Go For It Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I enjoyed my classes a lot. At CMSV I felt I had more constant assignments than at DCU, I had one large assignment that accounted for all of my grade in each module, which was a bit daunting. I was also unfortunately unable to attend my tutorials, which counted for participation credit because I was doing my service.

On-site administration of your program

Those who were on-site to help me were nice, and emailed often to check in. However, when it came to choosing courses, the International office gave me a hard time, because they were not prepared to accommodate my major, they tried to encourage me to take elective courses and "have fun," while abroad instead ofusing the opportunity to take courses that aren't available in America that would still advance my degree. There were those who were not happy that I took harder courses than he wanted me to take, and more classes than they would have liked (it was suggested I take 2 classes instead of the 4 that I would have needed to be a full time student).

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My host family was very kind. I would have liked to have them around more often, but all three members of the family were working all the time, and I was also at my service site 4 hours a day, on top of classes. They did not eat with me most nights, despite Sylvia scheduling dinner at 6:00, I would get home, and they would have eaten already, my meal would be served up and waiting for me on the table.

My host mom was a very good cook, but there was not a huge amount of variety of things to eat. It wasn't the quality of the food that was unsatisfactory though, it was that we didn't share our meals.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Through service, and friendships made at DCU I felt wholly immersed. I studied on a different campus than the other students, so it encouraged me to make a bunch of Irish friends, studying in the same major as myself.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

n/a

One thing that really amused my friends was that Dublin was so small a city for me. Once you've been in NYC every city seems smaller and safer. The people in Dublin were warm, and friendly, I never had a safty related incident.

There are so many good memories of my time in Ireland, and I made so many friends, there's no way I could fit everything in so there's still things i know I have to do, I can't wait to go back. I chose "Go For It" as my title, because it encapsulates the nature of the freedom I had to try every new thing that came my way. Want to visit Belfast, and the Cliffs of Moher? Go for it, Want to spend midtem break climbing mountains in Norway? Go for it. Want to perform karaoke at a Drag Bar in city center? Go for it.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

In order to attend classes I had to commute an hour and a half, and take two different busses. The cost of commuting was very high, I was spending $30-$45 on getting to and from my classes/service site a week. On top of that, because I was leaving early in the morning, I would miss out on time with my host family, and eating breakfast with them, causing me to need to add that expense as well. The commute time, mixed with the price of commute was a budgeting problem I had not accounted for, I would have liked to be in a closer location to my university and the city center.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• The people I met
• The atmosphere/culture
• The service

• The organization of classes
• Distance of home to class/service site
• Interaction with host family