I have been back in Pittsburgh for two weeks now, and I can’t stop thinking about Dublin! I love being back home, back to my routine, and with all of my friends here, but there is so much I miss from my time abroad.
Having the opportunity to study abroad for 8 weeks was a truly transformative experience, and I am so grateful for all of the new lessons and skills that I have been able to take away from it.
One academic takeaway that particularly resonates with me was the opportunity to engage daily with the Irish language. I have an Irish minor at Pitt, and have learned so much about the language through my program, but nothing compares to being immersed in a language in its native country. In Dublin, every single street sign, bus station, museum, etc., utilizes both Gaeilge and English in their written marketing. This meant that I was constantly putting in an effort to read everything in Irish, and from that, I learned so many new words that I hadn’t necessarily been exposed to yet through my studies at school. For the words that I did already know, I still found the repetition to be immensely beneficial for gaining a better sense of casualty when using the language. Beyond just simple vocabulary expansion, it is so insightful to pick up on how sentence structure varies in casual settings compared to textbook usage.
It is true that the Irish language is spoken more prominently in Western Ireland and that English is predominantly spoken in Dublin; however, I did still find myself eavesdropping on conversations in Gaeilge on multiple occasions. It is rare for me to get to hear conversations between native Irish speakers, so this was such a unique opportunity to get to engage with the language in such a normalized manner. I’m excited to return to my Irish course in the fall with an enhanced vocabulary and a renewed sense of confidence in the way I speak. I feel so grateful that my Irish has truly been improved by this study abroad experience, as I wasn’t sure how much exposure I would have to it this summer.
On a professional level, I learned so much from my internship that I foresee not only enhancing future work experiences, but my psychology course load as well. I completed a research internship with Dublin City University in which we analyzed how personal pet therapy as a form of animal-assisted intervention could positively impact the psychological experiences of children and families enduring long-term hospital stays. Working within such sensitive subject matter meant putting a heightened intentionalism toward practicing strong emotional intelligence. I had the opportunity to hear from and produce work for families who will directly benefit from this research, and so it was deeply important that I not only protected my own emotional well-being, but also placed a high level of care toward their emotional well-being and real-life experiences. This kind of sensitivity is a vital skill for psychologists to possess, and it can be a hard skill to effectively learn—maintaining personal emotional boundaries whilst also being an emotional support system for someone else. I’m grateful that I got to practice this skill while still being in college, as I know it will be a vital skill to have when I enter the workforce and form relationships with patients down the line.
Additionally, through my internship, I wrote an opinion editorial piece that is meant to be published down the line by RTÉ, Ireland’s national public media network. In writing this piece, I spent a significant amount of time sorting through research and family testimonials to collect key research themes and streamline them into an accessibly readable and polished piece of writing. This was such a valuable practice for improving my writing skills, as well as gaining better insight into what the writing process looks like in psychology research. I work in a lab at Pitt, as well as will be taking my psychology advanced lab course in the fall, and I feel so much more confident that my scientific writing skills can now aid me in these academic experiences.
Beyond everything that I have gained academically and professionally, I feel wholly appreciative of what I have gained personally. I made new friends, whom I can’t wait to see again at Pitt in the fall. I got to explore a new country that I have dreamed of visiting my whole life, and with that, engaged in such a unique cultural experience that I could never have achieved here at home. I got to eat at the best restaurants and shop from local artist markets. I met so many fun people in Dublin who shared the best stories and travel advice.
I will think about this time that I spent in Dublin for the rest of my life, and am so grateful for this opportunity!