Last Thursday during my weekly meeting with my supervisor Eilish, we were discussing the other intern’s last day, and she mentioned that I felt like part of the team much more than an intern. The other intern was only there for 5 weeks and only worked 4 days a week, versus my 10 week, 5…

As I’ve mentioned in my previous blog posts, I intern at Focus Ireland, a nonprofit centered around ending homelessness across Ireland. Homelessness in Ireland has increased drastically over the past few years. For example, in 2016, 75 families became homeless a month in Ireland versus only 20 a month in 2014. With numbers still increasing,…

One of the first questions I got when I told my friends and family about my plans to study abroad was “where else do you want to travel?” Initially, I had a whole list and plans to go to a different country every weekend. France and the Netherlands and Germany and Hungary. The list goes…

In my time since starting my internship at Focus Ireland, I have worked mostly behind the scenes. I have heard and learned a lot about the services that we offer, but I have never had much first-hand experience with any of these services. Yesterday, I got an in-depth view into our Caregivers service. Caregivers is…

It’s a pretty interesting concept to me that charities can have “competitors.” Seems pretty counterproductive, right? But competition is a natural part of the business world, even for nonprofits. There are a few major homeless charities in Dublin, including my company Focus Ireland, Simon Support, and Peter McVerry. Often, we try to collaborate with similar…

Yesterday at work, my coworker Danny asked me to accompany him to a meeting he had with Citibank. I figured this was just a typical sit-down meeting to pitch to them what we do at Focus Ireland, but it turned out to be much more. He asked me to start gathering up some promotional materials…

After our third long week of work, my friend Emily and I decided to unwind by taking a 20 mile hiking trip in Howth, about a 30-minute train ride away from Dublin’s city centre. As soon as we got off of the train and saw the turquoise sea, brightly colored houses, and miles of rolling…

Let’s face it– the 2016 US Presidential election raised a lot of questions about American values by citizens and foreigners alike. This charged political climate has made the current time an especially interesting one to study abroad, and one certainly full of questions. At least one time a day, I get asked what I think…

As I began my second week abroad, the biggest and most daunting task ahead was starting my internship at Focus Ireland. Though I have had two previous internships, I had never interned anywhere but Pittsburgh, so I was incredibly nervous and anxious about working in a foreign country. But as soon as I walked in…