Over my two months at CSD, I worked in the Communications and Security teams. I thoroughly enjoyed my time as I felt I was given real work (that contributed to the organization's efforts) to do, but also the space and flexibility to take initiative and pursue my areas of interest. 

In the Security team, I did research on foreign influence and summarized a research paper. I also wrote a 9-page brief on global innovation trends, to be used in CSD's sister organisation (the ARC Fund) innovation report. I enjoyed having the flexibility to complete tasks at my own pace, while still knowing there was support should I need it. In Communications, I did a range of supporting tasks such as creating posts and events photography. 

My proudest achievement is probably setting up the CSD Instagram page – after analysing all the social media pages and realising that we didn't have one, I wrote a proposal to create an account and my supervisor, Mr Mariyan Sabev, was very supportive and entrusted me with the creating and maintaining of the page. After the trial period, he decided to continue the page. It was great to have that space to really do things on my own, with the support of my supervisor and the Communications team. 

Some of the highlights for me in this internship was getting to know the twenty-odd interns in the time I was there, joining in high profile public policy events (including one that invited ambassadors from multiple countries and the Minister of Defence), and doing real work to contribute to the Center's cause.