Our day started bright and early with a 7 am wakeup for a trip to Microsoft’s European Headquarters on the outskirts of Dublin today. After a short rain shower on our walk to the train station, and a 30 minute train ride to the headquarters, we finally arrived. Before arriving at Microsoft, I already held lofty expectations our experience, having known the reputation large tech companies hold when it comes to their office designs. Even these expectations were blown out of the water when we arrived to a huge building, with an even larger interior, leaving visitors like us starstruck at first glance. I even got to try out an augmented reality headset that will add a completely new dimension to businesses around the world. Another impression I had about Microsoft that changed after visiting was just how environmentally and culturally aware the company is. I had always assumed that larger companies did not set such lofty goals such achieving a complete cultural turn-around in such a short period of time or achieving complete waste reduction and water positivity by 2030. And yet Microsoft is on track to accomplish both of these. It completely flipped my original expectations.

I believe that the Dublin HQ of Microsoft has not only incorporated themselves into the growing tech hub of the culture here, but are also in the process of building something completely for all of Europe right here in the heart of the Irish capital city. First, all of our guest speakers were from countries outside of Ireland, showing that they are building a melting pot of cultures and ideas in the European HQ. Next, their unique prospective on their environmental impact and culture will be great in building a growing business culture that moves away from politics and towards a better society. I believe that I would want to work at Microsoft in the future, because it would be a great personal experience to be apart of this great culture that doesn’t just focus on profits, but building up people in the process. Now that we have had this great experience with a large tech business in Dublin, I believe a question I would ask our next guest speaker would be how Dublin came to be such a large tech industry hub despite all of its other offerings.

We are only a few days into the trip, and I am already enamored with everything we have experienced so far, and we haven’t even left Dublin yet! I’m looking forward to continuing my travels and unique experiences and sharing them with everyone over these next two weeks.