There are only two more weeks left of my international internship experience in Dublin, Ireland. It is sad to know that this trip is almost over, so I am making sure to really enjoy my last few days of living in this great city before I leave. This weekend, I had the privilege of traveling again with several of my friends to Barcelona, Spain. After being in Ireland for so long, enjoying warm weather and sunshine in Barcelona was a much-needed change of pace. I got to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and relax on the sand at a nearby Barcelona beach. I also enjoyed authentic Spanish food like paellas and several different tapa bars. During the day, I got to see two of Antoni Gaudí’s most famous buildings: the Basílica de la Sagrada Família and the Casa Batlló. It was great to see these two stunning buildings and learn about Antoni Gaudi’s life and career. At night, I visited some of Barcelona’s well-known clubs, a fitting way to end the days and another great aspect of my first time ever visiting this beautiful city.

To circle back to the question, I have had several instances in my life where I took a leadership-type role. My most notable instances of being a leader revolved around my athletic career in high school. While a student at Loyalsock Township High School in Williamsport Pennsylvania, I was a varsity athlete in the cross-country, basketball, and tennis sports teams. As a basketball player, I was a starter in my high school’s first-ever basketball state championship, an accomplishment that is still renowned in my hometown to this day. As a senior on the team, I was one of the key leaders that drove our success. At this time in my life, my leadership style was to lead by example. I was not very vocal as a leader but I was someone who never raised issues with coaches or teammates and set the tone in practice and games with my effort and enthusiasm.

Now that I am working in a professional setting, my leadership style is different from what it was in high school. Since I am only an intern in the office, leading by example is not as relevant of a leadership style as it was when I was a basketball player on the court. Here, I am not a leader for the office as a whole, but I am a leader to my fellow interns. I am the intern who has been here the longest, and since my time working here, there have been two other American interns who started after me. This has given me a chance to develop as a leader and adapt my leadership style to the needs of the office. In the office, I am a vocal leader, verbally explaining to my interns how to do our typical tasks and correcting them when they make a mistake or when there is room for improvement. This has taught me how to communicate expectations clearly and create good relationships with my coworkers. This has helped ease their transition into the job and improved my leadership capabilities by challenging me to adapt to a new style of leading.

Because I have had to adapt my leadership style, my internship has challenged me to expand my capabilities as a leader and try new ways of going about leadership. Being a leader in a professional office setting is much different than it was as an athlete when I was younger. This experience is teaching me how to be a safe space for someone to ask me questions without fear of judgment or unwarranted criticism. It also challenges me to step up in the office and take on more responsibility than I did when I was just starting a few weeks ago. Because I am the leader among the interns more is expected of me than them, and I am tasked with dealing with more sensitive matters because I have more experience. This has accelerated my growth and increased my confidence.
To conclude, leadership is a skill that can only be improved by doing it. As an intern at Daly Khurshid Solicitors, I have had the opportunity to be a leader among the interns in the office and grow personally and professionally as a result. This experience has challenged me in new ways that have forced me to grow as a leader by adopting a new leadership style. Because of this experience, I can return to the States as a more confident leader than when I left it.