June 23rd, 2019
This week was a short one for me, as my parents came to visit and I was able to take some time off of work (more on that later). We went up to Belfast, and got to see the Giant’s Causeway, which maybe it’s just me, but I found that to be more impressive than the Cliffs of Moher. We also spent some time here in Dublin and it was fun to do more of the “touristy” stuff with them, that I hadn’t had a chance to do yet. Also being able to go to a pub with my dad was great and give him his proper father’s day celebration that I had missed out on the week before. Overall a great visit, and I got to see more of Ireland, which is always a plus.
I had asked my boss the week before via email if it would be okay if I took a few days off of work to be with my parents during their visit, to which she simply replied, “of course”. Such a simple response to an email that I had drafted multiple times and almost considered not sending. I’m not sure if that’s the American in me or just my personality but I hated asking for time off, even though it’s perfectly normal. I got about the same response from everyone else in the office when I asked if they would be okay with me taking Thursday and Monday off, although they took it more as an announcement rather than me asking, as they didn’t think they had an power to tell me no. Because of this, I think the NACE skill I used this week was the career management. While simply asking for a day off wasn’t necessarily a career altering question, it was a good lesson in asking for what you want.
I say this every week, but I still can’t believe how fast time is flying by. Ireland feels so much like home now, that I feel like I’ve lived here for years…
Dublin Internship 