One thing I learned this week is that there is an appropriate time and place for PowerPoint animations. Many of my high school teachers told me to never use animations because they distracted from the content of the presentation. However, my faculty mentor and I were discussing a PowerPoint I made summarizing my findings and she recommended I add in animations to make it more visually appealing. 

One challenge I faced was doing more theoretical writing. I feel under qualified to talk about political science theories when there are academics who have spent their whole careers thinking about the various theories. A lot of articles I read this week talk about the complex theories that describe ideologies like populism and nationalism, and I was a bit confused by all the terminology they used. I plan to overcome that by taking my time when reading and making sure I really understand the text. I also want to overcome some of the imposter syndrome I’m feeling by taking a step back and appreciating the work I’ve done so far.

Next steps: My goals for next week are to finish my poster and work on the introduction to my paper. Another even more important goal is to move out and fly back home!