This is my third week of classes at Trinity College Dublin! 

While in Ireland, I am taking 3 classes and working in a part-time hybrid internship at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (RSAI). The three classes I am taking are Introduction to Fixed Income Securities and Alternative Investments, International Finance, and Business in Society. My classes consist of one 2-hour lecture a week and a 1-hour tutorial. So far, I have noticed that my classes are a lot more textbook reading based and have fewer knowledge checks than classes back at Pitt. For most of my classes, my entire grade is based on the final exam in December which is very different!

My internship at RSAI has been very interesting so far. RSAI is “one of Ireland’s premier learned societies, established in 1849 with the aim to ‘preserve, examine all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past.” I am currently working on putting together a bespoke tour of the Society and its acquisitions. This tour will include a tour of the home, the gardens, an archive session, and refreshments at the end. Some of the interesting things I have learned over the past week about the society is that they are the only fully intact Georgian Town home left in the country! Also, they house some of the famous Dublin Weavers Collection from the 1680s and they have a few watercolor paintings by George Victor Du Noyer who was a prolific artist, geologist, and antiquary, born in 1817 in Dublin. 

Here’s a picture of the famous Long Room in TCD!

Between my internship and classes at TCD, I am interacting with different people with differing cultures a lot. This is one of my favorite parts about study abroad and traveling in general. Some skills that I have found to be particularly helpful in everyday life and the workplace are active listening, adaptability, patience, and being open minded. Adaptability and patience are particularly important because it is really easy to let little things ruin you day like missing the bus to class or getting caught in the rain without your umbrella, both have happened to me at least once in the past few weeks! While inconvenient, it is important to pivot and not let little thing spoil your entire day. I just remember to be patient with myself and keep reminding myself that I am in Ireland and that it is all worth it. 

More later,

Maddie