This post is part of a series of reflecting on the weekly chapters of my LiA experience in Singapore. 

What went well?

Whereas the past three weeks have felt more unstructured and ad-hoc, this week felt more structured. This is because STEM Fest is coming up! The registration numbers are climbing, emails are coming in from prospective attendees/parents, and the temperature in the office is climbing. It’s a great and busy time, and it felt productive. My blog post promoting STEM Fest has also been posted on the UWS website, which is exciting!

This week, I worked on summarizing findings from UWS’ research about women in STEM. As I combed through the statistics looking for the most flashy and comprehendible numbers, I realized each number was telling the story reflective of a deeply unequal world. Gender really plays such a strong role in dictating how we live and behave. I also worked on the MC Script for STEM Fest; it is crazy to think the words that I typed will be spoken to a large audience in one week’s time. I’m growing more excited to see STEM Fest come to life.  

What could have been done differently?

This week, I was lacking energy. I dragged my feet to the office and dragged them back. I felt this low energy impact my work and patience. I realized that by changing my outlook, I can change how I show up professionally. I aim to “show up” in a more positive manner next week.

What did I learn about myself when working with others?

This week, I again noticed that I don’t need to be the one jumping to give the answer or right in front of the speaker in order to be heard by others. I feel myself being unprogrammed in this moment, because I’d always thought that loudness was a metric of success. I also wasn’t sure if my contributions to the team would be noticed unless I explicitly shared and documented every small contribution I made. However, my team at UWS never fails to notice if I’ve made progress on research or sent off some emails. I learned that working with others is important to keeping me accountable to the goals I’ve set for myself, but also so that I feel recognized. This has given me the confidence that if I find the right workplace, I can be valued for my contributions to the team.  

What did I learn about leadership?

High school aged students from an international exchange program came to visit UWS this week. Myself and four other team members received them and talked to the about our work, why we joined UWS and what our interests were. It was so strange to be asked to talk about UWS as if I was a staff member; I felt almost like an imposter. But then I thought, at what point would I feel comfortable enough to represent UWS?

Part of my discomfort came from the fact that I felt I didn’t know everything there was to know about the Programmes team and UWS’ footprint at large. But then I realized that I don’t need to. In fact, it made me consider how a new leader would react to this situation; I imagine a leader would embrace their leadership position by acknowledging what they do know and recognizing their limitations. From this, I realized that being a leader means quickly embracing the things you are learning and title you hold knowing that it bestows more humility than it does power.

What do I want to develop or focus on next?

I’ve been enticed by the non-profit space for as long as I can remember. Everyone comes to the non profit space with a different background and different intentions. In these last two weeks, I want to be more aware of what is drawing me to the non-profit space and what impact I’m seeking to have.