Home has always had a different meaning to me. Home is where your people are, family, friends, even the place where you feel most comfortable. I built a home at Pitt, and now I have built one in Dublin too. The thing about going back to Philly for breaks over fall, Christmas, spring, and summer is that I will always come back to Pitt. I love coming back to my little alleyway, my tiny room with no AC, and my amazing roommates. I don’t know when I will get back to Dublin, but I know that I want to. This internship was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and looking back, I want to sum up some of my favorite memories starting from day one.
Upon landing, I sat with Stella and Varsh, and what a foreshadowing that was, because they became some of my closest friends on the program from Pitt. I grabbed a crappy croissant and an okay coffee and went for a walk with them. By the end of my trip, that same coffee shop had become one of my favorite spots in Dublin.
Each week taught me a different lesson, and the first week was one I won’t forget: smile through it all. I was jetlagged, sick, and covered in hives from hay fever, which is common in Ireland because of the pollen. I did not know if I would even like my internship that first week. I hadn’t made any friends yet, I ate lunch alone at my desk, and I somehow dyed one of my work tops blue while doing laundry. But that laundry day ended up changing my entire Ireland experience.
On the way to work one morning, I complimented a girl’s coat on the bus. It turned out she was an intern at my firm, all the way from Cork. She happened to live at UCD too and was doing laundry at the same time I was, so she added me to the intern group chat. That single conversation is how I made eleven new friends and one best friend. Clara made Dublin feel like home to me. Whether we were busing home together after work, grabbing pints with colleagues, walking around campus, or squeezing in a lunchtime chat between meetings, she was there. My best souvenir from Ireland was not a trinket. It was the friendships I made, and a time zone difference will not stop Clara and me from keeping each other updated on our lives.
So maybe my rocky start was worth it after all. My first two weeks in Dublin were a hard adjustment, but the six weeks that followed were about as close to perfect as I could have asked for. I got everything I wanted out of this internship. I learned new accounting platforms, picked up Excel shortcuts I use constantly now, and figured out how to manage and prioritize multiple projects at once. This experience will shape me academically, because I realized I learn best when I am practicing something hands on rather than just reading about it. That might be a whole new way for me to study going forward. It will also shape me professionally, because I now know exactly what I want out of a future internship or job. Having a clear sense of direction, and knowing what you want, is something a company notices right away, and it is something they respect.
Looking back on this whole program, I do not think I could have asked for a better summer. I came to Dublin not knowing a single person, nervous about the internship, the culture, and whether I would even like it there. I am leaving with a second home, a best friend on another continent, a stronger sense of who I am professionally, and memories I will carry for the rest of my life. This experience pushed me to grow in ways I did not expect, from the very first rough week to the friendships and skills that carried me through the rest of the summer. To anyone considering this program, take the leap. The adjustment might be hard at first, but what waits on the other side is absolutely worth it. Dublin, thank you for being my home this summer.
