Going Global

One month ago, I arrived back home from an amazing semester in Ireland.  Although I did miss Fordham and my friends and family, I would not exchange my experience for anything.

In Dublin, I directly enrolled into University College Dublin, the largest university in Ireland. At UCD, I lived in a dorm, took six classes and was fully immersed in the Irish lifestyle. During orientation, I also got to experience another style of studying abroad when I was assigned to a host family for a few days.  Although I was not with the family for long, having that experience, permitted me to better understand the Irish people and their culture.

Over the four months, I had the opportunity to travel throughout Ireland and to several other European countries. In Ireland, I visited Cork, where I kissed the Blarney stone, and  Galway, where I got to stay in a castle converted into a hotel and saw the Cliffs of Moher.  Also, when my family visited for Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to visit central Ireland and my grandmother's birth town.

After exploring my host country, I  visited my two friends from Fordham in their respective host countries of England and France.  Both trips  were amazing, especially because I had the opportunity to experience the cities with my own personal tour guides.

Coming back to America after my time in Europe, I have been able to adopt a more worldly view and a much better understanding of other cultures and people.  I would not say that I am a different person after my semester, but I did come back to America with a greater appreciation for others.

After living with four Irish girls, I was exposed to the Irish culture in a manner that I never anticipated. I experienced studying habits, the value of family and the importance of their home lives.  Before my semester abroad, I naively believed the lives of college-aged people were similar everywhere, but I was quickly proven wrong.  Family and home life are significantly more important in Ireland than in America. I love my family and friends at home, but, when I am at Fordham, despite the close distance to home, I barely go home (especially compared to Irish students).

 In Ireland, however, the average college kid sees a family member at least once a week and travels home almost every weekend.  At one point, my roommate could not go home for two weeks, so her mom came and stayed in our dorm for three nights.  The closeness of the family unit in Ireland is unbelievable.

After four months abroad, I was happy to return home. I had greatly missed my family and Fordham and my friends. The strangest part about returning home has been coming back to my ordinary life where nothing has changed. I plan on using my new experiences and understandings, however, to enhance my life back at home.