Study Abroad or Vacation Abroad?

I think that the idea of Study Abroad also comes along with many misconceptions for those who have never had the experience. Although I can only speak of my own trip, its hard to qualify this experience as either school or vacation. It really is just life.

I think that students that go abroad for school get some slack for not being in school enough. 'Didn't you go there to study?' is a common question. Life here is so much more than that though. Sure, the everyday person in Ireland doesn't travel to a different country four times in a month, but they do travel their own country frequently. It may not be for the tourism, but the Irish have friends and family all over the country. It is easy to forget that Ireland is the size of the state of Kentucky when such a small area, relative to the United States, is indeed its own country.

Sure, we have traveled a lot. To be honest, we probably travel more than most of the International Students, but if this is the only time that I know I am going to be in Ireland and Europe, I was certainly going to take advantage of it. To be fair though, if I were at home, I would travel too. I may not go to a different country, but trips to Lexington, Louisville, the outskirts of Cincinnati, and Indiana are easily weekend and day trips from home. The distances are comparable to those that we travel here when we stay in Ireland. I wouldn't always be in school at home or doing schoolwork, so why would I here?

Study Abroad has to be approached as a type of lifestyle when a person does it. To skimp to save money and not live a similar life to you would at home, just in a different country, makes it hard to get by. Trust me. We tried it. It didn't work out well and we decided it wasn't worth it.

In general, we went to school Monday through Friday, travelled on Saturdays or went to the Market, and went to mass on Sundays, a pretty normal lifestyle to what I would do at home. Occasionally we would skip classes, but not as much as it may seem like we did. The difference in school comes with the grading and amount of daily work a person gets. Most classes at Mary I have one paper and one exam which equal your final grade, meaning at least 50% of your grade comes from one final test. Homework is often not bothered with and never collected. I had weekly assignments for my math classes, but they were not graded, collected, or even looked at. It was our own responsibility to do the work and ask the proper questions.

In some ways, it is a more adult way to approach schooling. Being responsible for your own work and success in a class, but in other ways, it seems to be a cop out. Ultimately though, I will always think periodic grading of homework, participation, midterms, and chapter tests is a superior method, giving students the ability to know where their grade is headed and also give room for mistakes.

Overall though I think that the experiences a person has through study abroad are harder to understand if you've never experienced it. That isn't to try to exclude people, but I think I have a greater level of respect and understanding for people who study abroad as well as my own type of connection with them. Many of my friends have been blessed, like myself, to have the opportunity to study outside their home colleges. I am thrilled to be a part of that club now.

In the end, it will be much harder to leave Ireland than it was to leave home. As Phillip said, we knew that we were going to go home eventually, we never know if we'll make it back here. I don't know that I'll be ready to leave Ireland when the time comes, and I probably won't be until I actually am home, but it all is part of the experience. I sincerely hope that one day I can return to Ireland, especially Limerick, and relive some of the wonderful experiences I've had here.

For now though, we are coming into the final stretch. With ten days left, two exams, one day trip, and lots of cleaning and packing to do, I'm sure the time will fly. We definitely will be taking advantage of these last days though through it all.
Phillip and I at the beaches of Inis Mor, one of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. The water was cold, the sun was warm, and the weather was beautiful.