Hi everyone! Working at AJC has been quite the journey so far. From the first week where I was so eager to do, participate and learn, I have become more accustomed to the office’s speed, needs and ability. This has allowed me to refocus on my learning goals and see how I can best achieve them in the context of my office, rather than in the way I had expected to achieve them. This has meant that much of my learning has been individual, while using my bosses to give their opinion about relevant developments, rather than explain whole ideas to me. Through this, I have had the opportunity to both expand my knowledge about political occurrences in Latin America and deepen my connection to my supervisors, who can see that I am truly passionate and interested in the topic. Doing so has also allowed me to understand BILLA’s role in the international diplomacy arena. Seeing that I am engaged and on top of recent developments, my supervisors have begun to trust me more, allowing me to join more ‘high-risk’ meetings. Following the presidential elections in Mexico, I joined my supervisors and AJC’s CEO in a meeting with the Mexican Ambassador to the United States. As a woman interested in working in diplomacy, a peek into this world was a phenomenal opportunity to better understand what I will be potentially entering. Hearing first hand about the implications of the election from Mexican professionals was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will cherish and keep in mind as I continue my professional and academic journey. Opportunities like these have framed the main project I am pursuing as a part of AJC’s BILLA. In the past few weeks, I have begun compiling information about populist leaders in Latin America and the upcoming elections in various Latin American countries. Analyzing the way populist leaders have impacted their nation’s democracy has been particularly interesting to me and having the ability to look into the prospects of countries whose elections are coming up has been a great learning opportunity.
This opportunity has also shown me how essential it is to be confident in my abilities and professionalism. While in school, I feel confident enough to speak up in class or regularly attend office hours, yet this setting has been a test to my ability to overcome my self-doubts and engage with professionals in a formal setting. This is intimidating, I won’t lie. I find myself rethinking a question time after time to the point where the opportunity to ask it has passed. Yet I also find myself pushing myself to not be scared to show that I am knowledgeable about certain topics and political developments. When thinking about my ‘growth as a leader,’ I immediately reflect on this aspect and think about how I act in different contexts depending on my relative status. When I am in a position of inferiority, I often feel as though I don’t have as much to contribute as others, a notion I know is false. I bring a different and sometimes fresher perspective to the table, one that often is not considered by older people who have been in the field for decades. As a young female immigrant, I have to remind myself that what I have to say is valuable to the people standing in front of me, encouraging me to put my worries aside as I engage with professionals. This is something I am still working on, but formally addressing it has been helping me overcome it and become the woman I hope to be. I hope that focusing on my confidence in professional settings will allow me to develop the necessary skills to reach the places I hope to reach. As I think about my future career, I realize that among the most important things is to believe in myself enough so that the people I face don’t have a single doubt that I am up to the task.
