6/29 | Sunday
Though we had just ended our 5th week in Dublin, Neila and I realized that we had not done a lot of the things one usually does in Dublin. Thus we set out to get a quick breakfast and then go to the National Gallery and the Museum of Archaeology. Both of these things are free, which was very welcome. The National Gallery was beautiful, which you might expect. Not only were the artworks themselves beautiful, the building was a mix between an older section that was historical, and a newer facade. Though the architecture styles were disparate, it somehow worked together to make a space both modern and historic. I will–at some point–attach my favorite pieces for viewing here. The Museum was smaller, as a lot of it was under renovation, but the open sections were still worthwhile. Surprisingly, the most worhtwhile part in my opinion was the beautiful mosiac tiled floor. It went throughout the museum, and was adorned with floral motifs and birds. In the entryway, there was a whole astrological zodiac piece complete with all the signs and their symbols. After our walk around, we went to grab a drink and then headed home tired.
6/30 | Monday
My work week started off slow, as I was remote at the apartment working on the informational portion of the seagrass map. A lot of it was drawing, which was quite fun for me as I hadn’t thought to pull out my colored pencils yet. Monday was very very quiet, and I did not leave the house save a quick run to Centra for some tortillas and a quick test run of a mapping app I would need to use for work. I made some fried rice as well, and then essentially passed out.
7/1 | Tuesday
In a turn of events, my boss switched up the plans we had for Tuesday to Thursday and instead asked me to come out to hers to work on some seagrass and do a site visit in Wexford. We worked diligently on a variety of things, and it was kind of a whirlwind. After we finished that up, we went out to the coast to see some erosion protection that had been put up and was ultimately failing. My supervisor had an interview with RTE about it, so we wanted to see the site first and get some possible shots for the article. After I bussed home, me and the girls went out to Mother Reilly’s yet again, but this time one of my roomates parent also came with! It was great craic.
7/2 |Wednesday
The quiet before the storm… another work from home day, which was spent doing the same as Monday, just working on the seagrass, drawing, and then editing. I has been really nice to do drawing for work. Nothing else really passed, as I wrapped up work, got a call in with my boyfriend and then went to sleep.
7/3 | Thursday
Ah the storm. Thursday started quick with about five different sets of directions in the span of 15 minutes, all while I was walking in a new area. With that excitement out of the way, my supervisor and I prepared for our mudflat journey by changing our shoes and I zipped off my pants to turn them into shorts. Off onto the mudflats we went, and let me tell you, I don’t think the mud flats are my thing. I’m a bit of a baby, but the smell and overarching lack of difference in scenery left a little to be desired. We were there to find a patch of seagrass, but the person who was going to guide us ended up not being there, so we were on our own. We found a couple patches, but no bed, which was saddening. Minding the ecological consequences, it was also sad because that meant my sandy sandals that were sanding (how many times can I say sand) my skin off my feet at that point were all for naught; the seagrass beds were gone. Fun! Anyways, we legged it back across the mudflats, as we had a meeting we were going to be late to, hopped onto a couple of different buses, and made it surprising only a couple minutes late. We excused ourselves and then washed off, grab sandwiches, and started our meeting. The meeting was more like a chat, just EUSA checking in to see how everything was going. After our meeting, we had one more thing to conquer: the BirdWatch Ireland Map Launch. That was easy, as we essentially just had to sit in the audience as others gave presentations. One of the presentation was about the sights and sounds of birds, was included some very nice recordings.
7/4 | Friday
Happy 4th of July! And welcome to Derry.
7/5 | Saturday
Sligo town!
Internship reflection | Leadership
Before this experience, my leadership style was honestly kind of controlling. I am the person to send constant reminders in the group chat about when the deadline is and urging people to fix their slides. The thing is, I figure do it right or don’t do it at all. This internship has honestly not provided me much in terms of leadership, as I don’t actually work with the same people day to day, however, it has shown me a different form of leadership. My supervisor is very… type B? Relaxed? But at the same time doing a million things. It can make it very difficult as an intern, because she will assign a task, then not check in at all, which sometimes ends up with me having redo work because it was not what she had in mind. I think the middle ground between where she is at and where I am at would be a sweet spot, where you set expectations clearly, but are also not so uptight about it; this is something I will bring back to my leadership goals.