Kelsey F.
Kelsey F. is a 21-year-old Flagler University student who studied with us in the Spring 2010 on our Semester in Dublin. This school was great I loved the sports center and Nubar. My roommates and I went to wired life concert on campus and did tons of activities. I even joined trampoline club!
What classes did you take while abroad?
Belief and communication
International communication
Advertising
Intro to modern Ireland
Media Writing
What was your favorite class and why?
The best class was belief and communication. The professor was great and really intriguing. His discussions were always entertaining and relevant. I learned so much about religion in Ireland and Europe as a whole. We discussed the Burqa Ban and the reactions of Ireland and the Catholic scandal. We even did a webcam class with Marquette University in Wisconsin.
What type of accommodation did you have? Did you like it?
I lived in Shanowen Square it was located right around the corner from DCU and had a Eurospar right out front. The rooms were tiny tiny but livable. I enjoyed having my own bathroom and bedroom and through living in the apartments I met a lot of students. The one down side is that it was a bit of a walk to a grocery store or the bus.
What extracurricular activities did you participate in?
I joined trampoline and gymnastic club. This was so much fun. I am a cheerleader at my college so I wanted something similar and this was the best thing I could find. I loved everyone that was involved in the club they were outgoing and fun! I learned a lot about the sport and even got to practice alongside students that were members of the Irish national team.
What were the most noticeable differences between your home university and your host university while abroad?
The biggest difference was the size and the policies. My school is less than 5,000 students and DCU is a large university with a lot of commuter students. My campus does not have any coed dorms and is a dry campus. The events on campus at DCU were the best events of any school I’ve heard of. They had so much campus involvement it was insane. Nubar was a great place to hang out with friends and the lounge at the performing arts center was awesome.
Did you travel while abroad? If yes, where did you go?
I traveled a lot while abroad. I went to Budapest, Hungary and so far that is my favorite country that I have been to. I also went to Barcelona and the Canary Islands in Spain, Florence and Pisa in Italy, Glasgow in Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
What do you miss most about your host country?
I miss everything about being abroad. I loved living in Europe and having Dublin at my disposal. I went to town almost every week. I enjoyed going to the Erasmus nights at clubs and we all followed an avid social life. I loved days when sports games were playing. Pubs became full of life and the Superbowl was one of the best days I had in Ireland. The pub we attended was so packed they stopped letting people in at 8pm before the game had even started. The life, culture, and beauty of this country were amazing. The vast history captivated me the entire time and around every corner was another hidden gem.
What was your most challenging travel experience?
My most challenging experience while traveling was the volcano ash. On our way to the Canary Islands our flight was cancelled and rescheduled multiple times and we weren’t sure if we were even going to make it. The problem was that we had a flight from Spain to Italy in a few days that we couldn’t get our money back from. In the end we made it to the Canaries in time and had a blast, but it was stressful.
What are five things you packed that you wish you hadn’t?
I brought a straighter, which didn’t work with even with an adapter. I also brought a lot of clothing and I wished I had waited and bought more there because I didn’t have room to buy new things. I brought my glasses and they got bent even in their case on my way to Europe, so I wish I'd left those and gone with only contacts. I don’t really have anything else I regret bringing. Mostly, I thought I didn’t have enough clothing and that was mainly all I packed.
What are five things you didn’t pack that you wish you had?
I wish I had had a television. I really think I missed out on not being able to watch Irish television. I also missed having a printer and my own cell phone. I wish I had packed nail polish and shorts warmer weather. For some reason I was under the impression it would never be warm or I would never visit a warm place. On the other hand I should have packed more than one jacket. I really could have used a better sweater or jacket when it was still cold. I wished I'd brought two purses. I had one, but it was a medium size and many times I wished I had a smaller bag
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