Junior to spend spring break traveling abroad

By Leeann Dragos

When I came to SUNY Oswego as a freshman in 2015, studying abroad wasn’t on my mind.

When I started working in the international education department that same year, I still didn’t think about it, but I was learning a lot about what places were offered for travel and what the process would be to get there.

Friends, family, and coworkers eventually started to ask me if I was planning on going anywhere. I worked in that department, so shouldn’t I participate in the traveling?

The answer from me was still no. Of course, I would love to but I had a lot of worries. These involved but were not limited to the cost of the trip, what class I would take while traveling, and flying on a plane.

I’ve only flown once before, but it was in the United States and I don’t remember it because I was too young.

Junior year came around and by then I had seen a lot of people experience traveling to other parts of the world. Finally, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, and I decided that I wanted to be one of those people.

The fact that I never thought I’d be able to study abroad made the final decision that much more exciting. I’m not sure I would’ve come to this conclusion if I hadn’t worked in the department, so I’m extremely thankful for that opportunity.

Now came the fun part. Where should I go? I wanted to take a half semester class so I could travel during spring break. I didn’t think I was quite ready for a full semester abroad.

I decided on Dublin, Ireland. It has always been at the top of my list of places I want to explore one day. I’ve seen numerous pictures of the beautiful scenery in Ireland, such as the Cliffs of Moher. I’m also part Irish so I think I’d be interested to learn a little more about the history of the area. I’ve also seen how amazing the St. Patrick’s Day Parade looks there. How often do you get to say that you were in Ireland while celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?

I’m attending the spring 2018 GLS 100 Dublin course, and I expect that it will be my favorite class. I’m excited to meet new people in the class who I’ll be with while abroad, as well as some close friends that I can’t wait to share the experience with. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll all create memories that will last a very long time.