Reliving Coleraine, Northern Ireland

After driving the Antrim Coast from Belfast to Bushmills and seeing everything in between, my husband and I spent late afternoon driving to our hotel in Coleraine so we could check in and drop off our things. It was an emotional day for me, seeing so many places that brought back memories of my time …

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Erin Go Bragh

Ten years ago, I left the country by myself for the very first time. Nothing would ever be the same. I love to look back at pictures, emails and diary entries of my time studying abroad and reflect on how much I grew as a result of that experience. I was, and still am, struck by …

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Study Abroad: How Setting Expectations and A Little Kindness Can Go a Long Way

A month or so ago a colleague and I were speaking with a graduate student from Iran about how she ended up studying and conducting research at a couple of universities in the mid-west. She was the most wonderful, bubbly, likable person I've met in some time, but our conversation took a bit of a …

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Traveling Through Your Alma Mater

One of the reasons I chose to attend Kent State University was its study abroad programming. I knew in high school I wanted to study abroad at least one semester during college, and the university's programming in that regard caught my attention. Reading about what the university has to offer in the way of study …

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Travel Tips: Safety (In Numbers)

I took my first international trip completely by myself. I left to study abroad without any international travel experience, without any friends along for support, and without a good understanding of how I would communicate with my family and friends back home given the more than 3,000 miles between us. I'm sure my parents had …

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Missing Ireland

Last weekend marked the beginning of festival season in Cuyahoga Falls with my favorite festival leading the way-- Irish Fest. I made my way down to the Riverfront each day to eat, drink and enjoy some really rockin' music. I ended up alone on Friday night after a series of missed phone calls, changed plans and …

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Directionally Challenged

I'm sure there are a lot of words people would use to describe me. In sixth grade, my teacher had us write down a word that described each of our classmates, which she then compiled and handed out to each student. I'm sure she did a little editing, but mine were pretty mild and what …

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