Well it is officially all over. The program in Dublin was a massive success. This last week was action packed. We were all just trying to enjoy our last few days together and in Europe. I also finished up my time in the Parliament. This was an enjoyable last week but I am also happy to be back home in America. Especially after the nightmare that was traveling home. The computer outage had our flight delayed for over 4 hours, which was miserable waiting in the airport for. This overall was a fantastic experience however, and I learned a lot both empirically and through experience. Living, traveling, and exploring abroad is a fantastic way to explore the world, and learn more about yourself along the way. I have made great friends and got great experience working in the Dail Eireann. I learned all about another country’s political system as compared to the American one, and explored Dublin. Dublin was an amazing city, and I would definitely consider living there in the future, although a part of me really does feel as though I should always live in America, but that may be because I am scared of the unfamiliar, although my fear of the unfamiliar is much more diminished after this program.

Success in politics in Ireland is a little different than success in politics in America. Success in American politics is measured on how big your successes are. Congress will celebrate a big all encompassing bill rather than a lot of little bills. In Ireland, success is measured based upon how efficiently things can get done. It is generally regarded as a failure when a bill is deliberated on for too long. While people in America also view Congress as ineffectual, Congress still feels as though it is better equipped to handle things in big bills less frequently. The differences may also be due to the two party system in America, which allows for polarization and road blocks, unlike the multi-party Irish system, where cooperation and compromises take precedence. For us in the office, our success was measured based upon how efficiently we could deal with our work. It was supremely important to do our work correctly, but even more important to deal with things as fast as possible. Since most of the work was with constituents, and it was an election year, it became even more important for us to help them quickly. A truly successful employee here does not hesitate to ask questions, because by waiting and trying to figure something out unsuccessfully is a path to failure and lost time, which is supremely important.

Overall, this was a very successful program and I am glad that I took the time to do it. I made many important memories and it has definitely changed me for the better.