Looking at a historical site, it can be difficult to imagine what it would have looked like a hundred years ago, and even more difficult to imagine that the people walking the streets back then may have been similar to us. Walking through Dublin Docklands, the statues representing the survivors of the famine caught my attention, as they serve as a reminder of surviving, not just tragedy. Even when people fall down, we clearly see the results of them getting back up. This evolution shows a ton of differences between now and 100 years ago, but it’s even more fascinating to see the similarities. Listening to Dr. Kelly talk about the Dockland area’s history, he would point out visual cues like a specific building in the distance to show where the first apartments were, except today, the same building still stands, but there are other building around it, no longer isolated. In this way, we get to see how the new and old converge, because some of the old, preserved buildings coexist amongst the new, technically advanced buildings, such as the HubSpot building shown below:
Aside from the physical buildings, there are clear reminders of the past among the people too. Traditions carry over from generations, such as education expectations, as Dr. Kelly discussed. He told us about how depending on where you attend school, you may not be expected to continue onto college without aid, especially when he was younger, or even leave Ireland altogether to find work. However, in an age of accessible technology and ability to travel, immigrants often fulfill job roles that the locals can/will not. So although the last 100 years present vastly different problems from famine to modern schooling and study abroad, watching how traditions carry on and even physical landmarks still stand serve as reminders of the past.
On a complete evolutionary journey past the early 1900s, today we see a tech giant like Google continue to grow and thrive, and further boost our capabilities. Visiting the Google Dublin headquarters was incredible fascinating not only because how MASSIVE the campus is, but also because of how much was packed inside. The buildings had food from all different countries, countless lounge spaces, and even a gym! We got to learn about new projects the “Googlers” are working on, and it was so cool getting to talk about the future of AI in the tech world, and the platforms they’re working on are relevant to my own internship experience in advertising. I really felt like I could connect with our speakers because they were excited to answer questions and really enthusiastic about their work. Seeing these people working at the forefront of modern technological capabilities just outside where people fled Ireland to find work elsewhere years ago was really humbling; the before and after of 20-21st century evolution.
It was fun to walk through the Google space for the day, but I’m not so sure I could work there full time. Of course, the variety of food, classes, and comfy chairs everywhere are extremely enticing, hearing about the selective process to be accepted in was very daunting. As much as I’d like to believe I’m not afraid of failure, I think I’ll stick to just using Google products instead of programming them.