South Dakota Meets Dublin

Posted on December 4, 2014 by tdavis15

“Where are you from?” the random person asks. “South Dakota!” I respond proudly. Although I usually hesitate to further the conversation until I can see the light return to my confused colleagues eyes. It usually takes a second, as they search the depths of their brain to find that flitting piece of information that they were taught about South Dakota in primary school. If they can remember it, (anything about South Dakota at all) they use it in a polite way to further the conversation. This does not happen very often, and they usually rather sheepishly admit, “You are the first person I have ever met from South Dakota.” Either of these answers suit me just fine and I like to smile and explain this is a common exchange that I get even when I am home in the United States. Surprisingly enough I have had more Irish classmates bestow upon me factoids about my home state, than I normally get in the United States. Usually they can recall the state capital, or maybe a state park or if all else fails they can recall with uncertainty, “That’s where Mount Rushmore is, isn’t it? Or is that North Dakota?”

This exchange being so common, and myself always being open to exchanging a good story or two, (as the current Mitchells will be able to attest to, possibly with some distress) bode well together and I am usually able to string together some stories of where I grew up and how I came to be in Ireland. Reading my audience as I go and explaining either the engineering background of John Deere, Caterpillar, NASA and a degree in Mechanical Engineering that carried me into working in Bioengineering at Trinity. I sometimes take a more majestic route including the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met. Explaining how I have been blessed to find myself time traveling from a picturesque ranch in South Dakota where our closest neighbor lives seven miles away, to living in the magnificent Graduate Memorial Building on Trinity’s campus in the city centre of Dublin.

Although the time schedule for the MSc Bioengineering program has been rather hectic at times. I still try to find time, (if only the minutes between classes) to gaze up at the blue (sometimes gray) sky and breath deep as I reflect upon just where I am. I’ve taken countless pictures of the same buildings as the campus moves slowly through the seasons. I do not want to miss the fleeting fall leaves, as I will not be here next year to witness this again. As the campus slips peacefully into winter and the students complain of possible snow, I secretly hope for a white winter in Dublin. I imagine myself stepping out my “castle” door on an early crisp morning to take pictures of the pristine campus before snow boots and bike tires disrupt its sparkling new blanket.

Many people that listen to my stories wonder how I am adapting to life in Dublin. The populations of places I have previously lived span from about 300 – 180,000 people. So moving to the greater Dublin Area with a population of roughly 1.8 million, and then living directly in the city centre, has been an interesting change. Then tack on the fact that I am studying Bioengineering, and for the first time since 7th grade I am relearning anatomy and physiology, there have been a lot of new experiences in the last few months. But I see them as exactly that, experiences, and so far they have been absolutely great. Maybe difficult and trying at times, but absolutely amazing in the full-spectrum of things. I cannot wait to see what the next nine months brings!

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A Family Across the Ocean

Posted on December 4, 2014 by dnock15

When I was planning the trip to Ireland I expected to be thrown into a completely different world where I would be surrounded by people who talked differently, listened to different music, and watched different television shows. Although differences are there, it seems that the similarities that allow me to make friends are just as strong, or stronger than the ocean that once separated me from the people I have met.

Being here has opened my eyes to the role the media plays in people’s perceptions of other nations. The only way to overcome the biases people have developed through the media, is to bring them into contact with the cultures they have seen on television. Since being here I attended a Challenging Racism Seminar. I was curious to see if a racism talk in Northern Ireland would discuss similar topics as a racism talk in the States. Although the victims of racism were different, the discussion had strong similarities.

I have never felt more like a minority than I do now. When planning for the trip, I understood that there would likely be very few African Americans, and mentally I tried to prepare myself. What I could not prepare myself for was the reality of how difficult it would be to find beauty supply products, hair salons, and skin care. The lack of products was shocking, but the response of people when I told them of my struggles was heartwarming. A girl from my class has taken me to every hair and beauty store in Belfast she can think of, and teachers have volunteered their suggestions on places I can look. When one of my professors volunteered to bring my hair products from her trip to London I felt as if I already had built an Irish family.  Also Amazon helps in the struggle to find hair and skin care products.

