I could not believe that the time to leave Ireland has already come. It pains me to leave such a beautiful country full of kind-hearted people. I am already imagining the differences I will experience once I am back in the United States of America and how strange everything is going to be. Granted, I do miss certain foods and aspects of the United States; however, I will surely miss many aspects of Ireland, as well. Public transportation in Ireland is probably the thing I will miss the most along with the relaxed nature of my superiors and everyone in Ireland. 

I thought I should spend my last week in Ireland in a peaceful manner, soaking up as much of the city and country as possible. I went down to city centre almost every day to walk around and experience new restaurants as well as just relax before heading off to a hectic lifestyle in the United States. I spent time with my Irish friend which was sad since I would be leaving, but I know I will be back in Ireland! I was able to complete one of two fun personal goals of mine: making an Irish friend! My other goal was to take a photograph with a sheep, but unfortunately, the opportunity never presented itself, so I have to fly back to Ireland to complete this other fun goal of mine. 

I was able to complete everything I needed to do at my internship on time which was extremely satisfying and rewarding. My superiors were very pleased and thankful to my coworkers and I for all the hard work we have done. It is amazing and slightly intimidating to think that the data we have compiled will be used in numerous research studies that will one day be presented to the European Commission. I am incredibly thankful for the work I have done because I was able to learn so much about Ireland’s political climate, their government and culture. Even though the work was tedious and repetitious, I would not have it any other way. 

While there has not been many instances where I have needed to use contextual clues while in Ireland, I have experienced it once very briefly during my internship. My superiors will ask me to perform a task; however, they do not give a lot of details or what exactly I should do. It is up to me to figure the task out if I do not ask them for clarification. Typically, the task relates to research, so when my superior just gives me a topic of research, I have learned that it means to compile sites and scholarly articles relating to the topic at hand as well as typing down a short description of each resource. 

There has not been many instances where my supervisor has given feedback; however, as the time for our internship to end grew closer, my coworkers and I needed to complete our tasks as fast as possible still with utmost accuracy. My supervisors needed us to work faster, so they conveyed it to us in a roundabout manner of speaking. Instead of directly telling us that we have to complete our work before we leave, they would preface it with how grateful they were at our current speed, followed by how they understand that the work is difficult. I think this approach to giving feedback works extremely well because it makes the employee feel less targeted.