At the Cliffs of Moher!

Author: Victoria Hudson | Major: Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Innovation | Semester: Summer 2025

This summer, I studied abroad in Dublin for eight weeks, while interning at a local nonprofit. I worked Monday through Thursday, so while I was in the office four days a week, I was still able to travel on the weekends and during the evenings. This type of program was perfect for me! I was able to gain professional experience, learning the work culture of another country, all while traveling and seeing Ireland.

I was able to travel to countless places within Ireland and even managed to take a weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland! I would really recommend a longer program if you are interested in traveling while abroad. Being abroad for two months gave me the unique opportunity to experience day-to-day life in Dublin, while using evenings and weekends to take trains to other cities – Galway, Belfast, Cork – and see amazing places, like the Cliffs of Moher and Giant’s Causeway. If this is something you’re interested in doing, I would really recommend planning ahead, to the extent that is possible. I didn’t want to come into the program with all of my weekends planned, which was a good choice. At the same time, I had a list of things I wanted to do and places I wanted to go, which ended up being super helpful.

The company I worked with was ARC Cancer Support Centers, ARC for short. They serve cancer patients — as well as their family and friends — through a range of services. During intake, clients are evaluated to determine what services would be most beneficial.  Offerings include talk therapy, acupuncture, lymph drainage massages, and other various physiological treatments.

As a business administrative intern, I was largely in charge of restructuring policy documents and corresponding procedural maps. This meant assessing the organization’s current standards documents and reorganizing the content and standardizing formatting to professionalize these processes for future use. Each process document had a procedural map, which I created and refined. I also digitized several paperwork forms and surveys for easier administration and faster client intake. I worked under the head of client services, which meant that our work was to streamline the process of working with clients; to make it easier for clients as well as personnel.

All of my work aided in the ‘transformation project’ that ARC has been undergoing for the past two or so years. It began when the company brought in a team of consultants to audit the organization to assess areas of growth. In the time since then, ARC has been focused on modernizing, especially aligning the company practices with recent regulatory standards. This work ensures that the organization can continue pursuing its mission in the way it has been, while meeting new legal requirements for processes and documentation.

One of the most notable parts of this internship was the stark difference in work culture compared to what I’ve experienced in the US. What I experienced at ARC was a focus on the development of health and well-being of employees as they do their job. This felt significantly different than the work-first, person-second perspective of organizations in the U.S.. This difference could partially be a result of the mission of my employer being social-emotional care for others.

This vastly different work culture in conjunction with the type of work I did was an amazing learning experience for me. I came into the internship familiar with the type of work I was doing, as it’s something I’ve done in several positions. However, getting to do this type of work abroad in a company that was so heavily community-oriented was life-changing. In my time abroad, I learned a lot about the way that nonprofits function in Ireland, and even more about myself.

Something interesting I learned is that the term ‘nonprofit’ is not often used, instead replaced by the term ‘charity’. I had greater observations as well, like that nonprofits are much more collaborative in Dublin than what I’ve experienced in the United States. ARC doesn’t hesitate to refer clients who come into other organizations, if another nonprofit is better suited to help that client. There’s no air of competition, simply a focus on helping clients as effectively as possible, even if that isn’t within ARC.

In working in this type of organization, I learned about what type of work I want to do professionally in the future. I’ve worked in several nonprofits before this, so it was easy for me to realize that I prefer working more closely with clients as opposed to working exclusively administratively behind the scenes. Obviously, in this case, it wasn’t necessarily possible given clients are seen exclusively by providers, but it was certainly something I’ve learned for future opportunities.

As I come back from Dublin, I am about to start my senior year! It’s going to be an incredibly busy year. I’m starting my thesis research with Dr. Shannon Younger in the Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Innovation department, studying the Walmart Foundation and its shared value model. I will be the intern for Passionate About Literacy, one of the signature programs within the Volunteer Action Center. I’m also going to continue my involvement in various organizations, like Future Women Business Leaders, Women Impacting Supply Chain Excellence, and in the Honors College as an ambassador.