Reports from Abroad: Rebecca Gerrish (’19)

Who are you and where did you study abroad?

My name is Rebecca Gerrish (’19) and I’m an English major. I studied in Cork, Ireland, at the University College Cork through an Arcadia University program.

Why did you want to study abroad and how did you decide on a program?

The main thing that interested me about studying abroad was the opportunity to immerse myself in a culture that I was completely unfamiliar with. A friend from home (in Maine) went to Cork and absolutely loved it, and I also knew people from OWU who studied at UCC for a semester, so that helped me decide. Another thing that interested me about Ireland in particular was its proximity to England and Continental Europe. My grandparents also live in Germany, so I was excited to be nearby.

Darrell Albon suggested that I go through Arcadia University instead of applying straight to UCC. This helped out in the long run because Arcadia found housing for me, which was worth it all on its own. My program through Arcadia had about 12 students in it, which was nice to start off with because I automatically had contacts in Ireland and people who were going through the same experience as me. Arcadia was also important for me because they facilitated an orientation in Dublin a few days before we actually got to Cork. All these things helped me ease into a semester abroad which was so much better than being thrown right into it.

What classes did you take while in Cork? Which was your favorite and why?

I was lucky enough to be able to take mostly Irish-based classes like Intro to Irish Government, Anglo-Irish Literature, and Irish History. I also took a Romance and Realism literature class.

My favorite was a history class that focused on Ireland’s shift from union to independence through the lens of Irish literature. While most of my classes had upwards of a hundred students, this one was very small, and no one ever showed up besides one other girl. It ended up being really cool because we got to know each other pretty well. She’s from Co. Waterford, and it was really valuable to be able to hear about the Irish experience from someone my own age.

The professor was also great, and it felt very special to have had such an intimate and unique experience in that class. The class itself (in tandem with my other classes) was interesting because I was able to learn about Ireland’s history while experiencing how it is today firsthand.

What was your weekly schedule like? 

Classes were very late in the day. They started around 10 or 11am, and some days I had classes that went until 5 or 6 pm. Usually I had time to go back to my apartment between my day and night classes. When I had long periods of time to kill when I didn’t have to read or study, I would walk around the city and either get a coffee at my favorite cafe or a pressed juice at the English Market.

UCC doesn’t offer a meal plan for students like they do here at OWU, so I did my own grocery shopping and meal planning ahead of time. I definitely learned to be more self-reliant and organized during that semester. I also lived about a block from a really great chip shop (a take-out place that sells hot food like fish and chips, meat pies, and curries), which was quick and cheap on nights when I didn’t feel like cooking.

What were the most interesting differences between the culture of the University College Cork and OWU?

The vast majority of the Irish students that go to UCC live nearby, so they all go home on weekends to visit their family (and have their moms do their laundry!). I was surprised by that because it was completely unlike OWU. Additionally, since people leave for the weekends, it’s much more popular to go out and socialize on weekdays. Weekends are for rest and homework, not going out, which is also the opposite of how things work here.

UCC has almost 19,000 students. The population of the university was a little bit of a culture shock for me. I went to a very small high school, so I felt like OWU had a lot of students when I was an incoming first-year. Going from 10-20 student discussion-based classes to hundreds of students in an auditorium setting was a little hard to adjust to, but I eventually enjoyed the anonymity of it.

Additionally, the norms surrounding college and higher education are much more relaxed in Ireland compared to America. University is free in Ireland, so there’s less pressure to go right after high school. Many students are older than what we think of as typical college-age.

What were your favorite non-class things to do while abroad?

Cork has an amazing historic English Market. My apartment was about a 15-minute walk from City Centre, so I would always swing by the English Market if I was grocery shopping in the city. There’s a huge produce stall that has fresh fruit and vegetables imported from all over Europe. There were even some exotic fruits that I had never heard of before. I was quite surprised the first time I went! The English Market is broken up into a bunch of different sections where vendors sell meats, cheeses, dried goods, specialty items–things like olives, donuts, cakes, and almost anything else you could imagine.

Cork also has a lot of shops and cafes that are locally owned. I frequented a coffee shop and got to know the owner a little bit. It was really nice to be able to go somewhere and see a familiar face and a friendly smile.

Another non-class thing that I really enjoyed was travelling. around. I visited all kinds of different places in Ireland, as well as Iceland, England, and Germany. There was a lot of leeway with my class schedule that allowed me to take advantage of long weekends and breaks.

What was most fulfilling about your experience and what was most challenging?

One of the most unexpected things that ended up being very fulfilling was my homestay in Cobh. It was mandatory, and at first I was extremely nervous about it because it happened just a couple weeks into the semester, but it was one of my favorite experiences overall. Another girl from my program and I were assigned to a family that was a single mother, her nine year old daughter, and their thirteen year old exchange student from Spain. They made us feel so welcome and we really appreciated a home-cooked meal and a mother figure to look after us for couple days. (They also had a cat which made me feel right at home!) We were free to leave the house to meet up with other people from our program, but we ended up staying in and watching a movie with the little girl. It was definitely worth it, and I would highly recommend a homestay to anyone considering it! Nothing beats catching a glimpse into the real lives of people who have spent their whole lives in the place you’re studying.

As far as the challenges, I think one of the hardest aspects of my semester abroad was getting to know the people in my program. I’m very self-sufficient, so experiencing a new academic and living environment was not as much of a struggle as the social aspect of it. I ended up making some great friends, though, and I wouldn’t have done it any differently.

Any advice you for students who might want to study abroad?

My best piece of advice is to take advantage of the program’s organized trips, if it offers them. With Arcadia, I went to Northern Ireland for a day to see Game of Thrones filming locations. Admittedly, I don’t watch the show, but the tour was no less exciting because of it. I got to explore Giant’s Causeway, Ballintoy Harbour, and other places in the north that I probably wouldn’t have made it to if my program hadn’t offered it. Ireland is one of the most naturally beautiful places I’ve ever been, and I was so lucky to be able to experience so much of it.

If a program doesn’t offer tours, it’s super easy to go on your own with friends. Ireland has a very reliable public transportation system that offers discounts for students, and if you have your Leap card you don’t even need to buy tickets ahead of time or carry cash with you. Booking tours is easy, too. I went around the Ring of Kerry, to Blarney Castle, Galway, Dublin, Kinsale, Killarney, and other places independently from my program, and it couldn’t have been any easier.

Finally, if your country has historical things that you have a chance to participate in, do it! During orientation in Dublin, one of the first things that we did was go to an outdoor pitch to learn how to play traditional Gaelic games with people from the Gaelic Athletic Association. It was freezing cold, raining, and we were all soaked by the end, but we had a blast and it was one of the best parts of orientation. Plus, I don’t know anyone else who knows the rules of hurling or Gaelic football! This was a really cool experience to have right off the bat, because sports are something that the Irish pride themselves in, and if you know a little bit about the social aspect of Irish sports and what they mean to Irish history, then you can understand the people better.

Sounds amazing! Thanks, Rebecca!