This summer I will be staying in Dublin, Ireland for approximately two months for an internship! The program is through UVA, called University Internship Program (UIP) and UIP coordinate with EUSA, a company that helps American students find internships abroad. I also get college credit for my internship as well, which lucky for me will also go towards my Politics major!
Getting ready for Dublin has been a loooong process in many ways. Not only has there been a lot of preparation in packing, getting documents in order, and interviews for internships, but even before all of that, it took me a long time just to figure out where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do when I knew I wanted to study abroad.
I must have looked through every study abroad program in. the. book. before finally deciding on UIP's internship in Dublin.
I researched.
and researched.
and researched.
And the ironic thing is, Dublin is probably the last place I would have imagined myself going in Europe. I had always envisioned myself experiencing some chic, cosmopolitan city like Milan or Barcelona, but my goals for studying abroad were different than what programs there would offer. I didn't want to focus so much on learning a new language or studying more Spanish, or even taking more classes.
I felt like an internship was the best of both worlds. I can live in a foreign country while still getting valuable work experience! The UIP Dublin program had everything I was looking for except...
the Dublin part.
Dublin? I immediately thought of gray skies and seedy pubs and wrinkled my nose at the thought.
But who was I kidding, right? Ireland is gorgeous! I did some good ol' Googling and found out so much more about this beautiful country than what I had let determine my opinion on it beforehand.
Quaint little towns.
Beautiful green countryside.
Coastline.
I can't wait to experience it all! Since then, it hasn't crossed my mind why I wouldn't want to go to Dublin, and it makes me feel even sillier for disregarding it at first.
Just like Gerald O'Hara says to his daughter Scarlett in Gone With the Wind, "It will come to you, this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it, if you're Irish."
I feel like Scarlett in this story, and I know as I journey to Ireland I will fall in love with the land just like her father talks about.
But if I wasn't scared about being away from home for two months then I would be lying to you. I feel bad about leaving my family behind when I am already away at college for the rest of the year, and I am nervous about experiencing the long distance part of a relationship.
Buuuuttt I know I will get through it!
And soooo....
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby...
Ireland here I come!
Blog title - American Honey by Lady Antebellum
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