Category Archives: Class Year

Reflecting on the year

It is hard to believe that my Mitchell year is already coming to a close. In less than a month I will leave Dublin, enjoy a brief respite in my childhood home in Cincinnati, OH—and then fly to Washington, D.C. … Continue reading

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A Journey and Finale

A dissertation.  Those who are writing one typically go through various stages. Love it. Hate it. Rewrite it. Edit it. Despite the late nights and revisions, the final product is rewarding. The writer has reached the mountaintop. While I am … Continue reading

Posted in Class of 2015, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Marathon in Belfast

I’ve just made a serious mistake. It’s one that I’ll regret, increasingly, over the next four and a half weeks, before regretting it at maximum intensity for several hours on the 4th of May. Quite possibly, I will regret it for … Continue reading

Posted in Class of 2015, Northern Ireland, Queen's University Belfast, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Learning to Speak Like a Local, Norn Ireland Edition

Moving to Belfast, I reckoned, would involve some culture shock. More potatoes, more rain, more swearing. But it couldn’t be that different. After all, in Northern Ireland, they still spoke English. It wasn’t like I would have to master an … Continue reading

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A Three-Minute Talk…How Hard Could it Be?

Heart racing. Palms sweating. Nervous Pacing. I can’t sit in this chair any longer. Get up from my seat. Go to the bathroom. Splash water on my face. Look in the mirror. I’m staring in the face of a nervous … Continue reading

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When I Stopped Being a Tourist

While traveling, 99% of the time I am perfectly happy being a tourist. Continue reading

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Acting the Ambassador

As a Mitchell Scholar, one of my responsibilities here in Dublin is to act in an ambassadorial capacity on behalf of America. Thus, a couple of weeks ago, I found myself participating in a debate hosted by the College Historical … Continue reading

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Fears Can Hold Us Back

I am writing this particular blog post on the eve of St. Patrick’s day in Dublin, Ireland 2015. If you would have told me in 2008 when I graduated from High School in South Dakota, that the next seven years … Continue reading

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Settling into the Routines of a New Life

When packing to head off to Belfast for a year, I was wracked by many of the same anxieties that beset me when I went off to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill years before. What if I … Continue reading

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A Weekend at Google

My experience at Dublin’s Startup Weekend, sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs and Up Global. Continue reading

Posted in Class of 2015, Dublin Institute of Technology, Technology | Leave a comment

Pub Life

I’ve been looking forward to Christmas in Dublin since I first touched down in Ireland. Dublin’s cobblestone streets and old Georgian buildings look like they were designed specifically to make all my Harry Potter Christmas fantasies come true, so I … Continue reading

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The 2nd Civil Rights Movement

One of the most interesting things I have learned on this Mitchell year is that the African American civil rights movement helped fuel civil rights movements in Northern Ireland. That is one fact that was either left out of my … Continue reading

Posted in Class of 2015, Northern Ireland, Queen's University Belfast | Leave a comment