I spent Spring 2018 semester studying abroad at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. The experience was truly unforgettable and opened my opened my eyes to new experiences, opportunities and cultures. I took classes not only in my major, finance, but took classes in the international relations and classics schools. I was able to diversify my experiences, achieve personal goals and develop my understanding of Ireland’s culture, as well as my own and others’.
Having grown up traveling and even living abroad, I didn’t expect to be as effected by culture shock or the drastic changes to my schedule. I found it hard to adjust to the lax academic system and to the disappearance of my support system. Threw this experience pushed myself socially, emotionally, financially and academically, growing every day. Socially, I lived outside of my comfort zone. I pushed myself to interact with those that lived in my building and took my classes. By pushing myself, I developed lifelong friendships with amazing people from around the world. Emotionally, I left my normal support systems. I left my family, my friends and my peers, to travel across the world and essentially start over, alone. I have traveled and lived abroad when I was younger, but didn’t realize how much I relied on my family when moving for traveling. During this time, I learned a lot about myself and about my strengths and my limitations. I learned that while I am an extrovert, I am not afraid to travel alone and that while I rely on my support system, I can also be a support system for others. I struggled financially. It was difficult not have job–not just because I lacked a paycheck but because I lacked structure and accountability. Finally, I had to adapt to the different academic structure at Trinity College. I found that classes at Trinity were aggressively independent and lacked accountability; grading was arbitrary and classes were unstructured. The transition from OSU to Trinity was challenging but I was able to adapt to the system that required me to be self-accountable to motivated.
Following my love for travel, I took advantage of Ireland’s location and Ryanair to travel to some dream destinations: Greece, Morocco, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. I was able to use Ireland as a leap-pad to experience even more cultures and further develop my passion for traveling. I am excited to visit my friends at their homes in Australia next summer.
The interactions I had, the relationships I built and the traveling I did shaped my exchange and my life (my thoughts, perceptions and goals). The family I created for myself in Ireland will also connect me to the country and to the people. For five months, my friends were my family and I will always think of them as such. I interacted with them, with my peers, with the country and finally with myself. The best part of my exchange may have been the friendships I made. My close group of friends were from different countries and different majors but found ourselves connected by a love of travel and new experiences. Together we made dinner together almost every night, we travelled Ireland and Europe and shared an experience that will connect up forever.
Being in Ireland for five months, I spent a lot of time around the Irish. I experienced some of the nation’s most important holidays and some of the most important historical memories. Living there I was not a visitor or a tourist but I became a local. The employees at my favorite coffee shop knew my name, I knew all the local haunts and made friends outside of my living environment and my university. I quickly learned to navigate the city and was able to act as a tour guide for all those that visited me.
Traveling has always been a passion of mine. I have traveled to 35 countries and my passion shapes many of my personal and career goals. I seek to understand new cultures and perspectives, to see new landscapes and to eat new food. Traveling with my friends was an experience I will never forget. I was able to engage in experiences that were important to others, experiences that I may not have even thought about and to experience the passion of others. Traveling while on exchange reinvigorated my love of traveling and inspired me to travel as much as I can before starting a real “adult” job. Through my STEP experience, I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I can be extroverted, but can also be introverted. I learned that I am not afraid of new experiences and that I actively seek them. Finally, I realized that international experiences are not only something I want more of, but I am not considering a requirement to my life.
More that every I am pushing myself to seek out new experiences, to challenge myself and to challenge others. I become comfortable living outside of my comfort zone and realized that an important skill is continuous development–always seeking new experiences that develop me personally, socially and professionally. Through my STEP experiences, I not only achieved life-long goals, like studying abroad and having geographically diverse friends but I also developed new goals and expanded upon new ones. The goals I was able to achieve are just as important as the goals I created for my life moving forward. My STEP experience was an amazing milestone and I look forward to the milestones to come.
