It is crazy to think we only have just over 2 weeks left. I feel like I’ve been here forever but also nowhere near long enough. This past weekend I was able to mark some things off my to do list. On Saturday we took the bus out to Bray to go to the beach and do a short cliff walk. The beach was beautiful although the water was freezing so we headed up to the cliff where we somehow ended up on the wrong path. What we thought was a short hike turned into a 4-mile loop which required us to hike uphill (good training for walking up cardiac hill though) and scale some rocks before climbing through a barbed wire fence. It was beautiful and part of me is glad we made the mistake but at the end we were tired, covered in scratches from the bushes and ready to head back to Dublin. On Sunday we headed out to Howth where we did another (shorter and easier) cliff walk from Howth Summit back into town. We found a good seafood place and I had Toffee pudding for dessert which was amazing. We stopped at the market in town where there was a booth with pounds and pounds of candy. There was a busker playing at the end of the pier and after listening to him for a while we decided to try and find a beach someone had recommended to us. Unfortunately the beach proved difficult to find and we ended up heading back to Dublin. On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to have the day off and spent the morning at the Kilmainham Gaol. I don’t know a lot about Irish History so it was really interesting to learn about some of the major events and rebellion through the eyes of the prison. Most of my history classes have focused on other regions of the world but I am taking a history of modern Ireland class in the fall that I am excited for. After my tour I headed to the National Museum of Ireland Archaeology where they had some really cool artifacts on display from the Neolithic era. They also had ‘bog bodies’ which are the remains of people that were used as human sacrifice and were preserved by the bog. It was really interesting to learn about how much they were able to determine about the lives of these people because their bodies were so well preserved. They were able to determine the last meal which allowed them to estimate what time of year they died as well as their status within their society and how they were killed. They provide a window into a part of history that hasn’t been as documented as more recent parts. My last stop of the day was the Little Museum of Dublin which was a quirky museum that is made up of items donated by people living in Dublin. A tour guide gives a quick history of Dublin using the pictures and various things donated stretching from the arrival of the Vikings to present day. I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to really enjoy what Dublin has to offer and there is so much still to see. I’ve been able to relax and appreciate Dublin without worrying about seeing everything. In terms of work, I am still working on the exhibition. I am writing the online exhibition pieces which will then be cut down for the physical exhibition as well as writing a more focused piece on a specific book for the book of the month. It finally hit me today that I have to finish this in less than two weeks which is kind of terrifying and a little stressful.

My leadership style before this internship was very collaborative. When leading a group I’ve always tried to get everyone’s input and ideas. I obviously can’t know everything and someone might have a better idea or suggestion than I can think of. I think more democratic style of leadership is really important to have because you don’t want to become dictator-like and make the decisions for everyone else. In terms of my internship changing my approach to leadership there hasn’t been as much of an opportunity for this. I work mainly alone so there isn’t the chance to work on leadership. Leadership does require confidence so having the opportunity to work on confidence in my knowledge and work will help me in the future (particularly if there is a group project about Francis Bacon)