This past week has been filled with adventure. Over the weekend, two friends and I decided to go to Dresden, which is a city located in East Germany. Luckily for me, the train ride was only 2 ½ hours and free, thanks to the wonderful Deutschland ticket. I woke up at 5:30 and left to get to the train station at 6:15, which I’ve noticed is when all the trains run every time I travel. The weekend in Dresden was lovely. The city was so beautiful and picturesque. We saw the stunning architecture and learned how Dresden was actually rebuilt after it was bombed during the war. If you see black stones, those are the original stones, while the newer stones are not black. The food was also amazing. Right when we got off the train, we went to a café one of my friends found on TikTok. I ordered Cilbir Turkish eggs, and they were incredible. After hours of sightseeing, eating food, and of course taking lots of pictures, we walked along the Elbe riverbank skipping rocks. After that weekend, I got home, and the next day I got ready to go into work.

Before this internship, I had experience in varying fields of employment. During the summer, I worked at McDonald’s, and before that, I held a retail job working at Lands’ End. I have also worked in various other roles, such as for a social media company and on an editorial board. Before this internship, I would say that my leadership style was very relaxed. It was more about consulting with other members of the editorial board or talking to gauge the opinions of my team. I was allowed to take the lead on certain projects, but most of the time, my supervisor was always watching over me, making sure what I did was right and giving me the green light to move forward. So I was often very dependent on my supervisor’s opinions and hearing their feedback before making any major steps.

Because of that, when I started the internship here in Berlin, it definitely challenged my view and approach to leadership. My supervisor is pretty young and laid-back, and I feel that because of that, she allows me to take more of a lead on the project I am working on. Instead of constantly telling me what to do, she always asks me what I think the next steps should be. For example, before diving into writing the research paper, the first thing she asked me was what topic I wanted to write about. That honestly took me by surprise a little bit, mostly because this was the main project we were working on, and the fact that she gave me the lead on choosing the topic was unexpected. After this, I noticed that she let me take the lead on what direction the research paper should head into. Occasionally, she would chime in and give me feedback on the progress I was making, but for the most part so far, I have been taking the lead.

This challenged my view and approach to leadership because before, I held this almost passive view of what it meant to take leadership. But now I feel a lot more confident in being a leader. This experience has led me to feel confident in taking risks and making my own decisions. Before, I was a little scared because I wanted the project to be perfect. But taking leadership of this project has helped me realize that it’s all right if you don’t get it right the first time and it’s not perfect. Over time, as you grow more confident in your skills, this will be seen in your work. I feel as if I have been able to voice more of my opinion and become a stronger leader in the process. Because of this growth, I would say it is reflecting positively in my work. There has been a lot of progress with the research paper, and I am going to be going into the office soon to meet with my boss to hear any feedback she might have. I am super excited, and of course, a little nervous, but I can’t wait until the research paper comes together.