Our trip to Dublin and our numerous visits to professional organizations gave me a strong sense of purpose regarding my future career in public relations.

Something I have been concerned about recently is finding the work environment that is the best fit for me. I worry about working a boring 9-5 and not finding much purpose with the work I am doing. However, the conversations we had with the business professionals, specifically those at Alice PR, helped me to feel more at ease.

To elaborate, the ladies at Alice PR continuously brought up how much they loved working at Alice. They shared that even though it is a great office space, the thing that they loved the most about their job was the people they worked with. They felt passionate about the work they do and driven to bring about positive change to their community and all of Ireland. By talking with them, I learned that as long as I have a solid community at my place of work and feel empowered by the work the organization does, I will be happy in my job. And, as Niamh from Alice told us, if I am not enjoying the organization for which I work, I can move on to bigger and better things.

This concept was salient once again when we visited William Fry. At first, I had no idea how a law firm had anything to do with public relations, let alone environmental sustainability. However, from our meeting, I learned about their sustainability initiatives, as well as the extremely important role that their communications and public relations team plays in their operations. Additionally, they have a very collaborative team that truly enjoys their jobs. William Fry also does an excellent job at fostering employee relationships, giving their employees time off when needed, and they even have a program that gives job opportunities to special needs students. Overall, William Fry seems like a delightful place to work, and our visit solidified the idea that it truly is the workplace and your coworkers that make all the difference.

I learned much more than I possibly could have imagined during our trip, and I will take the knowledge and newfound confidence I acquired with me in my future PR career.