Glory! What an incredible week. I landed in Dublin on May 25th early in the morning. Navigating the airport and customs after a redeye flight was not the easiest experience, but I landed with more excitement than I can explain. Moving in was a little tough but over the past couple days I am feeling more and more adapted to life within Irish culture. The social aspect of the city has been my favorite part so far. The people are extremely friendly, and never turn down a chance to chat about their homeland. The food has been incredible. The fellow Pitt students and I have gone out to dinners and hikes together. The land outside of the city is breathtaking. As a part of the EUSA group, we did an excursion to Kilkenny, a medieval city about 2 hours southwest of Dublin. The city has buildings that are over 700 years old, and although modernized, hold a lot of their original foundations. We ate at this restaurant called “Left Bank” which served authentic Irish dishes, like fish and chips. I have only been here for less than a week and I have experienced so much Irish Culture. I have been trying to see as much as I can before I begin my internship on Tuesday, June 2nd. Monday, June 1st is an Irish bank holiday where many businesses and companies are closed. 

I will be working as a broadcast intern for Babylon Radio Station located in Center City, Dublin. This past week I tested out my commute and poked my head into the office to meet everyone and get a sense of how my daily commute would be like. After about a 40 minute bus ride from UCD’s campus, I have a short 5 minute walk to the office. Babylon is a company that assists immigrants and other locals into Irish culture. I will be assisting with radio production, pre production, marketing, and managing live events for the company on a daily basis. To be successful in this environment it is very important that I keep an open and creative working mind. I need to be flexible because I will be often collaborating with coworkers. These general skills are very important because they will show that I am a well-rounded individual who works hard. I think how your coworkers and bosses view you is very important in a field of broadcasting or any communication role. Creativity is constantly needed in the work environment and if I work hard and apply my skills to benefit a company like Babylon, it poses well for future connections. 

The biggest competencies that I can think of for broadcasting in Ireland, are understanding Irish media and culture. Knowledge about Irish politics, current events, and social issues are topics that are heavily valued by the Irish and can be an insensitive topic when talking to foreigners. As a broadcaster where I will be working with this content and be very involved with the Irish public. Understanding how to navigate conversations and research related to these topics are very important to being successful as a broadcaster in Ireland. Going off of that, understanding the regulations that Ireland has when it comes to what can or cannot be said on live air. For example, I was FCC trained for the radio station at Pitt. The FCC is an American organization that dictates what type of content is and isn’t allowed to be broadcasted on any form of live media. Another competency that is important to understand the digital and technological advancements that are often used in Ireland. It is important to understand what the local field uses for every day. This makes working within an unfamiliar environment easier to become adapted to. I think for me the biggest thing to do was prepare in advance before arriving. I have all my prior experience and skills with radio broadcast, and I also did a lot of research on Irish culture.  

This first week has been an amazing experience and it just makes me so much more excited for the coming weeks. Ireland has so much to offer within the city of Dublin but also outside the city. I am ready to work hard and grow in so many ways over the course of the next few weeks.