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My name is Peyton Baggot. My major is child psych,
and my minor is english. And I studied abroad
in Ireland, in Belfast and Dublin in May of 2011 for a May term.
I started thinking about studying abroad my senior year of high school actually.
And the reason I chose the U is because I knew they had a very good abroad program.
I've had the opportunity to go to a bunch of different places,
but I wanted to really go by myself, and in an academic format.
The class was Leadership and Social Change.
So in Ireland there is a lot of conflict in the society,
so it definitely was a great place to explore leadership and social change.
So academically it was awesome because we got hands-on experience.
We did a lot of traveling for our academics,
so culturally we got to see a bunch of different sites
and learn about, you know, the culture in Ireland.
And also, since we were in Belfast and Dublin -
those are two very different places in Ireland -
so that was really cool to compare and contrast.
It was writing intensive, so I was used to that course load.
And the work that was expected from us was similar
to what's been expected at the University, I feel like.
So it was very much in parallel. The differences
obviously being it was more hands on with the material.
It was really nice to have the constant academic thing
we were used to, when the culture was so different.
I think that that was comforting, for sure.
For housing we stayed in kind of like an apartment.
There was a kitchen, there was a living room,
and then there were two bedrooms.
And I lived with four girls.
And it was right in the center of the city.
It was a really good location.
No, I didn't know anybody before I went on the program.
And then I came back with like 25 new friends at the U,
so that was really cool.
I mean it was definitely challenging to be away from home
for three weeks. Not that I haven't done that before.
But being in a different country for three weeks
with basically 25 strangers,
but obviously over time
it just evolved to be more comforting, more comfortable.
We bonded as a group a lot.
I learned about my independence, for sure.
Being so far away from home and just having to
depend on myself was really cool.
And I learned a lot about my strengths,
and my weaknesses, and things I can work on,
and things that I'm interested in.
I definitely gained a lot of confidence by going there
and making it and being ok, and coming home and being ok.
That was very, very beneficial.
There are so many stories of people that go abroad
and come back and loved it. So for those little
moments when you get homesick, just remember
that other people have been there, and you'll be ok, and you'll get through it.
And it's usually just a night, and then the next day
you go outside and you're like, "Oh, I'm in Ireland!
So I need to enjoy this while I'm here. I need to live in the present right now."