There is a divide. Today we were lectured by Doctor Darren Kelley about the history and evolution of Irish culture. At the very beginning, he gave us a thought exercise: using an X for a chair and a square for a table, make a design for a high school classroom and a boardroom. Upon sharing,…

It is amazing what a little historical context can do for you. Yesterday we did our own walk of the city and I was largely unimpressed by the big destinations. Today we were led through many of the same locations by a tour guide who just graduated from Trinity College with a PhD in history,…

I have had an extreme run of luck when it comes to traveling. Serious sunburns have faded away, a week on a boat spent with no motion sickness, and now I managed to escape the clutches of jet lag that sought to consume everyone. Obviously, I was tired from a night of little sleep on…

The weeks becomes days becomes hours. If I didn’t know that we spent two weeks in Pittsburgh, I would’ve guessed that we were almost done with first semester. It feels like our small band has been together for months and I have confidence that the addition of an international experience will make it seem like…

Unsafe living conditions, lack of resources and education, lack of community, an air of desperation, seeming invisible to the world – These were the ways my classmates and I described poverty to guest speaker Dr Eliada Griffin-EL. Today was the first time in a while that the eleven of us met at Sennot Square in casual…

“Everything is unfamiliar all of the time.” Today we went on the final business visit of the Pittsburgh portion of the program. With our first visit being to EY, it was fitting for our last to be to their competitor, KPMG. They were very similar companies, as would make sense for two titans of their…

Sometimes everything just falls into place. We have been talking about entrepreneurship for most of our case, but today I finally started to understand it. Blake Dube is a brilliant individual and the CEO of his own startup, Aeronic. He told the story of how he failed to get an internship after his sophomore year…

This weekend we got to go out and experience the city, in the form of a scavenger hunt on Saturday and a tour on Sunday. Today we woke up at the crack of dawn once more, suited up, and went back to the classroom. At eleven we headed to Everyday Café on our third business…

Life is a series of connections and responses. Some days it is easier to connect than others. Yesterday, EY focused greatly on their company culture and it resonated with me. Today, however, Google’s pitch about their culture fell flat for me. I cannot say for certain if it was because of the differences between the…