I have now been back home in the United States for two weeks, and if I were to say that I did not miss Ireland a little bit, I would be lying. It is truly hard to express in words how great an experience I had while abroad, and the number of opportunities that I got to try new things and go see new places, from getting to go to Northern Ireland to Paris, or getting to meet many influential Irish politicians. 

While abroad, I did see some changes within myself, with the biggest, at least for me personally, being the ability to adjust and acclimate to changing my living situation. I go to Pitt’s Johnstown Campus, and I commute, and I live just 15 minutes away from the University. So living in a dorm situation with completely random people that I did not know before put me in a situation that I had no choice but to adapt to. At first, I was much more hesitant to meet people, and the first 2 or 3 weeks really seemed to drag on. However, when I found myself opening up and being much more open-minded, I got to meet many new people, some of whom I would consider friends, and when this happened, time just seemed to fly, and almost instantly, it seemed that my experience abroad was over. Although my most acknowledged growth was personal, I would also say that I grew academically. I am a rising junior, but this will be my final year, because I accelerated my credits to graduate early. Through this internship and experience, I found myself building time for myself to do my school work and to do my summer classes in the downtime that I had.

One of the greatest growths that I made that will be beneficial to me was the professional advancements for my future career. During my internship placement, I was an intern for a TD (representative) from Kerry in the Irish Parliament. It is crazy to think how I was placed in the highest level of government in Ireland. Compared to the United States, the chance of this happening would be very similar. For my career, I would like to eventually turn towards a political career after going to law school and practicing law for a couple of years. This internship will stand out across a resume and will show that I have shown a consistent urge to learn about politics, not just within the United States but also abroad.

Some takeaways from this program that I can take back home are first, a different way of looking at things. While I was abroad, I was put in situations where I had to look at information or perform a task through a different lens than I was accustomed to. Being able to switch out these lenses and see things in a new light, I feel, helps you understand things and possibly draw different conclusions than you would have previously. I believe this would also be very beneficial to a future career in politics, primarily if I am representing people, because it would be my job and duty to represent their ideals and beliefs, and I would have to look at things in a different way to execute this to the best of my abilities.

Another takeaway that would help me is my adaptability. This does not just apply to Pitt but all situations where I can identify the situation that I am in and adjust myself in order to be the best I can within that situation. I feel that this would be especially beneficial if I end up doing any form of international law or politics, where I would have to become accustomed to a new area.

Lastly, I would just like to say that as a person who commutes and was completely unaware of what this experience was like (and a bit nervous), I would like to say how happy I am that I ended up doing this program. There is nothing quite like being in a foreign country with other Americans who are all your age. If anyone is on the fence about this program, I would just tell them to take the risk because being in an unfamiliar situation and making the best of it is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. As a student coming from Johnstown, I wish more people were informed/knew about this program because I feel that many students would find this experience beneficial and would genuinely end up having a great time.