Hi! I’m Mandy, and I’m originally from the University of Maryland, where I study Communications and Marketing. I was also in the Honors Humanities program as an underclassman, and I’m super involved in the Taiwanese American Student Association on campus.

What work have you been doing as an intern?

At the Global Undergraduate Awards, I mostly work with Niamh on our social media and other public communications. During my time with the organization, I’ve created content for our Instagram, formatted blog posts for our partner organisations, and started tracking regular social platform statistics to help analyze how we can improve. I’ve also drafted press releases that the UA can start using throughout the year.

How do you spend your free time in Dublin?

This is my first time in Dublin, so my friends and I have been taking the time to explore the city and learn more about Ireland in general. We have been trying different brunch and dinner spots around the city center, and love going to the George. I’m in the Grafton Street area at least twice a week, even just to walk around. Some of us even went to the Harry Styles concert at Slane Castle! I was also recently in Galway over the weekend, and it was really interesting to be able to see another big city in Ireland.

What have you learned during your internship?

Because the UA is a smaller team and organisation than my past internships, I’ve actually been able to see more of how an organisation functions, and had more opportunities to do things that I felt like actually impacted the group as a whole. I never had much non-profit experience in the past, so it was really interesting to be in an environment with different passions for the work we do, but also to see the different obstacles that the team has to work together on. I’ve also never worked with higher education, so I’ve been able to learn a lot more about the audiences related to that field, as well as the ways to target their interests more effectively.

What has been your favorite part so far?

One of my favorite events from interning so far has been going out for lunch with the team. It was nice to meet so many people in person and get to know them outside of work activities. We were able to chat and the mood overall was super lighthearted and fun. I also just like that everyone on the team has been really easy to get along with, and they’ve all been super welcoming and willing to give good tips about getting to know Dublin.

What are your future plans?

I plan to finish up my fourth year in college and definitely make the most of that time. After graduating, I hope to find a job in a Public Relations and/or Marketing agency. Who knows, I might even come back to the UA!