Belfast is a city that feels like a small town. In the first week of school I met people from all over Europe, Asia, and the Americas that I know I will talk to for the rest of my life. In addition to meeting people at the University I have also taken part in a host visit. I did not know what to expect when traveling to Bangor but my host was one of the nicest people I have met. Through card games, a visit to the museum, cooking, and tea we got to know each other very well over the course of the weekend.

When planning to spend a year in Northern Ireland I was nervous about being seen as a loud African American and worried about not being able to meet people and become a part of the community. Through being here and have cooking parties with friends, going to cultural nights, and just being a college student I have learned a lot about myself, made great memories, and taken countless pictures with people I will never forget.

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Ireland: ’tis awful shocking nice (trans: I love it here)

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Molly Hayes

Ireland seems to run on inside jokes, playful self-deprecation, and good-natured resignation to whatever the future may bring.  In other words, I have found Ireland remarkably similar to my upbringing – the casual familiarity, the nod of a head imbued with as much meaning as a thousand words, the needlessness of spelling out the meaning, and the fierce and raucous laughter.  Spending time with my friend Aisling and her family in Co. Cavan and Co. Longford in the Midlands, ‘having the craic’ (i.e., having a great time) with flatmates in Maynooth and fellow Mitchell Scholars, and enjoying the beauty of sun-showery days across Kildare are major reasons why my time here has been so rewarding.  The enriching coursework, intellectual atmosphere, and tranquility of Maynooth’s campus are wonderful, giving ample space for contemplation (the contrast between my life in Maynooth and life in Washington, DC is staggering!).

I have yet to make the time to drive out west into County Clare, along the flaggy shore (thank you, Seamus Heaney), but I hope to visit soon.  Heading out to Galway City at the end of the month to wander a bit and get at least nominally acquainted with the West.

I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Professors Jim McAdams and Joe Buttigieg from the University of Notre Dame for their keen insights, encouragement, and guidance throughout my studies and career.  The Nanovic Institute for European Studies and PhD in Literature Program, under McAdams and Buttigieg, respectively, were instrumental in guiding my studies and inspiring me to pursue the George J. Mitchell Scholarship to continue my study of literature.  There are dozens upon dozens of friends and colleagues from the State Department (you know who you are!!) who I am forever indebted to.  Many thanks to the U.S.-Ireland Alliance for making this entire experience possible.  This year at Maynooth University is truly a gift.

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New Traditions, New People

Posted on December 4, 2014 by dstrunk15

“What can I say—life is good.” This is the general go-to answer I’ve employed every time a friend asks me how my year in Ireland is going. It is a concise and fitting description most definitely. In the last couple of months I have run the Dublin marathon; traveled to Germany, Turkey, and England; and spoken in debates hosted by the Hist, a college debate society that is considered one of the oldest in the world (dating back to 1770) and which was founded by one of the world’s most famous political philosophers (and TCD alum), Edmund Burke.

Indeed, this is shaping up to be an excellent year in between my undergraduate and law school educations. The opportunity to experience a new country and culture over such a long period is one I’d never experienced until now, and an opportunity for which I am incredibly grateful.

Ever a creature of habit, I have developed a couple of traditions already, with hopefully more to come, helping me acclimate to my new life on the Emerald Isle. Every Sunday when I am in Dublin I have come to eat a Full-Irish breakfast, usually at the Beanhive Café on Dawson Street. Though Grafton Stret and Bewley’s Café are the touristier locations, nothing beats the Beanhive Full Irish (see photo below). I’ve also taken to happily strolling around St. Stephen’s Green on sunny days, and attending (if not speaking) in the Hist debates that take place every Wednesday. Debate topics thus far have included euthanasia, the merits of capitalism, and the Northern Ireland peace process—important and controversial topics!

