The end!

Today is my last full day in Ireland and I am so sad to leave! But, what a great last day it was. First though, I have a little more to add to my post from yesterday. I wrote that post early in the evening, but after I posted it Rod and Chantel took Allie, Patrick and me out to dinner to celebrate our last day at billfaster. We went to Dalkey, a picturesque seaside town, and they toured us all around the beautiful beach and walking paths there. I've honestly never seen anything like it, it was so amazing. It was so great that they shared that with us and really says a lot about the people here. They are so generous and welcoming in every way; it's hard not to feel at home in Ireland.

After exploring Dalkey for a bit, we went to dinner at Dungeon Bar & Grill, part of the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel. It was a really nice restaurant and the food was amazing, but it was the conversation that made my night. Rod and Chantel shared a lot with us and were genuinely interested in our lives and what we had to say; it's absolutely what made our time at billfaster such a success. I will definitely miss them a lot!

Getting back to today, we debriefed as a group and shared our thoughts and experiences for the week. I really admired the groups that shared their difficulties because it's a brave thing to do and helped everyone learn. I think everyone has come away from this experience with a greater sense of what it means to be a leader and entrepreneur, it was very evident in the discussions we had today.

After class, we headed over to NDRC, a government funded program that helps launch entrepreneurial efforts. What has stood out to me the most here is that Ireland's government is very involved in business, especially start up companies, and puts for a lot of resources to help them grow. It's very different from America, where many people feel that if they want to start their own business, they are pretty much on their own. NDRC was one of my favorite places that we visited. It was this open, creative space with tons of young entrepreneurs collaborating and trying to build their ideas into successful ventures. The energy in the building was really amazing.

We heard pitches from four start ups, all of which were great and innovative ideas. I would have felt comfortable investing in any one of the businesses we learned about today. It definitely reinforced the idea that for me, going the start up/entrepreneur route might be the best option, a thought I have had this whole trip.

We had our group farewell dinner at the Porterhouse in Temple Bar tonight, and it was definitely bittersweet. I'm excited to go home and see my friends and family, but I'm also sad to leave Ireland. I will absolutely return some day, who knows, maybe permanently! The best part of the night was when the live music started; it was just two guys and their acoustic guitars but they were so talented and I loved them. Live music is one of my favorite things and it was great to be able to enjoy it with my UCD friends on our last night together.

I have an early morning tomorrow to catch my flight, but I will post one last blog post about my key takeaways and observations from this trip tomorrow during one of my layovers.