What would we Iowa students do without our precious syllabus week? It is the only week out of the semester where we are nurtured back into the swing of attending classes. For those students who choose to take classes during a winter or summer term, syllabus week is a false promised land. My first week at University College Dublin was still nurturing even without a full syllabus week. Here are some of the biggest lessons I learned coming into a summer program abroad without having a full week to adjust.

It hasn’t even been a week here in Dublin and I already feel… to be honest I don’t know how I feel. Contempt, scared, badass? Does the feeling really matter though? Everyone who goes abroad for the first time goes through a mixture of emotions that has us all reeling on our heels, grasping for holding points. For me, this trip is about pushing against the boundaries of my comfort zone, which are about as widespread as jail cell bars. This is the point in the trip where orientation has happened, I’ve explored the city with my 16 great new classmates, and I’ve gotten my bearings.

There are firsts for everything. Whether that's a first day of college, of being away from home, of feeling at home, there's always a time you can pinpoint these moments in your life that change you. Over the next six weeks or so, I'll be experiencing an entire novella of these kinds of moments.

My adrenaline is spiking as I make final decisions on what to take across the world. Is it weird if I still want to bring my blankie? How many pairs of jeans do I pack? Why do all of my socks not have matches?

Staring blankly up at the ceiling of a French hospital, I distantly understood that I was in trouble, but could find no words to explain how I felt. Speaking in French to explain my situation to the doctor was impossible, as I was no longer sure that I could speak any language. Time moved differently, jumping back and forth between clear memories of before the accident and the fuzzy, confused reality of after. My head felt eerily empty, quieter than I had ever experienced it. I had a vague sense of who I was- I knew my name, at least- but could not understand how I had gotten to be in this state.

I just left my home away from home. I woke up the last day of my program. I admittedly had been pretending this morning would never have to come. I had 24 hours to submerge myself as far as I can in the beauty of what is San Ramon Costa Rica.

Ladroma studied French, Spanish, and International Studies: Development at the UI. A presentation about a study abroad program piqued his interest in the possibility of studying in France. A Regents Study Abroad scholarship paved the way for Ladroma’s opportunity to immerse himself in the European culture. One benefit of studying abroad that Ladroma didn’t anticipate was meeting his future wife, Ashley (DeCarlo) Ladroma, B.A, communication studies, French, at a presentation in Lyon, France. The couple grew up just 38 miles from each other (Ashley is from Harlan, Iowa), but first met in France.

UI international studies and German major Madeline Kaiser, a native of Orono, MN, was awarded a United States Teaching Assistantship at Austrian Secondary Schools and will headed to Vienna this fall to teach at two secondary schools. 

The daughter of refugees from Soviet Union, Korsakov, is a first-generation University of Iowa senior, and she’ll graduate Saturday.

Funds will be used for research, writing, teaching abroad