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Youness Robert-Tahiri
MSocSci Psychology Candidate (Laidlaw Scholars Alumnus), University of Cape Town
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Week 1 Reflection
My first week as a Laidlaw Scholar at Oxford blended collaboration, self-discovery, and community engagement. From forming research partnerships to kitchen experiments, I identified strengths and honed skills that will guide our study of co-curricular activities in Oxfordshire schools.
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Teo, this is a great first reflection. You bring together research, cultural adjustment, personal accountability and leadership development with considerable thoughtfulness. I was particularly impressed by your recognition that responsible awareness-raising involves not only establishing facts but understanding how language and presentation shape other people’s interpretations.
Your account of arriving late to the workshop also demonstrates genuine accountability. You resist blaming an unfamiliar transport system and recognise that leadership changes the significance of a mistake when other people are relying on you. Your broader insight - that leadership can involve taking responsibility, facilitating others or stepping back - is an excellent one.
As you continue, I would encourage you to apply the same critical source awareness you brought to the constitutional research to the experiences that felt most immediate. A DMZ tour, museum exhibition and personal testimony can all provide important knowledge, but each is also shaped by perspective, selection and context. How might you hold on to the human significance of these encounters while distinguishing personal testimony, institutional framing and independently corroborated evidence?
Your final observation is excellent: responsible awareness-raising requires curiosity about the facts without losing sight of the people behind them. That is a powerful principle to carry through the rest of your LiA.
Back on food - have you tried Bibim Naengmyeon 비빔냉면 yet? It is one of my favourites!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your feedback, especially your point about distinguishing between personal testimony, institutional framing and corroborated evidence. I now realise that it simply didn't occur to me to apply the same critical lens beyond the written sources I was using. I'll definitely be more mindful of that over the coming weeks.
And not yet! I'll have to give bibim naengmyeon a try ASAP. Maybe I'll start ending each reflection with a "Food of the Week" section so I can report back on any new Korean dishes I've discovered :)