Category Archives: Uncategorized

Much of the fall semester, I felt drawn back to the U.S. through applications and other projects I had carried with me to my new home. Having completed all of my applications and nearly all of my transatlantic projects now, … Continue reading →

What are we teaching our children? This was the question repeatedly asked by our guide, Ciaran, on my family’s visit to Belfast earlier this month. We were on a black cab tour of the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods of Belfast … Continue reading →

The crowd of sixty that gathered in front of the Dublin immigration office chanted according to the commands of an indefatigable migrant activist named Lucky, whose pursuit of justice is matched in optimistic intensity only by his thunderous voice.   … Continue reading →

I have a complicated relationship with the United States Postal Service. The story begins back in Boston last June, when I realized delaying packing up my belongings would not in fact delay my departure from college. In a stunning rush … Continue reading →

I learned the word “sinecure” this semester.  Sinecure: a position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit. Now entering the second half of our Mitchell experience, I’m programmed to start looking for what’s next. … Continue reading →

I had set my sights on studying in Ireland to see firsthand how another country took on major health reform, hoping it might provide a powerful example for the American health system. Just a year before I arrived, Ireland’s parliament … Continue reading →

With her spectacles, walking trousers, and sensibly short graying hair, Susie, an Irish Dominican sister in her fifties, is not exactly the image one would conjure when picturing a member of the Trinity Women’s Freshers Rowing Team. “The girls had … Continue reading →

When I accepted the Mitchell Scholarship, out of all the council I received, one piece of advice struck me as particularly concerning. An acquaintance who had lived in Ireland before told me that I should not expect to make too … Continue reading →

I am a diarist. I have a habit of writing down images that catch my eye and phrases that catch my ear. I enjoy telling stories and reflecting on outings, so I expected to write this post easily. Instead, I … Continue reading →

When you grow up in the rural Midwest, you become accustomed to answering the question, “So where are you from?” not with any direct answer but via triangulation, using successively more specific points of reference others may know. I honed … Continue reading →

I was told Ireland was going to be damp like a doormat at the foot of Europe’s entrance. While I’ll probably be cursed by those Mitchells whose rain jackets were their wardrobe, I have had more sun than not. Alas, … Continue reading →

As fate would have it, I’m actually not writing this blog post from the confines of my Cork apartment, or even from a nearby coffee shop or distant Irish city. I’m writing from Louisville, KY, where I did my first … Continue reading →