But even more important than these habits and traditions, I have found the single greatest part of this year to be the new relationships I am forming with my fellow Mitchell Scholars and new Irish friends. Over countless drinks in the pub, meals out on Tuesday (our usual Dublin gathering day), and formal Mitchell get-togethers, I feel as though I am certainly gaining some new steadfast friends. I look forward to the Thanksgiving gathering scheduled for next week (for the chance to get the gang together as well as for the food of course). While I will most certainly miss my family back home in Cincinnati on this day (it will be my first Thanksgiving not with them), it will be comforting to spend the annual feast and give thanks with a wonderful group of people, all of whom have much to be tremendously grateful for.

I imagine by the time I write my next blog post I will have even more traditions to recount from my time in Dublin and even more new friends to mention. What’s more, I hope to continue to use this year as an opportunity to travel, around Dublin and Europe, and thus anticipate having anecdotes from new countries and locales. But, as of now, there seems to be no fitter ending than that with which I started—“What can I say—life is good.”

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The First Day

Posted on December 4, 2014 by sboehme15

Swinging open the door, I peeked my head in. A few older gentlemen and ladies peppered the conference room. I was early to my first class. I sat there quietly unpacking my notebook and looked around. I found my first friend, Heather, and launched into a conversation about politics and our favorite foods. Everyone in the class, as I was soon to learn consisted of my new cohort, was similar to Heather: funny, kind and compassionate. Our first class discussed the uses of mediation to solve a plethora of issues ranging from separation cases to workplace conflict to commercial disputes.

As class drew to a pause for lunch, I had no idea what was to come next. Over lunch, I was initiated into the Irish culture. I learned what “craic” meant and how to speak a few words in Gaelic. I then knew the rules of hurling and rugby, along with a schedule of the upcoming big matches I could not afford to miss. As edifying as the banter over lunch was, curiosity about my background followed. They wanted to know everything about me and share stories about their time in America. Lunch was the “craic” and one of my favorite memories in Maynooth.

Aside from the newfound friendships, a comment and a reaction to that comment has shaped my thoughts on conflict throughout my coursework. I raised my hand and answered a question the lecturer had posed, saying something similar to, “Resolution of conflict can sustain if the interests of both parties are satisfied.” The lecturer responded, “Conflict is never resolved. We may think it ends, but it is only temporary. Intervention, not resolution of conflict is our aim. Conflict is intertwined with life that an approach to manage conflict in the beginning, during and conclusion is best.”

Like many things, we mark something off a checklist. The New Yorker recently criticized bucket lists as artificial due to a checklist mentality. I suppose some may think about this regarding conflict – once one conflict ends, it is on to the next one. Ireland, and every country, has it fair share of conflict. The Irish have come off the upsetting Garth Brooks concerts cancellation and ongoing controversial water tax.  What happened if conflict was treated like my lecturer pointed out? How could conflict management take place before, during and after the fact? Above all, how could practices prevent future conflict?  Is there political will for these practices to be implemented here and elsewhere across the world? These are all questions that I did not have an answer to on the first day of class. Yet as the second and third and every other day of classes have unfolded, the answers are becoming less cloudy. These questions have and continue to shape my reflection on conflict in Ireland and across the world.

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One Last Cast

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Paul Moinester (University College Dublin)

I was exhausted. My arm burned from hundreds of futile casts. My feet ached from three days of stumbling on jagged rocks that on more than one occasion sliced up my hands. The violent, frigid waves continued to smash me, sending routine chills down my spine. But I had no intention of leaving.

Bathed in the light of the brilliant setting sun, the rugged Irish coast was simply too stunning to abandon and my need to catch my first sea bass too gripping to relinquish. I just needed one more cast. One more chance to hook the ever-elusive fish. One more chance to experience the euphoria I had spent days fruitlessly pursuing.

No matter if I’ve caught fifty fish or zero, every day I spend on the water ends this way – desperately searching for one final moment of jubilation before the chapter comes to an undesired close. Now with the sun setting on my time in Ireland, I find myself in the same boat, frantically trying to take in all that the Emerald Isle has to offer.

The more time I spend in Ireland, the more I am amazed by the country’s immense beauty and incalculable opportunities for exploration and adventure. You could spend a lifetime roaming the island’s verdant hills and wading its rushing rivers and still not fully experience Ireland’s endless bounty. It is a realization that at times has made my short tenure here feel like a cruel punishment.

