Study Ireland – Stories & Guides from International Students

As an American student studying abroad at the University of Limerick, I was hit with so many new changes upon my arrival at the beginning of the semester. It took awhile for me to realize how quickly the time abroad passes and how much I wanted to experience in such a short amount of time.

Here are 4 tips for making the most of your time abroad that I wish I knew.

Tip One: Say “yes” to new experiences
When I first arrived in Ireland, for the first couple of weeks, I felt overwhelmed, exhausted, and lonely. All I wanted to do was stay in my room and talk to my friends and family from home. Luckily, I had talked to a friend of mine before leaving home who had studied abroad, and they
told me that the quickest way to acclimate to being abroad was to step outside of your comfort zone and to say yes to new experiences. It took everything in me at first, but I heeded this advice and made sure to go to orientation sessions, participate in events hosted by the study abroad
office, and spend time with other international students going through the same exact process as me. Through doing this, I made so many new friends that I quickly made plans with. These plans kept me busy and helped me quickly adjust to life abroad. I truly believe that if I would not have
stepped outside of my comfort zone that I would have had a very different experience while being abroad.

Tip Two: Find your rhythm as soon as possible
As aforementioned, the initial period of studying abroad can be very disorienting. I found that developing a routine helped a lot with adjustment and acclimation to my new environment. I quickly made a habit of going to the UL Sport gym each day, going grocery shopping on the same day each week, as well as blocking out certain times daily to work on schoolwork. There was a lot of trial and error to finding a routine that worked for me, but once I found it, it helped me feel motivated and prepared for every day. Taking some time in the first couple of weeks to sit down and plan out a tentative weekly routine can save you a lot of stress in the long run.

Tip Three: Become familiar with your host university and city
A large part of the excitement surrounding studying abroad is traveling around your host country and possibly even traveling to other countries. While I did do a lot of both of those things and really enjoyed it, I believe that it is just as important to become familiar with the community that
you are living in. I spent my first month or so really trying to explore and experience Limerick by taking the bus to the city and shopping around, trying new restaurants, or going to the cinema to see a movie. Doing these things made me feel a genuine connection to Limerick that I am going to miss when I go home. Not only this, but I now feel completely comfortable with navigating public transportation and the city as a whole. This comfortability and familiarity makes my host city feel like my home away from home.

Tip Four: Make your desired plans sooner rather than later
I came to Ireland with so many ideas for what I wanted to do while abroad. In the first few weeks of my time here, I came up with so many more plans with the new friends that I had made. I felt no urgency to actually make these plans because, at the time, it felt like I had all of the time in the world. Time kept passing, though, and I quickly realized that I would not be able to do
everything I had wanted if I did not start soon. I was thankfully able to spend a lot of time traveling with friends and exploring the city like I had wanted, but as I am now in my final three weeks at UL, there are still so many things that I have not been able to do. It is important not to overexert yourself and it is totally fine to have a day or two of doing nothing, but it is also important to remember that a semester abroad truly does go by in the blink of an eye. So if there is something that you really want to do while abroad, then make sure that you set a plan in stone for it as soon as you can.
With all of this being said, the most important thing is that you are doing what you feel is best for you. Studying abroad is a very personal experience and there is not one right way to do it. Even with all of the mistakes that I have made while being abroad, I do not regret a single one because
this past semester has been one of the greatest and most beneficial opportunities of my life. I would recommend anyone who can to take the leap and do it