My second week here in Dublin was the first official work week.
On Tuesday, I started my internship with Early Intervention Support Services (EISS). I took a train up the coast to Donaghmede, where the school is located. The day is broken up into two sessions. A morning session from 8:40-12:20 with 5-7 year olds and an afternoon session from 12:20-4 with 3-4 year olds. Each child has an individualized intervention program comprised of goals and practice sets, however, a lot of the day is free play time for the kids. I spent Tuesday just observing to get a feel for how the day is structured. It was definitely a very long day, but the kids are super cute, and it’ll be interesting to see how I get to participate in the intervention plans as the internship continues.
On Wednesday, I was assigned to a little boy named Leo who I’ll be working with over the summer! He is 5 years old and a part of the school’s morning session. I spent the day familiarizing myself with Leo’s plan and working to get to know him and bond with him more. Again, Wednesday was a lot of observation, although my focus was more narrowed down as I was specifically shadowing the staff member working with Leo that day. I learned how to chart and graph each activity that we did with him, which was really helpful because eventually I’ll take over Leo’s chart fully. Also, every Wednesday EISS takes all of the kids on a long walk around the neighborhood so that was a super fun part of the day, and it was nice to mix things up a bit!
After work on Wednesday, I went with my roommates into the city and we got an insanely good dinner from Nannetti’s. So far, every restaurant we’ve gone to has exceeded our expectations. I’m so excited to try more places over the next few weeks. We walked around town for a little bit, and ended up sitting with the Molly Malone statue for a while. A message has spread that rubbing the statue’s breasts brings good luck, but according to Molly’s story, she appreciates visitors who come to guard her, not sexualize her. So that’s what we did! It’s difficult to say whether Molly was based off of a real person or not, but it felt meaningful to spend time with her on Wednesday evening. We played music, talked, and laughed. We’re excited to go back on June 13th, Molly Malone Day, to celebrate her. It was a really nice night, and I’m really loving it here in Dublin.
Thursday had a bit of a rough start. To get to EISS, I take a bus from UCD to Blackrock, and then a train from Blackrock to the school. My bus ended up coming early and I just barely missed it. I saw a second bus departing from UCD just 10 min later and thought I was in the clear, and that I was luckily still going to make my train. I got on the second bus, but about 10 minutes into the ride realized I was actually traveling in the opposite direction, so that was quite unfortunate. Another bus wasn’t coming for a long time, so I called a taxi to the closest train station and only just made it in time for the second train. I ended up being about 10 minutes late to my placement, but luckily it was all okay. Definitely a stressful morning! I’ll have to start getting to the bus stop extra early.
Unfortunately, the day did not get much better. I got to my internship and spent the morning working with Leo again, which was nice! He is such a sweet little kid, it has been so fun to work with him and watch him meet new goals, even just this week. However, during the second session of the day, I was playing with the younger kids and I got peed on! Luckily, my coworker had spare clothes in her car and was generous enough to lend me something to change into. I guess I need to start keeping a spare change of clothes in my work bag lol.
Friday, I woke up with a fever and had to call out of my placement. I spent the day just resting and catching up on some work.
One skill that I’ve definitely learned to prioritize this week is time management. Each day, Leo has a list of skill-based tasks that he must complete a set number of trials of. Since Leo is only at school for about three and a half hours, it’s important that I stay focused and organized to make the most of our time together. To manage this, I start each day by reviewing the list of required tasks and estimating how long each one might take. I spend the first hour working especially closely and attentively with Leo, using this window when he is the most focused, not yet burnt out from the school day, to complete the more challenging or time-sensitive trials. Once we’ve met our targets, we use the rest of the day for more relaxed, play-based learning, which is just as valuable for his development! One challenge I’ve faced is balancing productivity with keeping the sessions enjoyable for Leo. I’ve learned to stay flexible, sometimes having to switch up the order of activities or take quick breaks, and that’s okay because there is always time to reframe and get everything done.
My roommates and I celebrated the end of this long and tiring first work week with a trip to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway on Sunday!
