Kaylynn Bryan, Summer Nursing at Trinity College Dublin Summer 2023
The most important piece of advice I can give is to experience anything and everything that you can. Being in such an amazing country, there are way too many things to do in just two short weeks. Before I left for this trip, I thought the two weeks would be enough to do everything I wanted, but we barely scratched the surface of what Ireland offers. I recommend doing research months ahead of time of the places you want to go, to eat at, and to experience. In just Dublin, there are more than 40 museums (according to Google) that you can spend a whole day in. In these museums, you get to learn about the history of the country itself and the lifestyles of the populations. Each person will want to do something different, which is a great thing! You won’t be able to do everything everyone wants, so it’s okay to split up so you can cultivate your own experience. Each day after classes, my group of ten would find a new thing to do before dinner. We all loved to go shopping in the local shops but also the shops we have in America like Zara and H&M. It was interesting to see the true comparison between the European stores. One of my favorite things to do if we were tired was to find a park or sit on the Trinity Campus and read books we got from the book store. We could relax and read, but also observe the everyday bustle of Dublin. The green spaces are truly spectacular, even just to walk through. Since we had to walk every day to campus, we walked a different way each morning so we could absorb more and more of the city.
Along the lines of experiencing everything, you should also interact with everyone. Never be scared to say hello or compliment someone. It can be hard to step out of your comfort zone in this area, but in reality, you will never see any of these people again. Striking up conversations with people is how I learned about Irish culture but also different cultures around the world. On one of our tours, each group of people was from a different country, including Brazil, Morrocco, England, Australia, and France. Just from this hour-long tour, I was able to interact with these people and learn just a bit more about their cultures that I hadn’t known before. Most everyone around you will be just as interested about you as you are about them. It feels a little silly answering questions that seem like common knowledge to you, but American culture is much more different than we think it is. There are also tourists everywhere, from the States but also from countless other countries. I actually met someone who went to school with one of my best friends just by being friendly in public places.
Although we were exhausted by the end of the trip, I am so grateful for all the things I allowed myself to experience. It is the best time to step out of your comfort zone, as you will never have the same exact trip again.
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