About a year ago I left Colorado for the greatest adventure of my life, studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland, for a semester. The four months that I lived there flew by way too fast, and I knew by the end of it that I was going to move back one day. I absolutely fell in love with Dublin and the country as a whole, from the people to the music to the pubs and just to the day to day life as a Dubliner. Now, just a short eight months after I left, I am back visiting Dublin to talk with graduate schools.
I am currently a junior at Colorado State University studying business, and if I hadn’t studied abroad through CEA, I would not have found the city that I belong in. Being back in Dublin is such a weird but exciting feeling. I have been able to visit my old school, teachers and old friends, but I have also made so many new friends in just the short amount of time I have been here. I have been able to go back to all my favorite little cafés and pubs and walk down my favorite streets again.
One of the main things I was really excited for when coming back was to see if my group's photo from CEA was still up on the wall in our favorite pub. My friends and I on our last night together took a Polaroid together and stuck it up on the wall in the corner booth where we always sat. I was so curious and excited to see if it was still up where we had left it, so not even a few hours after I landed, I was walking back into the pub to find out. To my surprise and delight, and to my group's delight, the picture was still hanging up in the spot we left it!
Not only have I been able to visit all the places I use to go all the time, but I have been able to try new things as well. On the east coast just a little south of Dublin, there is a place where you can swim called Forty Foot. Usually only locals will go for a dip there, but my friend and I decided it was something we wanted to. Although the water was absolutely freezing, and we were a little in over our heads, we jumped into the ice-cold water. Now, all my Irish friends are telling me I am a true Dubliner, so naturally it only makes sense for me to go to graduate school out here.
Now, like I said in the beginning -- this trip was about visiting and meeting with graduate schools. I was able to meet with two different universities here in Dublin. I learned so much about the different business programs that they offer, while also building connections that will prove to be helpful down the road when I start applying. If it weren't for CEA Study Abroad and the International School of Business here in Dublin, I wouldn’t be on this trip right now, nor would I be looking into graduate schools here in Dublin. CEA and ISB opened a world of opportunities for me, and I intend to take them all.