Week 2 Recap

My second week in Dublin is treating me surprisingly well! Despite the chaos of living in a different country, I have managed to maintain a decent routine for myself and find ways to feel “normal”. Firstly, I’ve maintained great contact with my family back home by spending time playing games with my partner and regularly calling my mom, dad, and grandma. I’ve also been socializing with the other students in the program, especially my roommates. I cooked dinner for the four of us the other night, while battling a fruit fly infestation, and it felt great to do something small but meaningful for all of us. It was great to have “roomie dinner” and talk about our internship and international experiences so far. I’ve even kept a consistent schedule at the gym, finding time to work out six days a week! (Okay, one of those days is just going to the pool and sitting in the sauna for an hour, but it’s still a win.) 

As for my internship, I could not sleep at all the night before because of anxiety, so I showed up fifteen minutes early and was quite exhausted. Still, I put on my best face because I wanted to show everyone that I was excited to learn and ready for any tasks! When one of my supervisors arrived, we had a fantastic, in-depth conversation about each other’s stories and my personal and professional goals. We worked to tailor my internship specifically to the projects that would benefit me the most. I felt so much better after this talk, knowing that my supervisors want what is best for me. I also happen to align with her values on design, work environment, and conservation, so I feel that I will be more passionate about my work this summer.

Conveniently, my supervisor and her husband run both an architectural firm and a nonprofit organization that provides a coworking space to designers, and she was able to find work for me in both fields. This is the perfect opportunity for me, because I get both technical experience with architectural documents, and experience with the social and financial aspects of running a non-profit organization. Both of these skills are key in the field of historic preservation. 

So far, I have just been familiarizing myself with a program I have not used before, as well as looking through all of the documents shared with me on various projects I will be helping with.

Time Management

I have had a good balance of directed work and more independent time at my internship, so time management has been pretty straightforward, thankfully. I would generally separate my working hours into three different categories, each of which I approach differently: direct task work, general project progress, and undefined time.

Direct task work refers to the times during my internship when my supervisor gives me a clear, tangible task to complete. I first make sure to communicate well with my supervisor, clarifying the expectations and goals with them. I go to work on it pretty immediately, making sure to note down any questions I have. About halfway through the task, I will ask my supervisor to take a look and make sure I’m headed in the right direction, as well as clarify those questions that I gathered along the way. At completion, I deliver and ask for some feedback as well as direction for next steps. 

General project progress happens when my supervisor does not have a specific assignment for me, but still wants me to work on something. In this case, I will talk to them and decide which project I should focus on for that chunk of time, and then evaluate what stage the project is in as well as the project goals, to formulate a manageable task for myself. This way I am practicing some independence and initiative, and still being an asset to my supervisors while they provide me mentorship.

The final category is undefined time. Like any other internship, I have some moments of downtime where my supervisors are not around, or on a call, and I feel a bit lost as to what I should be working on. In this case, I use my time for personal development. One strategy is practicing software using tutorials online. Another is to do more relevant research for the projects I know I will be involved in. Finally, I often float around to communicate with other designers in the office; I practice my socialization, see if they need help with tasks, ask if I can shadow them for a while, and exchange creative ideas. I am taking advantage of the co-working environment while I am here, because it is such a great resource to be working around such different types of people.

Looking Ahead…

I am excited to dive deeper into my work projects in Week 3 and really start providing some value in exchange for my supervisors’ mentorships. I am especially looking forward to the non-profit management side of things, since this week had more of a focus on getting my architecture software set up and looking at some site surveys. I’m hoping to keep up with my self-care and workout routine, as well as find some time to draw during the evenings to stay sane!