On the 16th of May, some students in Grade 11 took part in a visit to the Irish Embassy in Sweden. This amazing opportunity, presented by Miss McCluskey, is the product of a close collaboration between the English teacher and the embassy during events like the Yeats lecture back in February, where the Her Excellency Barbara Jones, Ambassador of Ireland to Sweden, extended an invitation to Grade 11 students to visit the embassy offices.
The structure of the visit was first an introduction from the embassy diplomats: Ms. Doreen Burke (Second Secretary) and Ms. Aideen Cooney (First Secretary), followed by a task related to the upcoming EU elections. The diplomats talked about why they chose to have a career in diplomacy as well as what their average day looks like. Subsequently, we had the opportunity to ask questions about their careers and share our prospects for our future careers. What was especially interesting to many of us was hearing that many of the diplomats made the decision to enter their field after working a corporate job first and that many foreign offices look for diplomats from a wide range of fields to achieve a broader perspective. We also received delicious snacks and some mementos of the experience!
The task regarding the upcoming EU election let us dive deeper into the field of international relations. The task that we had given to us was to formulate a speech about what Swedish voters felt was the largest issue in the EU election and then present it to the embassy diplomats. The twist with this task was that we had to prepare the speech without any outside information or technology. A student that took part in the visit called this “an engaging experience that let us discuss vital issues without influence from technology or other sources”. Another student mentioned that “the most fascinating part of the experience were the follow-up questions after our speeches as it showed how knowledgeable the embassy staff was”. These follow-up questions also let us gain valuable skills in handling questions under pressure.
The students who took part will never forget this experience, and were inspired by the great minds at the embassy, perhaps follow in their footsteps and have a career in diplomacy!
