It’s getting to be that time of year when finals are fast approaching and paper deadlines are sneaking up. This semester has really flown by and I can’t believe that I will be leaving Ireland in a month. In this post, I really want to talk about the Irish educational system because it is much different than what we are used to at Rollins. Here in Ireland, students are expected to keep up with the material on their own, meaning that independent study dominates most of the courses. All of my classes have been lecture based with no group discussion. I found that this was one of the hardest things to get used to. At Rollins, group discussions based on active participation are a key component of many courses. At Maynooth, the lecturer just talks at you rather than involving you in the lecture. Another difference in teaching methods is the idea that the entire grade in the class is dependent on one final paper or exam. Many of my classes here have just one assignment for the entire course. While some of my friends think that that is a great idea, others, myself included, do not like the idea of having one assignment decide the final grade. Studying in Ireland has made me realize how lucky I am to be attending a school where the professors want to have the students involved in class and want to help them succeed in every way possible. I have come to appreciate the small things that I didn’t think that I would miss while studying abroad. I miss the small class sizes, the group discussions, and yes, even the pop quizzes on daily readings that keep us on our toes. Rollins is my home and I can’t wait to come back for the fall semester.