Author: Emma Kolker | Major: History | Semester: Summer 2025

My Classmates Lexi, Maddie, Nieve, Emily, Noah and I sitting by the river in Galway.

My program with CIEE allowed me to be immersed in city life, take trips all around Ireland, and be taught by incredible Irish professors. I chose the program in Dublin because I was able to live in the city and go on weekly school excursions while learning about Irish history from actual local college professors. The program also afforded me free weekends to travel the country with my classmates. When I first arrived in Dublin, I was full of anxiety; I left Arkansas with a full understanding of American English, but after nine short hours, I was suddenly having to ask people to repeat themselves with an accent I only heard on TV . I was grateful to have a small group of classmates from all over the states who were in the same shock. While the first couple of days had a lot of adjusting, I quickly fell head over heels with the people and the country. Though I was a little worried if my American education had prepared me for studying abroad, my professors and program staff helped us through the transition. While work consisted of hours of reading and long papers, our assignments only helped me to have a deeper, more thoughtful understanding of Irish culture and history. Excursions were an excellent supplement to my classroom experience. It brought the learning to life. For example, my Irish culture, society, and identity class visited the National Museum of Ireland. At the museum, we viewed an exhibit of the Magdalene Laundries. The exhibit illustrated the haunting past and displayed uncomfortable history in an informative light. Getting to learn about this history, not only from the exhibit but also from class, showed me how little I knew of Irish history. While I felt overwhelmed by the amount of information I was expected to grasp, being able to read, listen to lectures, and visit the scenes of the past helped me to have a greater understanding of a country I had idealized from home. One of my favorite experiences during my time in Ireland was going to Cork for the weekend with my classmates. My friend Grace and I hopped on the early morning train. With no plans, we grabbed a brochure and easily found things to see and do. When we arrived in Cork, we had lunch at a pub and went to St. Anne’s church to ring the bells. Afterward, Grace and I wandered around town, where we stumbled upon a record store named Bunker Vinyl. While there, John,who owned the store, and Conor, who was a music photographer, gave us a first-hand history lesson of the area. What we thought was just a simple shop to peek into became an hour-long conversation about the Ireland education system and their thoughts on the size of our home country. Conor even gave us some recommendations, which turned out to be spot on. It is amazing how the seemingly simple interactions made me realize that some of my greatest learning came from these unplanned interactions. While the rest of my trip in Cork was enchanting, stopping by Blarney Castle on the way, that special moment in the record store stayed with me, and I continued to keep up with the gigs and music in Cork from Conor’s Instagram. My experience in Ireland was transformative. I learned history, how to navigate a new city and make life-long connections with those abroad. Now that I am home, I miss the hustle and bustle of the city and the ability to buy a cheap ticket, hop on a train, and quickly travel from the city to the mountains. I have realized my passion for learning history through the people I meet and learning abroad.