During the work week I spent much more time venturing out into the city, finding third spaces I could work from. This was much nicer than sitting at home all day, especially when I did not have as many meetings I had to call into. I found a couple cute coffee shops. They helped me to focus on my work by giving me a new environment that was refreshing and stimulating.
Before this internship, I would describe my leadership as down to earth. I do not like my leadership to loom over others. Instead, I want to be an equal who can lead by example. This is especially prevalent in my role as an RA. This is a strong example of peer leadership where I am both helping my residents navigate the college landscape and helping newer RAs learn the ropes. I always try to be a calm leader and lead by example. To give others the opportunity to mimic positive characteristics, that can make me a good leader without being overbearing in some way or by being ‘a boss’.
Through my internship, I have greatly improved my self-leadership. Rather than having to lead others like I have done in my previous roles, I have needed to learn to be self-sufficient and be the best worker I could be without relying on the perception of others. There aren’t many opportunities for leadership when I am working independently, so I had to learn how to be a better worker on my own. By being able to point out for myself how I can improve and what makes me work well, I am able to improve how I work on my own. My professional skills have developed greatly over the last couple of weeks which mainly involve my skills of working independently and being self-sufficient.
I spent another weekend away from Dublin as well. This time we went to London where we had a packed schedule for 48 hours. When we touched down on Friday, we immediately had to rush over to the West End where we had tickets for Hadestown. Since our flight was slightly delayed, we had to run to get there on time. It was honestly great character development and forced me to learn the public transit system quickly. I found London has one of the easiest systems to navigate I have seen yet, much better than major U.S. cities. Seeing a live show was a really memorable experience that I hope to be able to do more often after this trip.
On Saturday, we spent the morning exploring the city and walking to different iconic spots. We saw the recognizable spots around the River Thames like Elizabeth Tower or Big Ben and the London Eye. We then were able to see a market district which was fun to peruse, a park overlooking the city skyline, and Abbey Road. Then in the afternoon we had tickets for a Harry Potter studio tour where we were able to see a bunch of original sets from the films. This was very nostalgic for me as I grew up always reading the books and watching the movies. Some of my favorite parts were seeing the Gryffindor common room and seeing the Hogwarts wooden bridge. Some of my favorite moments from the movies were set there, so it was cool to see in person.
Our Sunday was an early start since we wanted to make sure we could make the most of the day even with an afternoon flight. What we didn’t realize is that most places didn’t open till around 10 or 11. This left us wandering and sightseeing again. This time, we saw the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and Shakespeare’s Globe. It would have been interesting to go inside the tower if it were open, but we were able to learn a bit about its history and see the stunning architecture regardless. Once the city woke up in the early afternoon, we went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. The streets to see this were packed so there wasn’t much to see, but the marching band played several pieces in the streets which was nice to hear.
