Entries by McKegney, Sarah

New York really doesn't sleep. At 3am Times Square looked exactly the way it had looked at 3pm the previous afternoon. People were everywhere, billboards were still flashing and the yellow taxis were still racing round the streets. There was also something very New York about wearing a skirt and stiletto heels when hailing a cab. Very Carrie Bradshaw.

Despite the long bus journey, first stop in the Big Apple on Saturday afternoon was Chinatown, where Ms. Bamford unleashed her previously hidden talent for nailing a bargain. While others may have agreed that $20 for a handbag was acceptable, Bamford refused to pay such extortionate rates and pay them she didn't, walking away with not one but three "designer" bags. After some retail therapy and a quick change to ensure we were beautiful (not much time was needed) we headed for dinner and then to Paddy McGaughey's apartment for drinks. The view from his balcony over the city was truly amazing!

It was then onwards and upwards as we headed out for a night on the tiles. In true WIP style we quickly decided where we were headed and everyone agreed and we danced the night away and lived happily ever after. Hardly. On the plus side, as we walked the streets of New York in an attempt to finally decide on where we were actually going we did probably get to see more of the city than we would have otherwise AND by the end of the night I felt I'd really had a chance to perfect my taxi-hailing skills - invaluable.

On Sunday morning we met bright and breezy (some a little breezier than others) at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. After stocking up on bagels, Aoibhin, the Mannion and I rented ourselves a little rowing boat and did the civilised thing as we rowed contentedly in the middle of Central Park. All was well until Aileen (a management team member no less) and her crew challenged us to a race. Naturally, we won but somehow their oar "fell" into our boat (Peter had nothing to do with it). With threats to tell the man at the boat house if we didn't give it back (Eh, yes guys, we're really scared, what are you going to do - row over with your one oar and tell him?!) Peter did the gentlemanly thing and gave it back.

After such excitement Catherine, Aoibhin and I made our way to St. Patrick's Cathedral and eventually found it after (unfortunately) getting held up by a few shops. Sporting impressive tans from yet another retail marathon, we met the others at Pier 83 to brave the Beast, a speed boat ride along the Hudson out to the Statue of Liberty. Soaked but suitably impressed we left the Beast and went for dinner at Pier 17 before a few of us decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. New York is definitely a city to be viewed at night - the lights were beautiful.

On Monday morning, slightly exhausted we made our way to the UN, the main reason for our trip. We spent the day enjoying a host of speakers and a huge thank you has to go to Colm for organising the event and making sure it all went so well. The speakers were really interesting and in particular gave us a real insight into the career of a peace keeper and the peacekeeping operations of the organisation. Paul Kavanagh, the Irish Ambassador to the UN also explained Ireland's history with the organisation and Eva Busza gave us an insight into the inner workings of the Office of the Secretary General.

It was a slightly less energetic group on the bus on Monday evening than had been on Saturday morning but nevertheless, with the bus to ourselves, the sing-song started once more although not quite to the volume of the infamous 'Alan Ralph Show' that travelled back from Hemlock. Thanks to Cliona and her ipod speakers, backing music was available and exhausted but pretty content the group arrived back into DC.

Having severely neglected my blog to date I apologise and feel it's only right to give you an update!

Last Wednesday saw the second group of eager WIPpers have their chance in the spotlight with their leadership moments in the form of the Media Forum and Great Debate. Zelda had the daunting task of charing the Media Forum but was absolutely amazing and completely calm under pressure. Following the forum came the debate and up against serious Georgetown Debaters, Cliona, Matthew and Phil were more than capable of holding their own against such competition. With plenty of volume, podium thumping and Cliona's dirty looks (excellent!) the WIP team were brilliant and did us all proud.

Friday, 4th July, started off bright and early with the annual WIP tradition of ultimate frisbee. At this point it is necessary to mention that Heather the Ultimate WIPper also turns out to be the Ultimate Frisbee Player. We should have known. After such an energetic start, breakfast at Bob's was much appreciated! On Friday afternoon we headed to Catherine's house for the 4th July party complete with novelty ties and Dave O'Brien's patriotic glasses (they looked cool Dave). We then headed to the mall to watch the fireworks - amazing!!

On Saturday, a few lucky Marylanders (Neal, Laura, Phil and Aoibhin) braved the orange line to make their way to Virginia. The afternoon proved eventful with Neal spending most of it shouting at the rest of us for spending too much time on our phones (we were here to bond apparently) and Phil readily volunteering to trade his nationality for discount on a single pair of socks (not even a three pack). Eventually Laura and Aoibhin and I decided to do the sensible thing: we went to get our nails done leaving the boys to talk..politics?

Apparently what happens in Virginia stays in Virginia but then again some things just need to be blogged.

After a day of teambuilding activities which involved breaking the boundaries of any sort of concept of personal space, I can safely say that we're all much more acquainted with each other than we were three weeks ago. We spent the day yesterday at Hemlock Overlook Centre for Outdoor Education (to give it it's full title) and swung down zip lines and walked blindfolded through mazes as we really got to know each other - some much better than others! The barbeque which followed at the O'Hara's was fantastic and the day was perfectly rounded off by a slightly..energetic..sing-a-long on the bus home. Who knew Alan Ralph had it in him?!

With two weeks of our internships already completed, we've definitely picked up the pace as days of work are now followed by evening events. Last Friday night was a night to remember when a select few of us decided that in the WIP spirit of adventure we'd give contra dancing a go - an experience if ever there was one!

