The past week has been a lot of fun! Over the weekend a few friends and I went to Galway. The trip started off a bit rocky because we weren’t sure which bus to take or how to reserve tickets, but we eventually figured it out. We also happened to go during their annual folk music festival, so there were a lot of people in the town and a lot of street performers. We stayed in a hostel which was a very interesting experience. I didn’t have any part in the planning process so I didn’t know what to expect, but the accommodations weren’t too bad! And by that I mean the bed was theoretically comfortable enough to sleep on.
We spent one night in the city before we took a train to the Cliffs of Moher the next day. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced wind like that in my life. There was a genuine moment on the path where I thought I might get blown over the side. What made the wind worse was that there were little rocks mixed in with the dust (which was flying everywhere) that made walking forward impossible for about 5 minutes. Thankfully, I lived to tell our tale. We did unfortunately lose the kebab I paid 11 euros for (because I forgot it at the hostel).
Galway was ultimately a lot of fun, but I think I’m going to have to relax with the spending for a little bit. Between the bus, hostel, souvenirs, other bus, and train ride, I think my bank account is a little tired to say the least. Of course, I don’t think I’d be abroad if I was terribly concerned with saving money.
The first week of my internship was good. I met my supervisor, the CEO, and a few of my colleagues. There were two other interns there when I started, which helped make me feel more comfortable asking questions. I also got my first (and possibly only) project for my time. I started working on an updated version of an ebook for the company. The subject is employee engagement which I feel like I could write a pretty decent essay about at this point. This project is also the most organized I’ve been in a pretty long time. For example, this is the first time I’ve ever mapped out a project before starting. I’ve had outlines and whatnot, but none that I created myself or that I paid much mind to once I started. It was interesting, then, to switch the way I work to accomplish the task they presented me with.
One of my worries was that the way I approached school wouldn’t work as an approach to my internship, but I think naturally started my internship with a different mindset. Something that illustrates this fairly well is my punctuality. Historically speaking, I’m someone that people might refer to as “chronically late.” There were a few classes this past semester that I don’t think I was ever on time for (first week included). However, it hasn’t been difficult at all to ameliorate my behavior to get to my internship on time. Even after the day that I was a few minutes late because my bus got stuck in traffic, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be for me to start catching an earlier bus to avoid that possibility.
As far as time management goes, I have a few practices that have helped me both get to work on time and accomplish my tasks efficiently. I always set a few alarms for the morning. I try to set an alarm that will give me at least 7 hours of sleep, but sometimes I do settle for 6. I try to get up at least an hour before my bus leaves so that I have enough time to shower, make lunch, and rest before my shift starts. There have been a few days where I had to rush out of the house to make my bus, but I’ve been getting better as time goes on. Once I’m at work, I consult my game plan before beginning my day so that I don’t feel scattered later on. There hasn’t been a great deal of direction before today, but the things that have helped me ensure that I’m working at an appropriate pace are asking questions from my supervisors and the other interns there. I always work until about 2:00 so that by the time I get back from my break I only have 2 hours left.