Making matters worse has been the full slate of work I’ve undertaken, which has far too often kept me shackled to my desk. Part of what inspired me to apply for the Mitchell was famed writer Edward Abbey’s words that people should be a “part-time crusader” in order to spend the other half of their lives seeking pleasure and adventure. Recognizing that for too long I had been a “full-time crusader,” I planned for this year to be an intentional departure from a work dominated lifestyle. The results have been wanting.

So now as I near the culmination of my time in Ireland, I am making a conscientious effort to change course. For the time being, the tide of emails can continue to rise largely unabated – they will no doubt still be there in a few weeks time. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the peaceful rivers that wind through the bucolic Irish countryside or the fierce Atlantic waves and wind that batter the rugged coast.

Soon enough I will find myself standing waist-deep in a paradisiacal river with trout surreptitiously sipping the mayflies that gracefully dance on the water’s surface. The fading sunlight will slowly be replaced by the soft glow of the moon, but I will remain steadfast, refusing to accept the imminent closing of this once in a lifetime chapter. With bated breath, I will repeatedly whisper “one more cast, one more cast,” desperately searching for one final moment of magic on the magical Emerald Isle.

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The Power of Pink Bikes

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Sarah Johnson (Queens University Belfast)

Belfast is a city often divided by colors. Flags and painted curbstones mark the neighborhoods that are loyalist or nationalist, and colors can show your loyalties, whether it’s orange or green. However, this past weekend, the city came together under one rather unusual color – pink. It seems an odd choice, but Thursday through Saturday, the city was decked out in pink everything. Pink lights illuminated City Hall and the Ulster Museum at night, pink streamers and decorations covered the trees and lampposts, and some black cabs even went full pink. Why? Cycling. Northern Ireland was chosen to host the starting leg of the famous Giro d’Italia, one of the most prestigious cycling races in the world and part of cycling’s Grand Tour. Its color is pink, just like the Tour de France’s color is yellow. The events lasted for three days, with the time trial route on the first day winding its way throughout the city, and passing directly by Queen’s!

The city came out in full force, with people lining every step of the route, wearing all different shades of pink in every manner possible, from pink wigs (or actual pink hair) to full body morph suits. Thanks to the Giro, I now own exactly one real pink item of clothing – ridiculously brightly colored trousers from Primark, and yes, they are fabulous. Although the weather wasn’t completely cooperative the experience was wonderful. My friends and I gathered by the Lanyon Building to cheer on the cyclists, wave at the cameras, and to hunt down free pizza whenever the Domino’s people wandered past. When it started to rain, we hurried upstairs to the Student Union to grab a pint and watch the races from a different point of view. Thanks to a few friends who are very into cycling, I also learned far more about the sport than I thought I ever would.

It was gratifying to see the city come together to support the event. From local businesses in the city center with pink bikes outside, to the farmers out on the coast and in the country that dyed their sheep, horses, and cows pink, everyone was eager to show their spirit, regardless of their political or religious affiliations. The cheers at the opening ceremonies were especially loud for the Irish cyclists and the British Team Sky. Sports are often seen as divisive, but they can also serve as a unifying force, as the Giro has done for Belfast. This is especially valuable in this current election season, when name calling and accusations fly through the air – that seems to be a constant in any country. While politics have raged about the race, dealing with arguments such as if the murals should be removed from the race route, the people seemed to focus on the positive aspects of the sport, and did Belfast proud. I can only hope that the unity showed by the city during the Giro continues to build relationships, especially through the upcoming parades season in July that is always turbulent.

I am so grateful for this Mitchell experience, and all the great craic I have had in Belfast and Ireland. While I will miss the Mitchells who are returning home soon and my good friends here who are graduating, I am lucky enough to get to stay a few more months to work on research. My time so far has been marked by breaking out of my comfort zone, traveling near and far, big life decisions, and learning about everything from history to how to make a proper cup of tea. Here’s hoping that I will get to pack even more experiences into my last months on this side of the ocean.

