CAPA WORLD

In her final post, Casey shares key pieces of advice that will help you through your study abroad journey in Dublin. Whatever you do, make sure you have all you need to prepare for the time of your year (and life) in this global city! Take it from a student who has spent a semester abroad in Dublin: plan ahead, enjoy the moments, and become a local in your city.

Meet Emma Aulenback, an official CAPA blogger in Dublin for Spring 2019:

University: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Major: Sociology
Study abroad location: Dublin, Ireland
Internship or volunteer placement: N/A

Whether you're looking to boost your knowledge in photography and visual studies or take a chance and study something new, get a look at what these classes abroad have to offer. In her final post, Jessica shares her experience taking Irish Photography classes in Dublin. Anticipate gallery and museum visits, guest lectures by professionals, and hands-on learning! 

This past semester I took three classes to complete my graphic design minor back at SUNY Oswego. These classes were Sociology of the Media, Ways of Seeing, and Visual Methodologies. I’m so thankful I took these classes because it gave me such a new perspective as a broadcasting major on the media in Ireland and in Europe, but I also learned so much about Irish photography.

In this week's post, Casey tells us about how she ended her marketing internship with Griffith College's Alumni and Career Office in Dublin. She played a big part in planning and executing the very first Alumni Breakfast event for Griffith College. It was a success and one to be remembered! See how Casey diligently contributed to this project while coordinating with various professionals.

Thanks to CAPA, I was able to do an internship while studying in Dublin. My internship was with the Alumni and Careers Office at Griffith College, where I studied. I worked directly with Suzanna Doyle, who takes on the alumni office all on her own, with occasional help from the marketing team whom we shared an office with. The biggest project I had to work on this semester was the first ever Alumni Breakfast event.

This breakfast was a great way to network and reconnect with fellow Griffith alum, while also hearing from some speakers and giving out spot prizes. This event took a lot of time to plan, and I don’t think Suzanna and I could have done it without each other. What was great about my internship was that I didn’t feel like an intern; I felt like I had an important voice that was being listened to and valued. I was able to bounce ideas off of Suzanna and vice versa.

This was an internship that almost did not happened, but Jessica's glad she changed her mind. In this week's post, she talks about interning at the Screen Directors Guild of Dublin and what she did to achieve her professional goals there. She also gives us some insight about the Global Internship Workshop she took alongside her internship and how that prepared her for the Irish working culture and future career endeavors.

Over the course of this past semester, I held an internship with the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland. This internship encompassed a lot of tasks, and I have gained numerous valuable skills that will hopefully help me to secure a job in the future. When I first applied for the CAPA program, I debated not doing an internship, but now I am so grateful that I did. My internship title was project manager, and I had various responsibilities. Some of the main things I organized were speed networking and screening events, podcasts, and many other office responsibilities. We sent an Irish director to LA and I was in charge of the itinerary and meetings. I also helped to produce a podcast with screen directors in collaboration with RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster.

In this week's post, Casey shows us how Dublin gets into the holiday festivities at YuleYard. This winter wonderland in the heart of the city offers a variety of food, beverages, and markets to get your Christmas on! 

This time of the year, I’m normally back home in Chicago for break. My mom makes almojabanas (Colombian cheese bread) with hot chocolate and my dad makes a homemade dinner that my sister and I had been missing while we were away at school. We’d go into the city and see the Christkindlmarket, which is a huge but compact Christmas market in the middle of the city. We’d see the big tree and the Macy’s windows. This year is different. I’m still here in Dublin and there’s no snow on the ground, in fact it’s not even that cold. I’m still in classes and have my internship, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying some Christmas festivities.

In this week's post, Jessica arrives home for the holidays and looks back on her fall semester in Dublin. While goodbyes were aplenty, she shares how she and her friends captured the essence of the city that they've called home for the last few months by doing their favorite activities and traversing their usual spaces one last time.

The last week consisted of many goodbyes. I completed all my exams by Tuesday and on Thursday, and we had one last Christmas dinner with our CAPA program and the advisors at a restaurant right around the corner from Griffith College’s campus. I said one last thank you to the whole group, our advisors, and wished everyone good luck in their futures. It was crazy that these past few months flew by.

Friday was my last day at my internship and I said goodbye to my supervisor. Afterwards, a few of my friends went out for dinner for the last time at Nando’s. If you don’t know, Nando’s is famous for its Portuguese-style chicken dishes with loads of sauces to choose from. It became a thing for us to go out to Nando’s together a lot, so we had to do it for our last night together in Dublin.

In this post, Brandon talks about some of his memories of his first day in Dublin and how he benefitted from being an outsider in a foreign country.

My time abroad in Dublin was one of the greatest experiences I have had in my life. There are so many stories that I could tell, from traveling Europe with friends to my amazing internship at Food Cloud. However, if I was to tell them all, this blog post would span an entire book, so I have to be choosy. I have decided to dedicate this gust post to the memory of my first day in Ireland. As a previous CAPA blogger, I have described the general events of my first day, so if you want more broad information please go to my archived blog posts!

In this week's post, Casey gets candid about managing her mental health while balancing studying, interning, and living in a new country. Here are some tips and coping strategies she's discovered and used to have an amazing and successful time in Dublin. Casey also lists some options for support while abroad.

When I first looked into studying abroad, I had to ask myself if I could handle it. Studying abroad is known to put you out of your comfort zone and test your limits. I didn’t know if I was ready for that type of experience. Many people ponder this question before choosing to go abroad, it sometimes even stops them from ever applying. People with mental or physical illnesses ponder this question a lot more. For me, I have been handling anxiety and an eating disorder for multiple years. Due to that reason, I wasn’t sure that I could study abroad. I had problems in the past being too far from home and adjusting to a new way of life. That feeling would be magnified twenty times if I decided to study abroad for a semester. I have found coping strategies from therapy and my everyday experience, and I felt confident enough I could transfer these strategies while I was abroad, which is why I did make it to Dublin this semester.

In one of her final posts, Jessica lists the 10 things she's come to love in Dublin and will miss as she returns home from studying abroad. From tasty treats to favorite landmarks, check out to see what makes all of these special and memorable in Dublin!