Study Ireland – Stories & Guides from International Students

Today marks the one-month anniversary of my arrival in the Emerald Isle. Words shall not convey the fullest extent of my appreciation for the place, but I’ll do my best. 

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, USA 

At around five in the morning on a date for which no one can recall exactly, three became one in their plans for the coming Spring: studying in Limerick, Ireland for the semester. For why did these three gentlemen land on this location? It is a question in which there is no definite answer other than the universe wants them there.

The three approached the trip very differently. The first two had the semester planned for almost a year to that point, and the third happened to hear about it around two days before the application deadline. 

The One, who loves Europe dearly despite his American heritage, worried he wouldn’t get accepted into the programme due to his lackluster academic performance up to that point. However, once the university graced him with an acceptance letter, any sliver of doubt concerning the feasibility of this venture escaped his mind. 

The Two, who had glimpsed Europe’s beauty only once before, worried about quite literally everything The One wasn’t worrying about. The housing, budgeting, and traveling situations bogged his mind, for The Two isn’t familiar with the concept of fate (at least to that point). 

The Three, who found himself tagging along with barely enough time to get his papers sorted, didn’t seem to worry at all about the trip. If one was to look at the situation from a myopic perspective, they would find even more he should worry about than The One and Two combined. However, his faith was far too powerful for these supposed worries to even knock on the door to his mind. 

Fast forward to the coming weeks prior to their departure, the gentlemen found themselves in quite the situation. The One, having carried a boulder of pride upon his shoulders for the past nine-or-so years, found himself in the presence of the devil.  

One night, his souvenir from the great city of New Orleans sprung to life. The boy still contemplates exactly what happened, but a quarrel over his soul was the main theme of the night. 

What followed afterward was a complete severance of the bonds that once held The One, Two, and Three together. Any further details on this situation will only take away from the main points I am trying to drive home. But understand that this puts the coming semester in jeopardy. 

Once the dust settled, it was time to depart for the Isle. 

LIMERICK, IRELAND 

Everything is so green.

The thoughts that came to the three gentlemen once they stepped on the Irish Earth were of a foreign source, as though colorblind men were granted sight. 

Birds sang, the wind howled, and trees shook on their stroll through Castletroy into the University of Limerick Campus, but their arrival to their village was met with an unpleasant surprise: no one could let them into their apartment.  

The boys, being the critical thinkers they are, immediately decided to look for a hotel (instead of calling security, which, as they found out later, would’ve granted them access to their humble abode in Kilmurry Village). 

Once shelter for the night was located, paid for, and ventured to, they wondered what to do with themselves. An entire country was at their feet, so the cluelessness they found in their minds concerned them. Was it jetlag? Was it menacing ripples from the voodoo situation described above? Likely a mix of both, but after the night was spent in Limerick City their prospects seemed brighter. 

Orientation for the international students began January 20^th, and, if the reader is familiar with philosophy, the next week exemplified the out of chaos comes order, and out of order comes chaos theory. To go into detail would be a waste of words, so understand that the three gentlemen did not know what to do with themselves. 

The bonds between the men were in their infancy after being squandered the weeks prior to their departure, and, like any infant stage, was a wild flame yet to be harnessed. Arguments erupted, finances evaporated, and priorities shifted as the gentlemen learned to stand on their own feet. 

However, the three were clearly making progress somewhere.  

Every person must see through both the light and dark their journeys offer. Many try and escape the difficulties they’ve imposed on themselves, and that’s exactly what these men have done for all twenty-some years of their lives up to this point. 

Ireland is a magical place, and the people here exemplify that statement. The relaxed eyes and smooth talking found in any Irish man or woman convey just how valuable the land they reside on is.  

Hailing from America, the three are beginning to understand the influence such a small island had on their own country.