Beautiful campus and country!
My semester in Dublin was definitely the most memorable of my time in college. From before we arrived to the day we left, IES kept in regular contact with us to make sure that everything was going well. They gave us an orientation with plenty of practical advice that you might not think of yourself, and they sent out information and suggestions for things to do throughout the semester. We had a couple of group outings and trips led by IES, and plenty of opportunities to travel within the country and all across Europe on our own. The Trinity campus is beautiful (I was drawn to the program from seeing photos of the Old Library!) and right in city centre so you're constantly exposed to local culture; I often found myself stopping at some shops on the way home to get a hot chocolate or fries with garlic sauce (they're the best). The apartment we stayed in was very nice and modern with plenty of space, privacy, and common areas to socialize. It was pretty close to campus, all things considered, only a short walk or shorter tram ride away. My roommates and I were all strangers when we arrived but quickly became friends were watching movies, cooking, and traveling together in no time! Almost everyone in all of the IES Dublin programs lived in the same building, so we made a group chat and had a big extended group of friends to go out with. The actual classes at Trinity are a lot different in much of Europe than they are in somewhere like the United States. Instead of multiple shorter classes a day on alternating days like at my home school, I had two one-hour sessions or one two-hour session of each class a week. Depending on the class (I took English modules), grades are also based significantly or even 100% on the final exam. This was definitely an adjustment in the sense that I did feel a bit less engaged with school overall, since it was less in-class time and fewer assignments throughout the semester and it could sometimes be easy to push classwork off; then, when finals came, it was a lot of work all at once. This has pros and cons, mainly that you have more free time but need to have significant self-discipline. You just have to make sure to keep up with your work, though, since more of the responsibility is on you alone; you have to really care about your studies because they are important to you rather than because someone is making you. This is a very good thing to learn, though, since a lot of other things in life require self-motivation and accountability. This more open schedule was a great way to have things structured during study abroad, though, because it left a LOT of time to explore locally and travel on long weekends! I definitely recommend joining a couple of clubs to truly feel connected to campus; they have a lot of fun events both on campus and at local venues. Studying in Dublin was not only fun for a short time, but allowed me to realize how much I really want to live abroad long-term. You also learn so many things living in a new culture and how to adapt to them. Public transport is really convenient within the city, and trains are great for traveling across the country. You have to ask for the check at a restaurant, but tax is all included so the total is nice and even and easy to add up in your head. Even going to the grocery store at first is a whole experience on its own—a lot more people bring their own bags (which is great!), some "staple" foods are a bit different, and Irish dairy has a totally different taste. And when you finally leave, you feel a bit homesick in reverse, because what you consider "home" has been split into more pieces. It's like you always have somewhere else in the world, in the back of your mind, to go back to and still feel familiar and comfortable in. Overall, my semester abroad in Dublin with IES really bridged that gap of apprehension between the expected and the unknown, and it helped prepare me to travel and live abroad once I graduate.
