I cannot believe this is the last week of my internship! There were moments when time went slow but in general, it has completely flown by! I remember my very first day standing outside in the rain because I got there way too early! It is exciting for me to look back on all that I have accomplished. Partially because of work but also partially on my own I have created a to-do list that I do every single day. This helps me maintain what I have done, what I need to do, and what I can improve upon.  It is nice to look back at the end and see, wow I did more than I would have guessed going into this internship! I am thrilled to have solid things to talk about with future employers at interviews. I’m proud to talk about the company where I worked for two solid months! I also love how even though I gained my own experiences, I learned about some roles that I may be interested in the future or roles that I may not be interested in the future. With a small startup company, a lot of the roles are molded together and because it is small, I’m able to get to know a lot of people on the team. 

As I have seen in my internship, success is very similar in the US and in Ireland. At home, I would define success as establishing a sale or completing a big project. In Ireland, success is establishing a strong connection that will benefit your company in the future. Success is always being one step ahead of your competitors. A successful employee is prompt and engaged. They want to learn about how to improve their company or product. A very successful employee will take initiative into their own hands and not wait to be given tasks. These are all aspects that I consider very similar for in country and the United States. Another very unique part of my internship specifically is my company has been through my program for about four years now. They get a new intern right around every season. This means they have seen a lot of interns. They are prepared for the right amount of work an intern can handle in the weeks they will be here. When I talk with my roommates about how their internships aren’t giving them a lot of work and they actively need to ask consistently, I cannot relate. I’m not overwhelmed at the same time but I have the perfect amount of work. They also understand college students and encourage you to network. Their whole desk system is called floating desk style. This means that you can sit anywhere you want, even though most people have their favorite seats. This is to encourage people to talk to others they normally would interact with. This is so vastly different than most work styles I’ve seen before where you sit in your cubicle in your section and mainly deal and talk with people within your work area. If I have my own company one day, I will be integrating this into my style. 

Over this week I have been doing some very early Christmas shopping and also souvenir shopping for home. This is the perfect place to get something small and unique as a Memento for my family and friends. I brought this up when my boss asked what I would be doing over the weekend and he laughed a little bit. He used to be an intern doing my exact program and he currently lives in the United States. He told me he did the same thing his last week in Ireland. He told me there is one store that makes it very clear you are a tourist and it is called carols Irish gifts. They have them all over Ireland and they are just some cute trinkets to take home. He said, and I quote “avoided it like the plague” to try and seem like a local! I got some wonderful gifts for my family who I am already excited to give the presents to in just a couple of months! My family arrives in Ireland this Thursday. I cannot wait to see them I am beyond excited! We are going to have a full day in Dublin where I take them through my everyday life! And after we are going to go to a small town called Kenmare for about a week and relax in the small fishing town. It is a nice home base for several fun tourist areas nearby. We are going to go see the skulking island where several scenes for Star Wars were filmed and go see the Blarney castle.