The other day, my friend @AnnieGrantham, who I spent 4 months with in Ireland, sent me this video she found. It sums up pretty much everything I love and miss about Ireland. I thought I would share and see what everyone else thinks. Thoughts on this video?
Filed under My Time Abroad
I always find it interesting where people go abroad and for what reasons. Working in the Champlain Abroad office has definitely allowed me to speak with students to discover their motivations. I’ve heard countless people want to go to Argentina or Spain for the language, Montréal for the gaming programs, Ireland for their heritage, and New Zealand “just because I want to.” I would then be led to believe that the three most popular destinations for Champlain students would be Dublin and Montréal (because we have campuses there) and New Zealand.
I’ve recently read some data from the Institute of International Education about the leading destinations for all American study abroad students. The top 10 places are:
These top ten locations account for 58.9% of all American study abroad students in 2008/9. Considering there are “195” countries in the world, 58.9% of American study abroad students only utilize 5% of the world’s countries. 195 is in quotations because the actual number of countries in the world varies depending on the source. Also, 6 out of the 10 countries are in Europe, 2 in the Americas, 1 in Asia, and 1 is Australia.
Knowing this list leads me to ask more questions about majors and locations and if certain majors are attracted to certain locations based on the current state of that location. I know Montréal is the third largest media convergence city and the second largest gaming city so media majors are attracted to there, but what about other locations? I hope to find out more answers concerning this topic very soon.
As a mini-side-note, at my position with the Champlain Abroad office, I decided to publish a poster for campus displaying an inspirational quote by Mark Twain, encouraging travel. I will leave you with that:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Filed under Thoughts on Abroad
Ever since 8th grade, I knew I was going to study abroad in Ireland. I never had a specific location within Ireland targeted, but when I discovered Champlain College and its campus in Dublin, I knew this was the place for me. I began my traveling abroad however in the 10th grade when I spent 10 days in Spain for a school trip. I instantly fell in love with experiencing another culture and knew I’d be back someday. Last January, I embarked on the journey to Dublin with some great friends and others who became great friends. While there I travelled to Galway and Western Ireland, Belfast and Northern Ireland, Greece, and London. I am a marketing major, and that field definitely needs some sort of abroad experience. When people are selling products and services, they are no longer just selling them to a domestic market, but rather the globe. How can a company expect to sell something abroad with no sense of an alternate, foreign culture? It simply won’t work, and all business majors, in my opinion, need to spend at least a semester abroad to be able to excel upon graduation.
The campus in Dublin is absolutely astonishing. We were privileged enough to stay in the Augustine Apartments at StayDublin, a long-term-stay apartment building with great rooms and great service. I had a wonderful time there for 4 months. Our academic building is located on Leeson Street Lower in Dublin 2, the more business district that is right next to St. Stephen’s Green. It was a nice walk every morning from these great residences to this newly renovated 5 story Georgian building where the excellent staff waited. The teachers at the Dublin campus are absolutely fantastic and one of the great pathways into a foreign culture experience. They taught class the way they teach, not like American teachers. We had small classes though, so there were no lectures and everything was hands-on. I was fortunate enough to work on a project with Katherine McGrath and Chris Harris for the Irish Council for Overseas Students, giving me international non-profit experience by the time I was 21. The academics, the obvious social life, and everything else I experienced in my 4 months in Dublin has made me a very strong believer in studying abroad and international education. Whether it’s through your own college or a great 3rd party program, every college student needs to get out and experience the world.
This is a picture of myself walking through farmland on the hike from Bray to Greystone outside of Dublin. We kind of got lost and off the path and ended up in this field… for a while.
Filed under My Time Abroad
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