Hi everyone, welcome to Week 6 in Dublin!
This week started off strong with Sunday being my last day in France. If you missed last week’s blog, you might be wondering, “Isn’t her internship in Dublin? Why was she in Paris?” Well, I went to Paris for the weekend, and it was so much fun! As I mentioned last time, I got to see incredible neighborhoods and eat delicious food, which was amazing. Getting back home on Sunday took a lot of time, so by the time I arrived back at the dorms, after 7 hours and a train ride, a bus ride, a plane ride, and another bus ride, all I wanted to do was sleep. But I had to get ready for the week ahead. A habit I’ve developed during my time in Dublin is to prepare everything I’ll need for work the night before. That way, in the morning, I can just grab what I need and head out, confident that I haven’t forgotten anything important. So, after getting back to my dorm, I started preparing everything I’d need for the next day.
This week, one of my supervisors, the one I usually report to directly, went on holiday (as the Irish say, meaning he’s on vacation). Because of that, I’m now reporting more directly to another supervisor. Thankfully, they’re both very kind and have similar leadership styles, so the transition hasn’t been too drastic. The leadership style here is a bit different from the ones I’ve experienced in the past, but it’s been interesting to see how effective it still is despite the differences.
On Monday, the other intern working at the Global Undergraduate Awards and I were assigned two new long-term tasks that will take a couple of weeks to complete, as well as other shorter tasks to work on throughout the week. For the first two days, I decided to focus on starting the longer projects, which involved updating spreadsheets and analyzing data. I chose to begin with those so I could get a clearer understanding of what was expected and take the opportunity to ask any questions while my supervisor was in the office on Monday.
On Wednesday, in addition to continuing my work with spreadsheets and data analysis, I had the chance to help edit a post for social media. Getting the opportunity to improve my editing skills has been really valuable, and I’m looking forward to continuing to develop those skills throughout the final weeks of my internship. On Thursday near the end of our work day, my co-worker and I went to a recycling center to trade in cans we had in the office for in-store credit at Tesco. While we were on our way there, we decided to record some social media content for our organization, which turned out to be pretty fun. I’m usually not the biggest fan of being on camera, but it was a great experience to be involved in creating a whole reel ourselves. So far, this internship has been a great opportunity to learn new things and build on skills I already had. In terms of leadership, I feel like my understanding of what it means to be a leader has really expanded since I arrived. I’ve had the chance to observe leadership not just from my supervisors but also among the other interns. Being able to learn from both groups has helped me become a better listener and communicator, which is something I think essential for a good leader.
On Saturday, I went to Howth, a seaside town near Dublin. The ride there took almost three hours, lesson learned: I’ll take the dart instead of the bus next time, but it was totally worth it. I got to see some beautiful scenery and even discovered a hidden beach. If anyone plans to visit Howth, I’d definitely recommend packing a swimsuit and going for a swim. I didn’t bring one and ended up regretting it. Even though I didn’t get to go into the water, Howth is still a must-see, even if just for the walk. I was lucky enough to meet some really kind people during my hike who recommended an ice cream shop where I could treat myself after the long walk. Naturally, I had to take their advice and stop for some ice cream! The ice cream was delicious and the perfect way to end the day. It’s been so wonderful getting to explore Ireland these past few weeks and meeting so many amazing people, both in the workplace and outside of it. I can’t believe it’s already been six weeks! I’m excited to see what the next week holds, but at the same time, I don’t want this experience to end!