Maynooth is a very small town (or in Ireland\u2019s case a very large town). And if you don\u2019t believe me, it was awarded the \u201cBest Kept Award for Large Towns.\u201d It has about two streets that are lined with small shops and eateries. There are three bus stops and I could walk the way from any of the stops (or the train station) to my apartment with my eyes closed. Maynooth is never a place I would think to call home, yet it has fit me so well. In contrast, there is very little in which Winter Park is like Maynooth other than it\u2019s English speaking. Yet I find myself getting on the plane in Dublin excited to return home with the distinct brisk Irish air surrounding me. Now for a native Florida girl to say that, I think it\u2019s quite remarkable.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if I can even fathom a value for studying abroad; it\u2019s one of those things that can be so necessary on how you develop as a person. It can change what you want in your life or challenge how you saw things. Maynooth, for example, has challenged the way that I see the pace of life and altered my appreciation for small towns. In Ireland, things go on a bit slower than in the States. Nothing is ever on time; every Irish man\u2019s favorite estimate is \u201cabout twenty minutes\u201d even if it\u2019ll be approximately two hours. There is a philosophy of \u201cyou\u2019ll get there when you get there.\u201d As frustrating as it is in the first few weeks, I\u2019ve adjusted to it and it\u2019s really an interesting concept. The States is controlled by time since we see it as a true embodiment of money. When the focus isn\u2019t on time, you reflect more or at least focus on those around you with a bit more attention. The other thing Ireland has instilled on me is an appreciation for small towns (and I thought Florida suburbs counted as small towns). There is a lot to be said for a town that has transportation into a city, but the focus is still on locality. In Maynooth, people are always personable and there is an inherent simplicity in everyday actions. I\u2019ve learned to enjoy this change.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to think that next month, I\u2019ll be leaving Maynooth. Yet, Ireland will retain a place in my heart as a home away from home. Maybe I\u2019ll even considering returning for a masters. This semester has made me understand it\u2019s important to live and experience places far from home. After doing this, you start growing a network of places which you understand and can return to whenever you might need them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maynooth is a very small town (or in Ireland\u2019s case a very large town). And if you don\u2019t believe me, it was awarded the \u201cBest Kept Award for Large Towns.\u201d It has about two streets that are lined with small shops and eateries. There are three bus stops and I could walk the way from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":11923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maynooth","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13600,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11922\/revisions\/13600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}