Rain, Rain, Go A-Bray

I’ve got three words for you: Steps, Freedom, and Rain. Three more: lots of it [all].

Champlain College’s Academic Center resides on Lower Leeson Street, a five minute walk from St. Stephen’s Green and a twenty to thirty minute walk from the student apartments. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning all kicked off the day with Orientation at the Academic Center. To be more accurate, they all truly began with a walk.

Finding Ireland

Good evening! Three full days in Ireland have met me with jet-lag, fifty or so new faces, and the return to a city I’ve been head over heels in love with since our first introduction five (five?!) years ago. With a hazy mind and a boatload of transitions, I’m finally coming to believe that the four months I have been planning for are in the palm of my hand.

After a pasta dinner and tearful goodbye to my family on Monday night, I boarded my flight to Dublin and watched the luminescent Boston skyline disappear. Eventually the lights receded into darkness as we soared over the Atlantic Ocean and I was faced with the realization that I wouldn’t see that skyline for four months. Talk about butterflies.

Twenty Three

With the month of August already on us, it seemed appropriate to write a pre-departure post or two.

So, hello! And happy August first. (Wait, we’re officially over the hump of summer and descending into the last few months of 2015, beginning a new school year and semester, and generally starting life again?) For me, this month marks a semester of change; four months of exploration, culture, and learning; and an end-of-the-calendar-year adventure of a lifetime. A six hour flight with Aer Lingus will transport me to a world of far-off places and daring sword fights. Dublin, Ireland, will become my home—if only for a little while—and I couldn’t be more thrilled to experience the wide world beyond my own.