Posted in Class of 2014, Northern Ireland, Queen's University Belfast | Leave a comment

Thoughts from Milan

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Flannery Cunningham (University College Cork)

It feels so strange to be writing my last blog as a Mitchell scholar. I got an e-mail notification that I’d been added to the Mitchell alum google group the other day, and I have to admit that my first reaction was “What? I don’t want to be an alum yet!” It’s been a fantastic year, and though there’s still a thesis to write it’s sad to have the bulk of it behind me.

But I know this doesn’t mean anything like the end of my involvement with Ireland. I’ll be moving to the UK in the fall, just a short RyanAir flight from all I’ve discovered in Cork this year. I intend to come back often; I have too much affection for friends I’ve made here and too much curiosity about all the music I feel I’m still just beginning to discover.  Since I’m planning to be on this side of the Atlantic for another two years now, I also feel a real stake in a European future that Ireland is a part of.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately – I’m actually writing this blog from a hostel in Milan, my Facebook news feed has been blowing up with commentary on the results of the Eurovision contest, and for the past several weeks my walk to the music building has been marked by dozens of posters advertising candidates for the European elections coming up on May 23rd.

The last fascinates me, since coming from an American two-party background these elections present a dizzying array of candidates and options.  As an Irish citizen, I was actually eligible to vote, but I missed the registration deadline for this year. In some ways I think that’s a good thing, since I tend to think of voting as something of a privilege that should be earned by participation in a state.  I’m not sure I’ve wholly earned it yet.  I also need time to educate myself; when a friend sent me a survey which aimed to match your policy views with those of European politicians, I was stumped by the first question. What exactly are my views on the Common Agricultural Policy? On bailout repayments? I’m not 100% sure yet, but I intend to figure it out and to vote next year. They’re projecting that this year as many as a quarter of European Parliament seats may be won by far-right parties, a scary number if you’re invested in an open, tolerant, and compassionate European Union.  And I am.  Europe’s future matters to me: I am Irish, however dual that identity; my partner is Swedish; we will be living here; and above all, I have a great deal of faith in the EU’s potential to be a force for good.

I also want it to be a force for good for Ireland. It seems fitting in some ways that after a year spent concerning myself with Irish life – music, art, politics – I’m now starting to think more about Ireland in the context of Europe. Still, I care deeply about Ireland for its own sake and want to see it flourish independently.  At the end of the day I owe a deep debt to the welcome I’ve been shown this year in Cork. In fact, I think it’s only right that my last couple lines as a Mitchell be thanks: to everyone I have met in Cork, to the UCC music department for all its teaching and kindness, to Jonathan for being the best fellow Mitchell in Cork that one could ask for, and to Trina and Serena for their help and guidance. As I said, it’s been a fantastic year.

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The pivot back to the US

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Mark Brennan (University of Limerick)

This year I had time to think and identify priorities. I demolished books on American politics, leadership, and history, and dabbled (mostly unsuccessfully) in a few ‘classics’. I spent a lot of time reading about the US military’s constant appetite for new data, methods, and applications, thinking about how it facilitated exploration – the Internet is the classic example – and how it will continue to drive innovation in technology, international relations, and defense. I read and enjoyed Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan. I consumed TED talks, French International Radio, Al Jazeera documentaries, and The Wire (for the second time).

I had the chance to explore a fundamentally different sort of math from which I would have been exposed to in the US. I internalized Limerick’s intense focus on using systems of equations to model complex scenarios. This paradigm lends itself to studying population growth, glacier expansion, or fuse melt and is central to most modeling of physical systems. While I’m writing a dissertation this summer that is a bit more American-math in nature, I got exactly what I needed from this year. I now have a background in ‘physically grounded’ mathematics, which often underpins, for example, environmental policy decision-making.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, this year also made me more interested in America and American challenges. I attribute that interest a bit to missing the US, and also to the surprising parallels I’ve observed between Dakar, Limerick, and the Mid-Atlantic over the past two years. A previous blog of mine touched on some of the lighter cultural similarities between Limerick and New Jersey, but, for example, tutoring and helping write math problems for a Khan Academy related competition this year, really showed me both Limerick and New Jersey share serious common challenges in education. Similarly, for example, helping get started an organization in Dakar that addressed widespread youth unemployment in Senegal let me think comparatively about youth unemployment in New Brunswick or Baltimore. Now, with increasing regularity, I am reading the New Jersey Star-Ledger, the Baltimore Sun, and – as of April – the Boston Globe alongside AllAfrica.com and The Irish Times.

