have devoted myself to through this programme. I could have let it pass; it definitely would have been the easier thing to do. She is the president after all, it was a room full of senior figures, and I am four weeks into an internship. But if there's anything I know, it's my research. And the workshop depends on it, so I spoke up. 

I explained, as clearly and confidently as I could, that the link between the gut and the brain is not only well-established, but actively supported by a growing body of emerging evidence, and that the field's legitimacy is precisely why it belongs at the centre of an advocacy workshop focused on neurodegenerative disease and science-policy dialogue. It was uncomfortable in the way that doing the right thing often is. But my boss and colleagues approached me afterwards and commended me for it, and that meant a great deal because it confirmed that speaking up had been the right call and that the people around me recognized it as such. 

A highlight 

The WP6 meeting and sparked ideas.

Later in the week, the WP6 global collaborative meeting offered a completely different kind of professional energy; less charged, more expansive. The panellists and their discussion landed with me in a way I did not entirely anticipate, and by the time it was over I found myself drafting ideas for a new research initiative, almost instinctively, because the conversation had opened up a line of thinking I wanted to follow. I am still mulling over the ideas, but moments like that - where somethings you hear in a meeting directly sparks something you want to build - are part of why this kind of work feels very expansive for me right now. 

On a personal note

Luxembourg, a delayed train, and 3:30am.

My good friend flew in from Albania last Friday, and we took the train to Luxembourg together the next morning. The better part of the day was very enjoyable; Luxembourg is extremely lush, sat atop vast caverns, and there's a deeply layered feel to the city. Especially having someone to experience it with after weeks of solo exploration felt like a luxury. The journey home, however, had other plans. A five-hour delay turned what should've been an 11pm arrival home into a 3:30am ordeal - tired, stranded, delirious, and utterly unable to do anything about it. We have a lot of memories from that experience, and luckily most of them are funny in hindsight. I am glad we went, delay and all.

Personal note, continued

Paris on three hours of sleep. 

On Sunday, approximately 3 hours after getting home from Luxembourg, I took the Eurostar to Paris to meet Eno, a fellow Laidlaw Scholar for Fête de la Musique. It was 37 degrees, and an extremely long day for me. I was running almost entirely on adrenaline and the general goodwill of someone who was happy to see me and keen to show me around the city he knew. We wandered, listening to music spilling out of every street corner, and I was reminded that some of the best days are the ones you probably should not have attempted on paper. 

There was also something quite refreshing about spending the day with a fellow Laidlaw Scholar, who understands the particular texture of the whole LiA experience, the professional intensity of it alongside the personal adjustment. It was easy in the way that conversations are when you do not have to explain very much.

What I learned

On advocacy and diplomacy.

This week reinforced that advocating for what you know to be true, even when the room is senior, even when it is uncomfortable, even when silence would be easier, is also part of the job. In both the policy and personal sense. The gut-brain axis moment was not easy, but it was right, and I think the version of me that arrived in Brussels five weeks ago might have stayed quiet if placed in that situation. That feels like growth worth noting.

Outside of work, the week also showed me that the isolation I wrote about in the early weeks is genuinely shifting. Having a friend visit, making memories in Luxembourg that will outlast the delay, spending a day in Paris with Eno; these are not small things. The experience I am building here is starting to have more people in it, and has shifted my attitude towards it.

Looking ahead

The workshop is getting closer and the pace is only accelerating! After a week like this one though, I feel more equipped than ever to roll with the punches.