I have always excelled at getting lost. One of my greatest fears about studying abroad was the possibility that I would find myself completely helpless in my new environment. I get overwhelmed easily, and even with a map I usually manage to overshoot and miss my destination along the way. Being in big places makes me feel like I’m a child again -small and confused and scouring every grocery store aisle for my mother. Before I left America to enter the IES Dublin Writers Program, I was worried that I wasn’t ‘grown-up’ enough to handle the challenges of living abroad.

"Dublin makes an excellent host city for programs like the one I attended, which was focused on creative writing. Everywhere I went, I was surrounded by literary history. I felt like I had found my way home."

To my surprise and relief, however, the longer I spent in Ireland the wider and more detailed my internal map of Dublin became. I navigated by landmarks instead of street names, eventually relying on the specific memories I had made in different locations. There was the public library outside of which I had found a discarded button shaped like a rose; there was the mural I had first seen when my parents visited me over spring break. Graffiti tags and antique shops lined the route I took to class every morning, and before I knew it, I was setting out from my apartment without having to consult Google Maps. I learned that I can be more self-sufficient than I would have given myself credit for at the beginning of the semester.

There aren’t enough pages in the world to list the things I loved about Ireland. For all my fears about getting lost in the city, I found Dublin very walkable (not to mention its thriving system of public transportation). All the national museums and galleries had free admission, and there were bookstores and charity shops waiting around every corner. Dublin makes an excellent host city for programs like the one I attended, which was focused on creative writing. Everywhere I went, I was surrounded by literary history. I felt like I had found my way home.

I could have stayed in America this semester. It would have been so easy for me to quietly erase all the study abroad orientation sessions and form deadlines from my day planner; to decide that it was too much work to leave the country for three months. Too much stress. My best friend, who did a transfer program to Japan in high school, told me that for the first day or two away from home, I would be regretting my decision to go abroad, but he said if I was able to push through those hours of uncertainty, then before I knew it I would be having the time of my life.

He was right. 

LEARN HOW YOU CAN APPLY FOR A GLOBAL ACCESS AMBASSADOR SCHOLARSHIP

The Global Access Ambassador Scholarship program provides awards to study abroad for a summer, semester, or academic year. The scholarships are intended to support students who study abroad with the intent to serve as Global Access Ambassadors upon return to the UI campus. Upon completion of the study abroad program and return to UI, award recipients are asked to submit a photo and an open letter to prospective students or suggest an alternate means of sharing with prospective students.

Please note that the opinions and views expressed by ambassadors are solely those of the students and do not reflect or represent the views of International Programs or the University of Iowa.

International Programs (IP) at the University of Iowa (UI) is committed to enriching the global experience of UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public by leading efforts to promote internationally oriented teaching, research, creative work, and community engagement.  IP provides support for international students and scholars, administers scholarships and assistance for students who study, intern, or do research abroad, and provides funding opportunities and grant-writing assistance for faculty engaged in international research. IP shares their stories through various media, and by hosting multiple public engagement activities each year.