WEEK 6 IN IRELAND

After a month and a half of being in Dublin, I’ve learned and experienced quite a bit. I’ve learned about Escalate’s culture, I’ve gotten to take part in meaningful work for clients, and I’ve reflected a lot on how I got here. I’m very thankful for this experience, and Northwest has a lot to do with that.

At Northwest, there are a couple of classes that have helped me throughout my internship. The one that sticks out most to me is my Multinational Management class. In this course, we took part in a project called X-Culture, where I was partnered with five students from universities around the world, including Jamaica, Canada, and Gambia. This helped me learn how to work with different cultures. In Multinational Management, we also learned about culture shock and how to deal with it, as well as Hofstede’s Dimensions. My Knacktive class also helped me, as I worked in a group to make a client pitch. I learned a little bit about graphic design from one of my group members, and I’ve been using that knowledge when creating client ads on Canva.

Throughout my internship, I’ve caught on to a few phrases that they use in Ireland and at Escalate. For example, people are constantly saying “grand,” “cheers,” and “sound,” which all basically mean that’s good and/or thank you. They also say “thanks a million,” instead of “thank you so much.”

When it comes to professional development, I’m not sure if Escalate has a formal program set up. One of my co-workers, Conor, told me that Escalate paid for him to get his Master’s in Digital Marketing, but I’m not sure if they encourage that to all employees. They are, however, encouraging me to take part in professional development like Canva Learning courses, which I have almost completed. Escalate encourages many employees to take part in webinars, as well. I’ve already been on three webinars throughout my time here.

Outside of my internship, this week was a little busy and hectic. Over the weekend, a group of us went to Galway from Saturday to Sunday. I visited the Cliffs of Moher while we were there, and it was very pretty (see video below).

My laptop broke Monday, so I didn’t get any work done. Luckily, my friend Olivia is letting me use her laptop since she doesn’t really need it for her internship. Then on Tuesday, my fake tooth fell out while eating a soft tortilla wrap. Thankfully, I brought my retainer in case something like that happened! Wednesday, I got a tattoo after work (see below).

Finally, I headed to London Thursday evening. I’m currently at my hostel in London, and I can’t wait to share pictures of my time here next week!

It’s crazy to think that I only have about two weeks left in Ireland. While I’ve had my ups and downs, I’m not quite ready to leave. There’s so much more of Europe that I want to see still, but I know I’ll come back again eventually!