Dublin Diaries | Week 2
Vikings, Statues & Managing Life in Dublin
What a week it has been! Week two in Dublin has continued to be an incredible experience, and I am starting to feel truly at home here. The city keeps surprising me with new things to discover every time I step outside, and I am making the most of every opportunity to explore between work.
One of the highlights of the week was getting to do the Viking Splash Tour, which I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Dublin. You board a World War II amphibious DUKW vehicle (yes, it drives on land and then splashes right into the water) and spend about an hour and fifteen minutes touring the city’s most iconic landmarks. The guides were hilarious and incredibly knowledgeable, taking us past Dublin’s cathedrals, through Georgian Dublin, and eventually into the Grand Canal Basin for a cruise past the iconic U2 studios. The whole experience was equal parts informative and absurd in the best possible way, and wearing the horned Viking helmets they hand out while roaring at unsuspecting pedestrians was something I did not know I needed in my life. It was honestly one of the more unique and memorable things I have done so far on this trip.
I also got to see the famous Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street, just a short walk from Trinity College. The bronze statue was unveiled in 1988 during Dublin’s Millennium celebrations and was created by sculptor Jeanne Rynhart. Molly herself is a semi-historical, semi legendary figure, historians actually debate whether she was a real person or a fictional creation, though she has become a powerful symbol of Dublin’s working-class women and their resilience. The song “Cockles and Mussels,” which tells her story, has essentially become an unofficial anthem of the city. Dublin has even declared June 13th as Molly Malone Day in her honor. Locals affectionately call the statue “The Tart with the Cart,” and it is hard not to smile at that. Standing next to her felt like a proper Dublin rite of passage, and it was a nice reminder of how much history and storytelling is woven into every corner of this city.
Beyond the tours and sightseeing, I have been continuing to enjoy the day to day rhythm of life in Dublin. The city remains incredibly walkable, the food has been great, and the people continue to be warm and easy to talk to. There is something about Dublin that makes it feel both cosmopolitan and deeply local at the same time, and I find that balance really refreshing. Even just wandering through different neighborhoods has felt like its own kind of education about Irish culture and city life.
Finding My Footing | Time Management at the Internship
If Week 1 was about arriving and orienting, Week 2 has been about starting to establish a real rhythm, especially when it comes to managing my time at the internship. Time management in a professional environment is something that looks straightforward on paper but requires a lot of intentional thought in practice, and this week gave me a much clearer picture of what that actually looks like in an asset management setting.
The first couple of days were largely centered around team calls and check ins. These early meetings were essential for getting up to speed, understanding the structure of the team, and beginning to grasp the broader scope of the work being done. In financial services, and particularly in asset management, there is a lot of foundational knowledge that needs to be absorbed before you can contribute meaningfully. I spent a significant portion of the beginning of the week listening carefully, taking notes, and asking questions to make sure I had a strong enough understanding of the team’s priorities before diving into any specific tasks.
A big part of those early conversations involved learning about the types of funds and investment structures the team works with. Without going into specifics, asset management involves overseeing a variety of investment products, each with their own objectives, risk profiles, and operational requirements. Understanding even the basics of how those funds are structured and what the team’s day to day responsibilities look like in relation to them was incredibly valuable context. It helped me understand not just what tasks needed to be done, but why they mattered and how they fit into the larger picture.
As the week progressed, I began to get a clearer sense of where the team needed support and what my role could look like going forward. Part of effective time management in this kind of environment is not just knowing what is on your to do list, but understanding how to triage tasks based on urgency and importance. In a professional setting like this, some things are time sensitive and tied to deadlines that affect other people and other processes, while others are longer term projects that benefit from careful and thorough work over time. Learning to distinguish between those two categories, and to communicate with your team about where your time is being spent, is a real skill.
One thing I have already noticed is that communication plays a huge role in managing your time effectively at an internship. When you are new to a team and new to an industry, there is a natural temptation to figure everything out on your own before asking for help. But I have found that asking clarifying questions early actually saves a significant amount of time in the long run. A five minute conversation at the start of a task can prevent an hour of going in the wrong direction. That has been one of my biggest takeaways from the week in terms of professional development.
I have also been thinking about how time management in a finance environment differs from what I was used to in an academic setting. In school, deadlines are usually set weeks in advance and the structure is clearly laid out for you. In a professional context while those long term goals are still established, priorities can shift based on market conditions, client needs, or internal decisions, and you have to be flexible enough to adapt without losing track of your existing responsibilities. Building that kind of flexibility into how I organize my day has been something I have been actively working on this week.
From a global competencies perspective, this experience has already reinforced how important it is to be culturally aware and attentive when entering a new professional environment. Every team has its own culture, communication style, and set of unspoken expectations. Being observant and intentional about how I engage with colleagues, how I ask questions, and how I present myself has been just as important as any technical skill this week. Dublin’s financial services sector draws professionals from all over the world, and even in my first couple of weeks, I have already noticed the international nature of the work and the diversity of perspectives on the team.
Overall, Week 2 has been a strong step forward both personally and professionally. I feel like I am starting to understand the environment I am working in and building the habits that will help me make the most of the rest of the summer. More to come in Week 3, so stay tuned!