I have officially completed the Dublin International Internship Program at The Grand Social. My time here in Dublin has finally come to an end. Saying goodbye has become very bittersweet. By the time I will be home, I have been away for 3 months, and I am staying in Ireland for a little longer with my family. I really enjoy traveling but I do miss my life at home and seeing the friends from home I don’t see often. During my time left here, I am away from the city and enjoying the nature of Ireland. I have been enjoying spending my days at Inch Beach. This is one of the few sand beaches in Ireland, so it is more like what I am used to at home. Since the program has ended Ireland has been very rainy. During my stay at UCD, I felt as if the weather was very nice, and did not rain a lot. Although the program ended less than a week ago I am still trying to find the words to describe the experience. Before coming to Dublin the program seemed like it would take forever to complete. But time moved very fast creating lifetime friendships and memories. Saying goodbye to people I have grown incredibly close with was a sad thing to do. 

I think this program has allowed me to gain a lot more confidence in myself and my skills. Coming into this program I did not have previous experience in the career field I aspire to work in post-grad. This was able to allow me to gain the foundation of working in the industry and what that looked like. Along with this, it allowed me to gain many transferable skills. One of the largest skills I had to improve on instantly was communication. I have worked several different jobs for many years now but working in Ireland was something unlike all the rest of them. The working and communication style was something completely different than what I am used to. Being able to recognize other styles of communication and reflecting on what styles worked best in different environments. The style that was used at The Grand Social was very hands-off. As I would typically just be told what task to do for the day without many details and had to figure out other tasks to do for the rest of the day. This has allowed me to improve the skills I have gained in my classes, and I will be coming back with better and more refined skills. 

Flexibility is a skill that value in my personal life, but I have never been able to improve on a professional level. All the work experience I have my supervisor would inform me of what exactly needs to be done. From my experience at The Grand Social One of the most prominent takeaways is the importance of adaptability and versatility in the workplace. The entertainment industry is ever-changing and requires the ability to handle diverse challenges. Nothing is guaranteed in this industry. For example, I worked a lot in Ticket sales. Although that is something I wasn’t originally supposed to work in it goes hand and hand with marketing and promotion for the gigs. By seeing what gigs are not selling as well as others I was able to readjust the promotion needed to improve the tickets sold. 

Along with this, it allowed to help me to gain confidence in creativity. The Grand Social Dublin is known for its unique and innovative events, and I was able to help showcase that. This environment nurtured my creativity, encouraging me to think outside the box and come up with fresh ideas. During my job, I was allowed total creative freedom to create. At first, this was hard for me to do. In every sense I had some limitations on what I could create prior to this internship. Having total freedom at first blocked me completely without someone telling me what they wanted was hard for me. But I had the opportunity to be part of creating the visual designs for bands and using them for the social media promotions, where my input was valued and implemented. This freedom to express creativity helped me explore my passions and discover hidden talents, contributing to personal growth.

Working at The Grand Social in Dublin has been a transformative experience, offering valuable takeaways and significant growth both personally and professionally. This program has allowed me to gain experience outside the classroom that will help me to be a more successful student and worker.