Study Ireland – Stories & Guides from International Students

In this advice blog, Natasha Shantz, an Exchange student from Canada, offers her advice on balancing school, friends, and travel at the University of Limerick. 

For me, the hardest part of travelling and exploring new countries is trying to fit everything into a short timeframe. Even though I’m spending a full semester here at the University of Limerick before I go back home to Canada, I feel like my already-enormous bucket list is growing longer and longer as time is slipping away faster and faster. With the pressure of school, activities, and travel, it can be tough to balance everything we want and must do. But luckily, there are so many amazing opportunities and resources offered at the University of Limerick, in Limerick itself, and throughout the surrounding areas that allow students like you and I to check off that bucket list more easily and get the best exchange experience possible.  

Especially when I first arrived in Ireland, the social events held by UL Global and by the university in general were crucial to help form the friendships that I’ve made so far here. The team plans a variety of events over the semester, such as coffee chats with other exchange students and international nights at the Stables Club. While I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting plenty of Irish students, the bonds you make with international students going through similar experiences as you are unlike any other. 

I’m also lucky enough to get along very well with my roommates. While we’re all from different countries, each of us is here to make connections with people from around the world, and our apartment already feels like a home. Living with new people can be a challenge, but it’s also, on a more superficial note, incredibly convenient to like your flatmates. It’s so much easier to find company for an outing to the city or a club event with six of us in our apartment. Chances are, all your roommates also want to plan activities and trips, and it’s a lot less scary (and more fun) doing these things with other people. So, of course, I see friendship as a core part of the exchange experience. 

I mentioned club events before, but I didn’t particularly mention the overwhelming selection of clubs that UL offers. The variety was a lot to take in at first, but it was important to me that I was involved in a balance of activities: a couple I was familiar with, a couple that were new to me, and not so many in total that I overlooked my studies. The university offers many typical clubs, such as athletics, musical theatre, and program societies. But they also have unique activities that would undoubtedly enrich your Irish experience, such as skydiving, outdoor pursuits (which involves hiking, climbing, mountaineering, and caving), kayaking, and surfing. If travelling is high on your priority list, it’s totally worth joining one of these clubs, as they often coordinate weekend trips for their activities. And even if you don’t want to be part of a club (which you might want to reconsider), the university also offers a variety of day trips around the country to popular sightseeing spots, such as the Cliffs of Moher, offering a more convenient and cheaper option to planning your own travels.  

I also love planning both solo and group trips, and the public transportation system in Ireland (while it has its flaws) can take you to most of the major cities around the island, leaving directly from the university or the city centre. You often need to book ahead for trips to places like Dublin and Galway, which are obvious must-sees when you’re here. However, the cities of Ireland aren’t the only places to visit and taking smaller trips to the lovely towns and attractions of Adare and Cashel for example, are also worth your time. Limerick, too, has its many features, such as the historical King John’s Castle, the quaint Milk Market, and somewhat less importantly, the huge O’Mahoney’s Booksellers, which I’ve spent far too much time in already. 

While I would love to go on and on about UL clubs and sightseeing, I also need to talk about making time for academics. We are still students, after all, even while we pursue our dreams of being world travellers. I do consider myself a good student, and I go to all my classes and get my assignments done on time. But since I’ve been on my exchange, I’ve had a lot of trouble balancing a consistent work schedule with my travels and extracurriculars. I wish I had the perfect solution to stop my procrastination and to solve the anxiety I feel around it, but this issue is a work in progress, and I don’t know all the answers.  

The best advice I can offer for balancing academics with the rest of your life is to give yourself time to relax every day. You may want to finish that essay early, or go rock climbing, or join your friends on their day trip to the city centre, but you can’t do anything if you’re too burnt out to function. All these activities take energy even if you enjoy them, and sometimes, you need to put your own mental and physical wellbeing first. And when you have regained your energy, you’ll be much more productive and enthusiastic, ready to tackle both your to-do list and the long, long bucket list.  

In the end, just take it easy on yourself. Although a semester can go by very quickly, remember that four months is plenty of time to accomplish everything you’ve been dreaming of, and that there are plenty of people and opportunities at UL which can help you do just that.