Dublin Diaries | Week 5
Cliffs & Cows
Week five brought what was honestly one of the best weekends of exploring ireland. Our group headed out west to Galway for the weekend and it did not disappoint.
Saturday was the Cliffs of Moher, and nothing really could have prepared me for seeing them in person. I had seen photos before, but standing there looking out over the Atlantic is just a completely different experience. The cliffs stretch for about 8 kilometres along County Clare’s western coast and rise to 214 metres at their highest point, which is roughly 700 feet straight down to the ocean below. When we arrived it was raining pretty heavily, which actually made the whole scene feel even more dramatic. The mist was rolling in off the Atlantic and the waves were crashing below, and then as we spent more time there the clouds started to clear and we got these gorgeous sweeping views all the way out to the Aran Islands in the distance. It was really cool to watch the weather shift like that. The cliffs are also a designated Special Protection Area for birds, home to tens of thousands of nesting seabirds including Atlantic Puffins, Guillemots, and Razorbills during the summer months. We also got to see O’Brien’s Tower, a stone lookout tower built in 1835 by a local landowner named Cornelius O’Brien who believed tourism could help lift people out of poverty in the region. One fun detail I did not know before visiting is that the cliffs have appeared in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and The Princess Bride. One of those places where photos really do not do it justice.
Then on Sunday we headed to the Aran Islands, specifically Inis Mor, the largest of the three islands that make up the Aran archipelago off the west coast of Galway Bay. The islands are known for their limestone landscapes, ancient stone forts, and strong Gaelic culture and they really do feel like a step back in time from the pace of Dublin. Inis Mor has a population of around 800 people, the majority of whom speak Irish as their first language, which was really interesting to experience. We rented bikes and spent a few hours cycling around the island, which is definitely the way to do it. The scenery was beautiful throughout, from the ancient dry stone walls that stretch across the limestone fields in every direction, to the coastal views, to the animals just going about their day alongside the road. There were cows absolutely everywhere and they were completely unbothered by any of us, which was one of the more amusing and charming parts of the whole day. We also got to see Dun Aonghasa, a prehistoric stone fort sitting right on the edge of a 100 metre cliff with incredible views of the Atlantic below. Cycling around the island and taking it all in was a really special afternoon and a great way to end the weekend.
Reflecting on Growth | Skills and Competencies at the Halfway Point
Week five feels like a natural moment to pause and take stock of how much has changed since I first arrived. Looking back at where I started and where I am now, the growth has been real and meaningful across a number of different dimensions.
On the softer, more transferable side, the skill I feel I have developed the most is cross cultural communication. Working and living in Dublin means being around people from a wide range of backgrounds, nationalities, and professional experiences every single day. That constant exposure has pushed me to be more intentional about how I communicate, how I listen, and how I engage with people whose perspectives and approaches may be different from my own. It is a skill that translates far beyond any one industry or role, and I know it will serve me well for years to come.
Adaptability has been another major area of growth. Coming into a new country, a new company, and a new environment all at once requires a constant willingness to adjust, recalibrate, and stay open. There have been moments throughout the internship where things shifted or where I had to approach something in a way I had not anticipated, and each of those moments has made me more comfortable operating in uncertainty. Alongside that, I have been actively working on relationship building, both within my team and in the broader professional environment around me. Dublin’s financial services community is tight knit and internationally connected, and simply showing up, being present, and engaging authentically has already led to connections and conversations I would not have had otherwise.
On the technical side, this internship has given me meaningful exposure to the kinds of tools, frameworks, and analytical processes that are central to working in finance and risk management. I have had the opportunity to work with real data and contribute to actual projects, which is a fundamentally different kind of learning experience than anything a classroom can offer. Getting to see how analytical thinking is applied to real problems, rather than hypothetical scenarios, has deepened my understanding of the industry in a way I did not fully expect. I have also been building a working knowledge of the regulatory environment that shapes how financial services firms operate in Europe, which has given me a much richer picture of why things are done the way they are.
From a global competencies standpoint, what has stood out most is the value of genuine curiosity and empathy when navigating a cross cultural environment. Approaching every interaction with a real interest in understanding the other person, suspending assumptions, and staying attentive to how different backgrounds shape different approaches has made a noticeable difference in how I collaborate and communicate. Bringing a different cultural perspective into a European professional setting has also been unexpectedly valuable in some moments, serving as a bridge between different ways of thinking rather than a gap to be closed.
All in all, week five has been one of the most memorable of the summer, inside and outside of work. The west of Ireland has a kind of wild, timeless beauty that is hard to put into words, and the growth happening through the internship continues to feel just as significant. More to come in week six, stay tuned!