Houstons calling 5

End of year Report

What Happened

HC Nr. 5 was the final one. The last transmission. The last time our whole year group would come together to reflect on everything we'd been through. For this one, we came together as a year group to create a collaborative video — a collective end of year reflection that captured our journeys, our growth, and what we were taking forward. My contribution was personal. I spoke about how I'd pushed myself academically this year, how my writing had improved, and how I'd learned to go deeper and be more detailed in the way I express my ideas. Watching myself back, speaking confidently about my own growth — that was a proud moment.

Why It Happened & What It Means

The reason my academic growth stood out as my main reflection is because it's the area I feel most changed in. Leadership, confidence, entrepreneurship — those felt like natural progressions. But my writing? That was something I really had to work at. And looking back now, I can actually see the difference.

In year one I was descriptive. I wrote about what happened. By year three I was analytical. I was asking why it happened, what it meant, and what I was going to do differently because of it. That shift — from description to analysis — is actually one of the most important academic skills there is. West (2012) emphasises that reflective practice is one of the most powerful tools available to any professional, not just in terms of looking back but in terms of genuinely learning from what you find when you do. That's what my writing became this year — genuinely reflective, not just retrospective.

The fact that this growth happened gradually rather than overnight also means something. It didn't click after one piece of feedback or one late night essay. It built up slowly across every Houston's Calling reflection, every team experience write up, every moment I pushed myself to go one layer deeper than I naturally would have. Widdowson and Barbour (2021) argue that the most significant growth only becomes truly visible when you look back from a distance. Standing at HC Nr. 5 and looking back at where I started — that distance was extraordinary. And I only really saw it clearly in that final moment.

The collaborative video format also felt meaningful in a way I didn't expect. There was something really powerful about seeing an entire year group reflect together — each person with their own story, their own version of growth, their own version of becoming. Katzenbach and Smith (2015) argue that the true measure of a team's success is not just what it achieves collectively but what its members carry forward individually. That felt true watching that video. We had all grown. We had all become something more than who we were at the start. And being able to see that, all in one place, all at once — it hit differently.

What all of this means for me is simple. I came into this programme quiet, unsure, and holding back. I'm leaving it confident, analytical, entrepreneurial, and ready. The journey between those two versions of Rianne is everything this portfolio is about.

Moving Forward

HC Nr. 5 wasn't an ending — it was a launchpad. RILAIDITT is growing. My confidence is established. My academic ability has developed beyond what first year Rianne could have imagined. Everything I've built, every team I've been part of, every reflection I've written — it's all prepared me for what comes next. And I genuinely can't wait to see where that is.