As I get further into my time here in Ireland, I’ve started to think more about the different skills I’ve been building since I arrived. There have been a lot of small moments where I’ve had to adapt, whether it’s learning how to communicate better or how to take on tasks that I wasn’t totally confident in at first. One of the biggest soft skills I’ve developed so far is adaptability. When I first got here, I definitely had to adjust to how laid back and casual things are both at work and outside of it. People don’t rush as much, and there’s a lot more conversation that isn’t just about work. In the office, there’s a lot of talk about life outside of work and it kind of surprised me at first. Back home, most conversations at work stay pretty focused.
On the more technical side, I’ve picked up a bunch of new skills just from the work itself. I’ve worked on case files, reviewed financial documents, and helped with tasks like preparing letters, organizing info for creditor meetings, and learning about the insolvency process in Ireland. It’s been a great way to see how what I’ve learned in class connects to actual real world work. I’ve also learned how to manage time when I don’t have a ton of direction. Sometimes I’m given a task and just expected to figure it out especially when my supervisor is out of the office. At first that was tough but now I’ve started to trust myself more and look through past documents or other resources before asking for help. It’s a good balance between being independent and knowing when to speak up. It has helped me become more confident in myself and know that if I mess up it is not the end of the world.
This week was one of if not the best week I have had here in Ireland so far and that is because my family visited for the week. It was so great to see them and spend time with them, and show them all of my favorite places that I have found here in Dublin and across the country. When they got here last weekend they just got settled and got familiar with Dublin and the culture here in Ireland. On Saturday we ventured to Howth which is a tine peninsula just outside of Dublin. Here there was a great fishing town with some great food and a very nice 12 kilometer hike that we went on. The sights were beautiful with so many cliffs and there was a lighthouse and castle at the end which made the whole journey worth it. When we got back we went to the Guinness Storehouse and got a very cool tour of the history and brewing process of Guinness. On Sunday we took a train over to Galway. I went there a few weeks back and my first thought was how much my parents would love Galway so when they got here one few things that were already planned was to go there and it did not disappoint. Galway has great fish, like Howth, so we were eating well, and there is a great strip with many shops and restaurants that we were able to check out.
As the week started and I had to go to work my family continued to check out Dublin and even took a day trip down to Cork. But it was very nice to meet up with them after work every night. Especially because they were closer to where I work than University college Dublin is so I was able to stay with them every night and just walk to work from there every morning. At night I bought a new deck of cards and we played rummy just about every night. It was a very chill week and was very nice to enjoy the time with them in a place where we were all pretty unfamiliar with and figured all of things out together. My brothers came along too, and it was their first time in Europe. It was cool to watch them go through the same adjustment phase I did when I first arrived. At first, they were super confused and couldn’t understand the locals very well, but by the end of the trip, they had it all figured out and genuinely enjoyed being here. It was great to see them adapt and experience a part of the world that’s been so important to me over the past few weeks.