I'm really enjoying my internship with Management Concepts. Having braved the buses and metro to get there and back I'm finding myself settling into a routine and life at the office. Last Thursday I even attended the annual company picnic (us Wippers know the best time to arrive!). It was at the picnic that I found myself having a very surreal moment as I was helped on to a horse by a man in a cowboy hat on a ranch in the middle of Virginia. I couldn't help but think that this was possibly the furthest I could get from any image I may have had of what my internship was going to be like before I left home. I'm definitely not complaining though and if anything, it's showed me that WIP is most certainly about being open to new ideas!

Every now and then, just being here with everyone, it suddenly hits home that we've actually made it to Washington and it seems so long ago since interviews and orientation. In the last three weeks we have crammed so much in that even though the weeks seem to be flying past us it seems like a lifetime ago since we all met at Dublin Airport (and on that note, I was not late despite what you may have heard!) It seems hard to believe that three weeks ago we hardly knew each other at all but already, in such a short space of time, firm friendships have been established.

#Week One Fact - courtesy of my fantastic work supervisor Julie (to show how much I'm learning!):

The north-south streets of Arlington, Virginia are laid out alphabetically by first letter and by their number of syllables depending on their distance from the Potomac River

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It's so hard to believe that we've been in Washington now for almost a week and a half and even harder to believe how much we have crammed into that space of time! The last week has been a complete blur of activity that has seen us all navigate our way around the metro system, meet outside the White House, visit the news and media filled Newseum - the newest museum in DC (see what they did there?!), discover our true colours (I'm a green-blue apparently surrounded by a lot of yellows and reds - that'll be interesting), visit Arlington cemetery and the Lincoln and Roosevelt Memorials, survive seriously hot weather, take in the Library of Congress, meet a Senator, tour the Capitol, sing and dance for 60 elementary school kids (a special mention should go to Alan Ralph who had everyone singing "who let the dogs out") and of course celebrate Neal's 21st. Not bad for Week 1!

On Friday, myself, Gary, Elaine and Andrew also experienced our "leadership moments" as we gave speeches at a luncheon hosted by the Northern Ireland Bureau and held at the National Press Club. Huge thank yous have to go to Jonathan, Megan and Rebecca for all their help last week in listening to our speeches and offering us such good advice. To Rebecca in particular, thank you for keeping us so well fed in the process!! (The peppers weren't really that hot!)

Friday was rounded off by the 1990s host family party which was a brilliant night (Thank you Lenore!) With Britney, Princess Diana, Dame Edna, The Celtic Tiger, Barbie, the Saved by the Bell crew and the Genie from Aladdin (complete with blue body paint) among the characters all in attendance, everyone definitely seemed to enjoy themselves!

This week promises to be just as hectic as the last. It's only Tuesday and we've already had a seminar on speech-writing, met with the 2008 SAWIP team and today, started our internships. Thank you so much to the Management Team and Jonathan and Megan for putting in so much work to make our first week in DC so enjoyable.

Good luck to everyone for their internships! Roll on week 2!

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen

My name is Sarah McKegney and I am from Belfast in Northern Ireland. I am a first year student of Accounting at Queen’s University. I am delighted and proud to be speaking today at the National Press Club.

I am privileged to be a member of the 2008 team of the Washington Ireland Program. I know I speak on behalf of the whole team when I say that this first week has been amazing and we are looking forward to making the most of all the opportunities still to come.

I have lived in Northern Ireland my whole life and I am fortunate to come from a very entrepreneurial family. I have always been taught that to be lucky is to work hard to create your own luck and with this in mind, I have always felt a great desire to strive towards one day being able to work for myself.

Last month, I was very privileged to have been asked to make the opening speech at the US: NI Investment Conference held in Belfast. This conference aimed at attracting American investment to Northern Ireland and showcased the huge entrepreneurial talent and activity that we have to offer. Northern Ireland is a wonderful place to live and work and with one of the youngest populations in Europe, for young people in particular, it is a place of great optimism and opportunity.

My experiences with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland have inspired me to continue to strive towards working for myself and I believe that such practical experience is very valuable and necessary for all young people. Young Enterprise Northern Ireland is an organisation aimed at increasing the employability skills of young people but also introducing them and inspiring them to work for themselves based on the principle of “learning by doing”. I personally have had experience of this organisation, through competing in their company programme. In keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit promoted by the Young Enterprise we established an entrepreneurial culture within our secondary school. We set up and ran a company for a year and I was delighted to win the leadership award at the national finals in London. Also, in the last few months I have had the opportunity to work with the organisation to deliver enterprise programmes to primary school children as part of my service project for the Washington Ireland Program. Enterprise and innovation are widely encouraged throughout the Northern Ireland curriculum.

In America, there is a great sense that anything is possible and I believe that we can all learn from this ‘yes we can’ attitude. The only thing that ever holds us back is that which we allow to hold us back ourselves. This summer I hope to claim for myself, this American enthusiasm and sense of self-belief so that I can make my contribution to the increasing feeling in Northern Ireland that we too can do things for ourselves. The Washington Ireland Program gives us each the opportunity to do things for ourselves and allows us to discover the reality that anything is possible and that any vision can be realised if we are willing to work for it.

Using the skills I gain in Washington this summer, I hope to be able to come home and make my contribution to Northern Ireland’s prosperity. As a young person from Northern Ireland I am optimistic about my future there and I am enthusiastic and ready to take up the challenge of going to work in an increasingly innovative culture.

Steve Jobs, the American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. An entrepreneur is essentially a visionary, someone who is willing to risk trying something new to make a difference. Using the practical experience we each gain from the leadership curriculum and our individual internships this summer, we too can look forward to making a difference and distinguishing ourselves as leaders.