travel journalism in dublin

Program Assistant

There was one thing that I knew I needed to make happen during graduate school: travel abroad and get paid to do it. Call it good karma or call it good timing, but I managed to spend two summers working in Dublin, Ireland.

As a Program Assistant for UGA Travel Journalism in Dublin, I was responsible for mentoring undergraduates through their writing process, planning weekly events and weekend travel, and basically ensuring that all students returned home to their parents safely. I tend to explain my role more succinctly as "glorified camp counselor" but the truth is, being legally responsible for and emotionally supportive to a group of 19-21 year olds traveling abroad is no small feat. Camp counselors deserve a lot more credit. 

I watched each summer as each of my students became better writers and all of them became better friends. I became better too: at staying level-headed in an emergency, at navigating group dynamics, at being a friendly face for whomever needed one most. I was just a few years older than these students and without even noticing it, I learned how to be the adult in a room. 

In the years that I spent at UGA, hundreds of students passed through my classrooms. I learned their faces, their names, their dream jobs, and their pet peeves; I critiqued their resumes, I counseled them through personal crises, and I felt proud to have known each one.