Welcome back! I sincerely hope you enjoyed my last post. This one doesn’t have as cool of an intro, but I promise it’ll be a rollercoaster of emotions throughout. Enjoy!
- I’m employed
Through my involvement with the Mitchell Scholarship program, I’ve met some truly amazing people. All of the Mitchell scholarship alumni that I’ve talked to have been welcoming, receptive, and eager to support me in my career endeavors. Along the way, I was introduced to Meghan Hind, a fellow Galway Mitchell alumni and current analyst at SOSV. From the moment I met Meghan, I knew we’d be excellent friends, and it turns out her company was in the midst of a Tableau transformation, a tool I taught extensively in undergrad. Before long, I received the amazing opportunity to join the SOSV team, and Meghan became my manager. SOSV is a venture capital fund that focuses on climate and human health start-ups, and I’ve had the privilege of working with the investment and data analytics teams. Also, I was honored to attend the annual SOSV Christmas party.
It was unlike any other Christmas party I’ve attended.
We went to the zoo! In Cork! In our Christmas jumpers!
There was a large celebration at the office, then naturally a night out at the pubs. This was my first experience in Irish work-social life, and it enabled me to connect with everyone I work with and learn their stories. We even did a secret Santa exchange. This was challenge for me, as I’d never met my giftee, who was a millennial woman. After consulting the foremost expert on millennial women, my roommate Ali (who is, in fact, a millennial woman), I purchased the Britany Spears autobiography, and I think it went over well.
Left: Meghan, an Ostrich, and I; Right: My amazing Lidl christmas sweater
The video below depicts me getting hit with a cork in Cork (no charged were pressed)
2. More travel tattoos
Speaking of Britney Spears, isn’t there that one song about a failure to learn from mistakes?
Oops,
I did it again.
Well twice actually. My trip to Berlin was exceptional, I had a donor kebab (per the recommendation of my German classmate), and I saw Brandenburg gate as well as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
I commissioned a ram at the world-renowned Der Grimm tattoo studio in Berlin from a Portuguese artist named Bruno. It just so happened that famous Russian artist Stanislav Gromov, who is now based in Berlin, had an opening the following day. I capitalized on this and sat for over 12 hours of tattooing across two consecutive days. Sandwiched between these sessions, I was invited to go out to the clubs with the tattoo artists, which enlightened me with a uniquely German experience. I drove the shop owners new AMG Mercedes (as DD) to a billiards hall, where we played until I ventured to the world-famous techno club, Berghain later in the night. At this club, they put a sticker over my phone camera, which was deeply concerning, but I survived.
Left: An abstract interpretation of life and death, or if you as my grandfather, “rubbish.”
Right: Moments before I learned that Berlin doesn’t have stop signs
3. Household update: shower renovation and Alexa & I’s child, Faye aka Meesh Meesh
In addition to decorating the house for Christmas, major renovations have been made to my place of residence. We have a new and improve showerhead!
Also, Alexa and I have been looking after a family of street cats. The daughter of the family, named Faye by Alexa and Meesh Meesh by a neighbor, was sick one day, so we attempted to provide her with medical care. It turns out she was just after more food.
Left: “Maximum water yield” -Sam; Right: Meesh Meesh!!
4. The best program in the world
For this section I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves, my classmates are amazing and I’ve grown so much personally and professionally with them as my colleagues.
Farm visit!!
My first time in a lab (please hold all backwards hat in the lab comments)
My friends surprised me for my birthday!
Exploring the holiday market with my classmates
5. I miss my family
Finally, I had the opportunity to travel home to the U.S. twice since the last blog post. I’m reminded of all the American delicacies and uniquely American experiences I’ve missed, but I’m grateful for the new experiences that I’ve obtain through this program. Also, I miss my family. The past two years have been challenging for my family due to various health complications, so to bring some happiness I coordinated a surprise visit home with my brothers. As evidenced by the video below, it was a tremendous success.
A uniquely American experience: Driving my Trackhawk to Waffle House with my brothers
Surprise!
Thanks for reading 🙂