I’ve officially completed my full week in Dublin! I know it’s only been 8 days but I feel like I’ve been here for much much longer (in a good way). I’ve had the time of my life exploring Dublin and meeting new people the past few days, and I feel so lucky that my time here is only just beginning.
Starting my Internship
This week was the first full week of my internship. On my first day, I was given the wrong address, which was pretty stressful, because I ended up outside of someone’s house. The bus door also closed on me on my way out – pretty embarrassing. My supervisor was very helpful when I called her and asked her for help with directions, and even though I was about 15 minutes late, as soon as I walked into the office everyone was so friendly and welcoming. Before I even started my internship, I learned two things: one, that my workplace was a lot more casual and understanding than I thought it was going to be, and two, never sit on the top floor in the back of the bus if you are the next stop.
I’ve really loved the work I’m doing in my internship so far. I’m working at Burrell Marketing and PR, and the majority of what they do involves coming up with marketing plans and PR packages for influencers and up-and-coming companies, especially ones based in Ireland. I hit the ground running on my first day and prepared a presentation for them to present to one of their clients, a whiskey brand. They send out a PR package with a make-your-own cocktail in a cute box to a few influencers they have connections with as a present for the bank holiday on Monday. I screenshotted everyone’s posts on Instagram and put them onto a slide deck with who they were when they posted, and what their reach was. I also started doing some market research, finding other Ireland-based whiskey companies that don’t have a PR agency that they could reach out to. It involved a lot of time stalking companies on LinkedIn to try and find their brand manager – I think almost everyone in Ireland in the whiskey industry got a notification that I was on their Linkedin profile last week. Although there was definitely a learning curve and I had a few moments of feeling overwhelmed because I didn’t know exactly how to do something, I’m grateful that I was given real work in the industry in my first few days, because it gave me a chance to prove that I’m a hard worker and fast learner along with getting real-world experience right off the bat.
While I was completing the cultural humility training, I realized that a lot of the tips and tricks they were suggesting to fit into a workplace in another country are things I was doing without realizing. Because I work in an office with all young women in their 20s and 30s, I was nervous that I wasn’t going to fit in or they would be cliquey. Little things like what I was wearing became a big deal to me, especially when I realized on my first day that they all have such cute outfits for work and I only brought business casual. You’d think that wouldn’t be something that stuck out to me, but since they work with a lot of fashion clients, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. With that being said, every person in the office has been absolutely amazing. Two of the girls invited me to lunch with them on my first day, and we sat and talked for over an hour before we realized we really had to get back to the office. They were lovely and knew exactly how to make me comfortable, whether that was answering all of my questions or asking me about life in the US. On Friday, all of us who were in the office went on a picnic, and we were laughing about how different our slang terms are in the US vs Ireland. Overall, I think I’m in a great position with being challenged in the work I’m doing while being surrounded by the kindest and most welcoming people.
Life!
I also had an amazing time on our day trip to Wicklow. Since I’ve never been outside of the US before and I’m not much of a nature person, I felt like I was literally standing in a painting and had to keep reminding myself that what I was seeing was real. I particularly loved the lake we hiked to at our second stop in Glendalough. It was the most beautiful view and I took so many pictures – some are included below! Another one of my favorite parts was learning about the original Hollywood sign, even if it required walking through a few pricker bushes on the way. I am missing my family and my dogs a lot, but being able to send them pictures of such insanely cool places like the ones we went to on Saturday with a group of people I love being with makes me feel a lot less homesick.
Kate, Lilly & I!
Wicklow Day Trip Photos
Walking to the first lake on the hike
Bucknell!!
Although we didn’t end up having a tour of the library, it was still really cool to see all of the exhibits and show ourselves around.
To sum everything up, this week has been an absolute blast, from getting to know my coworkers to hanging out at the pub with Dean Kepner and Lilly and listening to some traditional Irish music. I’m excited to get started with another week!
