Week 8: A Cheerful Conclusion
Photographed: Bucknell program during our weekend programming/events
Welcome back to this Burke’s Bulletin’s final chapter! The past several weeks have been great, and it has been a journey I will never forget. I'd like to first share a few highlights from my final week in Dublin before I discuss my general summer takeaways.
This week we started out on Tuesday, July 26th by going to Farrier & Draper for Kailey’s 21st birthday. A group of 20 of us were served prosciutto pizza, chicken tenders with parmesan truffle fries, and various hors d’oeuvres while drinking cocktails in a private room.
After this “dinner” most of the group (the ones who have made decent progress on their final paper) went to a club called Tramline since it was right next to the 39A bus stop. The next day, after work I went to a restaurant/brewery named BrewDog with a group of friends where we got to taste many local craft beers. To close out the week, the entire program went to a rooftop bar named Sophie’s as a farewell to everybody on the program. This dinner had a spectacular view and was a terrific end to our time together spent in Dublin.
After this program I was able to polish my elevator pitch to incorporate my experience at Dataships and working in a global environment. Let me know and I will give you my quick pitch over the phone/email.
Doing this abroad summer experience, my professional goals were intensified since in Dataships’ startup environment I was able to witness real-time the drive and effort professionals put into their work. I had the experience of a global atmosphere which has broadened my horizons on the marketing industry giving me a perspective on marketing that is focused globally rather than just nationally.
Before this program, I did not have personal goals or ambitions to travel to other countries and indulge myself in many different cultures. Now that I have experienced independent travel to countries such as Scotland, France, and Monaco, I realize that going out of your comfort zone can be a beneficial experience to your personal development in society. I was able to engage and learn from local citizens that I would have never experienced without this trip.
One of my goals was to go everyday to the office in Dublin. I unfortunately did not satisfy this goal because on my final day, I broke this streak and decided to work remotely. At the time, this helped because I was able to jumpstart my packing for the states but I unfortunately was not able to finish the long-standing goal I set for the first week in Dublin. In my own defense, I am usually the only one in the office on Friday’s and my director recommended I work from home. Another goal I had was to travel on three weekends. Unfortunately, I did not travel last weekend even though I was free from required program activities. This was due to the fact that our final papers were due that Monday but I am still jealous of the other students that were able to travel over the weekend.
Working at Dataships, I witnessed that work life balance was really important to Europeans. This gave me an outside perspective versus the current culture in the United States. In Dublin, I also found myself chatting more frequently with locals then I would have back in the states.
Being one of seven interns, my perspective on my time and work at Bucknell changed. I realized that I was much more prepared and competent being given tasks for the company. Seeing some other interns not knowing simple things such as Excel gave me a greater appreciation for what my Bucknell education has taught me.
What surprised me the most about this summer experience was the political conflict within Belfast and the historical background of the city. Doing a black Taxi cab tour and learning about the history and the current opinions and conflicts within the city was very eye opening. I would have never believed something like this was occurring during 2022 if I had not witnessed it in person.
My favorite take away from being in Dublin, Ireland was being forced to use public transit. I have never used public transit before but being able to get around independently and efficiently has changed my perspective on using public transportation. I will be looking into public transit within Boston and any city I plan to live in post Bucknell.
If I could give a future Bucknellian advice about my experience, I would say for them to definitely do a summer abroad program if they are unsure about a full semester abroad. These past two months were the perfect time frame versus a full semester and I got to experience almost all the things other abroad programs have to offer. I was able to kill two birds with one stone by studying abroad while also completing a summer internship.
I was able to share my blog post with my Mom, Dad, and Brother. Both my Mom and Dad loved the blog since they were able to stay updated with my endeavors when I refused to call them daily with updates. My brother, on the other hand, made fun of some of my blog posts saying that he did not have to do anything like this when he studied abroad at Colgate.
Lastly, I would like to conclude Burke’s Bulletin by giving a large thank you to Dean Kepner and Professor O’Connor for joining the 30 Bucknell students on this program.
The time and effort Dean Kepner put into making this trip a reality was not under appreciated by the students of the program and I am very thankful. Thank you everybody for staying up to date with this blog and stay tuned for a blog post in the future if I travel abroad again!
Cheers,
Connor
Photographed:
Top left: Killary Sheep Farm
Top middle: Giant's Causeway
Top right: Dicey's Garden
Bottom left: Cliffs of Moher
Bottom middle: Grave Digger's Pub
Bottom right: Dublin Axe Club with Dataships coworkers