Yet another week has nearly passed by in Dublin, and I am already becoming a bit nostalgic about my time spent here so far. I cannot believe that I am already past the halfway point. I am planning trips to both Galway and Howth for this upcoming weekend. It may be a bit ambitious to travel to both in one weekend, so I might have to choose just one for my excursion this weekend. At my internship, I started going into my second office for work on Tuesdays now. I have only been going to this office on Thursdays, so now I will be going there twice a week. It is quite a convenient change because I can walk to this location rather than wait in traffic on the bus for a long time, but it is still a bit difficult for me to adjust to new changes still happening this far into my internship.

Before I began my internship in Dublin, I was not accustomed to being a leader in the workplace. In my previous jobs, my bosses would prepare me a specific list of tasks to complete for the day, and they gave me this at the start of each day. I rarely had to worry about having nothing to do, because they would often make sure that is not the case. I was also used to being told when I can spend time relaxing at work or when I can take a break for lunch. They would also stop by often and give me another task if I finished the previous one, and they would ask how I am doing. Essentially, my boss and coworkers made sure that I was usually occupied with something to do. It was rare for me to have to ask for a task because they were always checking in and seeing how I can efficiently use my time. I was very used to this dynamic of being told what to do, so I was not used to having to be a leader and take charge in my previous jobs. There was also not much opportunity for me to be a leader in the positions I had in the past, so I never really thought about how it would be an adjustment if I needed to do so in the future.  

The four weeks I have been working so far have challenged me to become more of a leader at work than I was before this experience. Since I was not particularly used to being a leader in the workplace due to the nature of my previous jobs, I was unsure of what to expect coming to Dublin. We had discussed before departure that the Irish tend to be less direction-oriented than Americans, so I was at least able to somewhat prepare for this. This stereotype has proven to be true for my work since I have found that most of the time in Dublin, I start my day off at my internship sitting around waiting for the clients to come in, and I am not exactly given many tasks to work on. I was so used to my previous work style that it was a bit of a shock when I came here and had to ask for tasks to complete multiple times throughout the day. I was forced to become more of a leader when I got here by asking my coworkers for tasks to complete and initiating tasks myself as well. This could be uncomfortable at times, but it overall allowed me to become a better leader in the workplace, and I am still strengthening these skills while I work here.

Since my position at my internship challenges me to be a leader in the workplace, I believe I have efficiently strengthened my leadership skills. I believe that this experience has forced me to become more of a leader because of the ambiguity that comes with my position and the lack of direction from my supervisor and coworkers. Because of this, I have learned how to take charge and ask others for tasks to complete, or I simply find something to do to spend my time efficiently. Over the past few weeks, I have become more comfortable with doing this since I have been able to settle into my position and get an idea of what I should be doing day-to-day. I have been able to observe what an average day looks like at my work, so it has become easier for me to be a leader by understanding my tasks and duties and taking charge.