I think, in part the beginning of my pivot back to the United States began in December. I read an article in Rolling Stone about Camden, NJ, a city about an hour South on the Turnpike from where I live. (That’s I-95, and not to be confused with the Parkway, for any non-Jersey readers.) A memorable, problematic line from the article – and there were a lot ­– was about New Jersey police raiding a public housing tower to serve warrants by rappelling onto the roof by helicopter for fear of “ground-level resistance.” The article though quasi-optimistically concluded, putting stock in an energetic, young police chief who leans on a combination of data and community policing to maintain order.  Just a few months before the Rolling Stone article was published, a Camden physician won a MacArthur Foundation award for work on medical hot-spotting in Camden. MIT’s JPAL is now involved with a randomized control trial to evaluate it. Much of the story of Camden – struggling schools, policing, public health, manufacturing – is frustrating, but also not bleak. Being careful not to over extrapolate these two Camden anecdotes, a lot of the productive solutions to big challenges are starting to come out of hybrid social-technical approaches to evaluating challenges and devising solutions. With a unique perspective molded by a year of field research then a year of academic training abroad, I’m really looking forward to being back in the US to participate in this data-driven policy revolution.

Posted in Class of 2014, mathematics, University Limerick | Leave a comment

MATHletes

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Lucas Mason-Brown (Trinity College Dublin)

Fostering an emphasis on quality maths education is important for a variety of reasons. Math literacy promotes analytical thinking. Math is the language of science. Math, taught properly, encourages creativity and synthetic “outside-the-box” thinking. An emphasis on math, as part of a broader emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning is also, increasingly, an economic issue. A plethora of studies, reports, and white papers, particularly since the global financial crisis, have stressed the increasing importance of math and computer literacy. According to one study (Microsoft, 2009), more than 90% of European jobs in the near future will require basic competences in math and computing.

Ireland’s STEM problem has its own particular flavor. Due to its small size and centralized system of public education, the “achievement gap” between Ireland’s most and least advantaged students is not quite as dire as it tends to be in larger developed countries (including, most saliently, the United States). For example, it does not struggle to the same degree as the United States with a large contingent of super low-performers (PISA, 2012). On the other hand (anecdotally, anyway), Ireland’s general approach to math education at the primary and secondary levels tends to be rote, procedural, and exam-oriented (although this may be beginning to change with the roll-out of Ireland’s new Project Maths curriculum). As a result, math is too-often associated with “grinds” (a multi-million euro industry in Ireland designed to prepare primary and secondary-level students for the two major state exams, the junior and senior certs), repetitive rules-based learning, and “teaching to the test.”

Funded by the Cork-based SOSventures and led by former Mitchell Scholar Kelly Kirkpatrick, MATHletes Challenge is aiming to change the way Irish kids think about math. MATHletes Challenge is a free, nation-wide maths competition with three phases (training, provincial finals, and national finals), organized in partnership with Kahn Academy. I became involved with MATHletes a few months ago, when Kelly invited me for a coffee. I am now working with fellow Mitchell Mark Brennan and math lecturer/educator Dave Goulding to develop all of the problems for the five in-person competitions. So far, the tournament has been a huge success. Over 3,000 students have signed up with over 10% of all secondary schools participating! Although, with his seemingly limitless (inexplicable?) enthusiasm for Limerick, Mark has managed to incorporate his beloved city into nearly every problem he’s developed. If your problem begins with “Aofie and Caoimhe work at a nontraditional checkerboard factory in Limerick…” don’t look at me.

