Making a Plan and Carrying it Through
By: Kaitlyn McGeehan, Nursing ’23
An Image of the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin that the program director used as her Zoom on orientation day.
Nursing Research in Dublin – Ireland
I have always been a planner. If you ask me where I see myself five years from now, I could guarantee you that I would have a five-minute speech about all that I am going to do… even if that speech was completely different a week ago. Not surprisingly, from the moment that I stepped onto Penn’s campus in the fall of my first year of college, I knew that I wanted to get involved in research. As a girl who always had a passion for the sciences, it seemed like the natural path to take. The problem was, I had absolutely no idea how a freshman nursing student could possibly find her way into a lab, let alone a lab that I felt qualified to be in.
Another part of my master plan was to travel and live in Ireland one day. With some loose family ties to Ireland that I hold on too tightly, I have always had a love for the country, especially after visiting for a few days with my high school in 2018. Yet again though, as a nursing student and future nurse, I knew that my opportunities to spend a significant time abroad were extremely limited.
Perhaps I am a little more Irish than I thought because in my fall of freshman year I found myself having a lot of really good luck. In November, a principal investigator in a brand new microbiology lab at Penn decided to take me under her wing and introduce me into the wonderful world of research through her lab, despite my novice abilities. While micro-level research is something that I have loved learning and continue to do, I knew that clinical-based research was something that I wanted to eventually try out. Around this same time, I came across the GRIP website. I think I did a double-take at the screen when I saw “Nursing Internship” next to the word “Dublin”. It was like a program that was made for me… even taking place in the summer so I wouldn’t miss clinical! It was at that moment of my freshman year that I knew that my ideal sophomore summer would be spent pursuing this internship if I had the chance.
Even though being in my apartment in Philadelphia and interacting with my colleagues across the Atlantic via Zoom was not quite the original image I had in mind for this internship, I am already loving it all the same. I get a thrill knowing that I am speaking to people in a completely different part of the world, and I am learning of both the shared and different experiences of those who have spent this year also learning how to adapt to a post-covid way of life. I made a plan, and while I admit it is a little different, I feel equally as fulfilled.
The Global Research and Internship Program (GRIP) provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern or conduct research abroad for 8 to 12 weeks over the summer. Participants gain career-enhancing experience and global exposure that is essential in a global workforce. Placements and funding awards are available.