MY STUDIES
I chose Ireland as my exchange destination mainly based on the language – I wanted to study in English and be able to connect easily with locals and other exchange students, s0 it seemed like the safest choice.
My school is the National College of Art & Design in Dublin which is Ireland’s top design school. Back home I study fine art but for my time here I decided to go with the illustration program t0 try out something new but let me tell you… when I saw their fine art studio spaces I regretted my choice a bit. The studios were located in an old whiskey distillery and the atmosphere was amazing. Illustration is part of the design bureau, so we ended up in a different building with no bells or whistles, just basic rooms that did have big beautiful windows though. We mainly worked with our iPads and computers which was familiar in a sense, but I did miss being more physical and hands-on with creating.
We had a ton of projects going on at the same time which felt a bit overwhelming at times, and whenever one ended we were immediately given a new brief. I did find all of these tasks very engaging and the teachers (or tutors as they were called) were very involved and clearly loved their job. It was great to be able to get so much personal, one-on-one feedback.
If I compare my weekdays here to my everyday routine in Finland it’s quite drastically different. Here the schedule changes every week and you only get your timetable on Mondays (which are our “independent study” days) so before getting that email you really have no idea what days or times you will have school on. Generally our days start at 10am, but I quickly discovered that this is more of a suggestion – oftentimes the teachers wouldn’t even show up until half an hour or 45 minutes later like most of the students. The length of the days also varies greatly and it’s mostly independent work which I do enjoy a lot. This sort of no structure approach is very different from back home and it did make me a bit stressed to not know exactly what’s happening and when, but I did get used to it with time.
BEST TIMES OF MY LIFE?
Before leaving for my exchange I had read a ton of blog posts and watched people talk about their experiences and generally there was a shared sentiment of these times being one of the best in your life. Despite of these stories I kept my expectations realistic, knowing that surely there would be tough days and getting settled in would take time (which was absolutely true).
I stayed with a host family which is extremely common in Dublin because of the horrendous housing market situation. Waking up there the first morning was a real shock to the system – the houses are generally quite badly insulated so it was freezing to the point my nose was tingling. That and the feeling of being in some random family’s house was pretty overwhelming, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t for a moment think “What the hell am I doing?”. But, to my surprise, getting used to the new environment actually didn’t take that long.
The other exchange students and I had already created a group chat before arriving and we were immediately planning meet-ups. Once classes started we quickly found our groove of meeting up for lunch every day even though we were sprinkled around in different buildings and programs. It still amazes me how quickly you’re able to form such deep and meaningful relationships when you’re all put in the same new situation. I feel so lucky to have had such an amazing group of other students from all over the world with me – Latvia, Canada, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Germany, Croatia etc. were all represented. I met so many people that I know will be my lifelong friends.
Exploring Ireland and its history as a group has been a blast. We’ve seen so many amazing historical sites from castles and churches to natural wonders like Giant’s Causeway and the Dark Hedges (both in Northern-Ireland though). And of course, the Cliffs of Moher.
Can’t forget about the beautifully chaotic St. Patrick’s Day and vibrant pub culture that truly seems to be the cornerstone of Irish society.
So in conclusion, I will also be one of those people constantly bringing up their exchange and what a life changing experience it was. Truly, I feel so grateful to have had this opportunity and I will look back on these memories for years and years to come.
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