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Rough Transitions

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Jonathan Poole (University College Cork)

The form that sat lifeless on my computer screen still managed to mock me in some subtle way. It symbolized the inevitable passing of time and the arrival of new things. My year in Ireland is coming to a close and my departure is impending. Every time a member of the Navy changes commands, they are required to be evaluated and this is done through the completion of a FITREP (fitness report). The form itself is not intimidating, just a series of fill in the blanks and short sentences, but the transition it embodies has me quivering.

I spent the last year of my life traveling around Ireland and Europe, drinking great beer, and engaging in intellectual conversation. My weekly Navy obligation was fulfilled through a succinct email to a supervisor, and the time passed each day was mine and no one else’s. My year in Ireland as a Mitchell Scholar was enlightening, challenging, and to put it simply, wonderful. Yet just like most good things, it is coming to an end. Upon the completion of my dissertation, I will drive across the United States and take up residence in Everett, WA on the guided missile destroyer, the USS MOMSEN. I will serve as a division officer on board and will begin working long, twelve hour days. After a year on Irish time, the transition back to Navy time will be abrupt and possibly shocking.

Since I began my year abroad, I have been receiving the same question over and over. “How will your transition back into the Navy be?” In August of 2013, I would brush the question to the side by saying, “I do not even want to think about that right now.” This winter when I resembled a lumberjack as opposed to a Naval Officer, I would respond with one word, “rough.” If I were to be asked the same question today, my response would be long, well thought out, and would embody the spirit of the following few sentences:

My year in Ireland has been amazing. I made some lifelong friends, traveled, and most importantly learned a lot about both myself and the international system. Despite all the positives of this year, I am ready to move on. I went to school to become a leader and a Naval Officer and that is what I am now ready to do. After this year of “me time” it is time to focus on working and doing what I have trained for. This past year has been crucial in developing my perspective of the world and has also served as an introduction to academia. It has been a truly remarkable experience and one that I would not trade for anything. This year of graduate education will most likely not be my last, but for now this sailor is ready to work.

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Parting Thoughts

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Emily Fritze (Dublin Institute of Techology)

My apartment sits beside a grassy path along the Grand Canal – a slow-moving stretch of water that links Dublin to the River Shannon – where I go to run, bike, or to watch swans congregate and boats pass by on a sunny day.  There is a bench along the canal commemorating Patrick Kavanaugh, one of Ireland’s great poets, with a line from his poem, Canal Bank Walk, inscribed on its granite base:

“Leafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal / Pouring redemption for me, that I do / The will of God, wallow in the habitual, the banal, / Grow with nature again as before I grew.”

Kavanaugh wrote these words sitting along the canal after recovering from lung cancer – no doubt overcome with hope and a renewed sense of life’s possibilities. I passed by the bench recently and found myself pausing to look at the inscription, reflecting on the restorative theme that in many ways captures how I feel about my time in Ireland.

Setting off for Ireland eight months ago, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. At first, the quiet, slow pace of life was unsettling after frenzied years of college and then work, but I’ve come to value free time and the simplicity of life here. Despite rapid modernization brought on by the Celtic Tiger, Ireland has managed to preserve cultural values that cherish humility, family, and community. Even their notable drinking culture has a communal quality – intergenerational groups of friends and families gathering in local pubs or returning home on weekends to cheer for their local Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) team. Living here has reminded me of the importance of these values and the contentment that comes from prioritizing them.

I will return home in two months after a short stint doing research for my thesis adviser at the Higher Education Research Policy Unit. In some ways, returning home means facing reality, commitments, and expectations that can be pushed aside when living on the other side of the Atlantic, but I am rejuvenated with a sense of purpose for how to approach the choices I face upon return. I will leave Ireland satisfied with how I’ve spent my time: a Master’s degree and some quality academic work, numerous adventures around Europe and beyond, and new friends who will remain in my life for years to come. I will leave Ireland with enduring fondness for its warm, lively people and beautiful landscapes. And I will be back someday to reminisce and revisit memories of this special place.

Posted in Class of 2014, Dublin Institute of Technology | Leave a comment