I’m sitting at Dublin airport with an eight hour flight ahead of me. I’m not sure where these last two weeks have gone but I’m pretty sure I’ve lived a whole year during them. Nine months, at least.

Maybe I’ll have brighter epiphanies about my time in Ireland when I’ve caught up on sleep, but this blog post has a deadline, so these are my reflections for now.

Dublin exceeded my expectations in every way. From its cobblestone streets, green running-man walking signs, beautiful trees, and the old buildings and churches that were scattered throughout the city, I saw splendor every time I went outside. I tripped over history everywhere I went. I learned so much, it’s spilling out of me with every conversation I have.

I hope I don’t sound too pretentious when I tell people about my experience in Ireland, but studying abroad is one of the luckiest most important opportunities one can have and I’m glad I took advantage of it and made the most of it with every new day. We also got so lucky with the weather, which really helped with my incessant exploration of Ireland’s museums, bakeries, and beautiful market streets since every day was sunny and in the low sixties.

As for my personal journey, I believe I’ve lost many silly fears from previous inexperience. I feel that I can fearlessly and responsibly tackle any city after Dublin, Ireland. It is not often the case that a young 20-something year old is able to go on an international journey practically on their own and achieve and learn so many wonderful and fulfilling things but I feel that I was up to the challenge and I conquered it with style. I can’t wait to use the navigation, planning, and social adaptation skills I learned in Ireland for future journeys.

My business woman side was also greatly satisfied. Hearing directly from important companies was such a great networking experience. The explanations of their day-to-day jobs, culture, benefits, challenges, and their successes were eye-opening. It was great to further exercise good listening skills and also learn how to do research on companies to ask them good questions that go beyond what can be answered in their about page. Business is a really complex world, sometimes entirely made up of grey-area quicksand that can drag one down if they’re not constantly on top of their game and prepared to adapt to keep playing. To see a glimpse of this universe through this program and to have had the opportunity to ask questions without running any risks was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s sort of cheesy but it’s true. And I’ll take what I learned from those meetings and research projects with me to interviews and future projects as I begin my career.

Ireland emphasized to me that you can have both in life: the business and the pleasure. It is through achieving balance and the constant pursuit of bettering yourself by gaining knowledge that you can hold both close to your heart.

I’ll never forget my two weeks there and I sincerely hope I can come back to give a tour myself to someone whose journey has just gotten started. I’m sending kisses to Ireland as the plane picks up speed and a heartfelt thank you for hosting me so kindly and joyfully. I will hold my time there close to my heart, too.

Cheers to an Irish goodbye… I know I’ll be back—I feel that it’s just the first of many times I’ll cross the River Liffey. So, for now, it’s not really a final goodbye… I know I’ll have even more fun next time.

So thank you Ireland—and see you then.