Ruth O’Sullivan at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Ruth O’Sullivan

BCom International Business Student

Semester Exchange in the Second Semester, 2022 at the Trinity College Dublin

Pre-departure:

Before I left to travel abroad for my semester at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, I made a list of everything that I needed to prepare. Something that I did not need to think about, I am so grateful to say, was a visa. My grandfather was born in Dingle on the Southwest coast of Ireland and because of this, I was the last generation to receive an Irish passport in my family. Little did I know how valuable this would be. I therefore cannot advise anyone on the logistics of applying for a visa, but I do have other tips for those preparing to study abroad.

My biggest tip would be to apply for accommodation early. I left mine last minute (although I thought it was a reasonable time to start looking) only to find that most student accommodation rooms in Dublin had been booked and the only ones left were astronomically expensive. So, in order to find affordable, nice accommodation in a good location, start searching as soon as you get your placement from Stellenbosch (maybe even get yourself on a few waiting lists beforehand). Some good rooms in Dublin can be found at Kavanagh Court, Point Campus or any of the Yugo buildings. I was too late to secure a room at any of these places but was lucky enough to find a room in a lovely lady’s house in the suburbs of Dublin 7. The area is more relaxed than the city, I am a three-minute walk from the train station, my room is much cheaper than the student accommodations that my friends are in, and I have more amenities as well as free laundry while they have to pay for this. So, while student accommodation is fun, don’t rule out homestays if the things I listed sound more enticing to you.

Ireland, and most of Europe, is a lot more expensive than South Africa, to say the least. I recommend sitting down with your parents or guardians, whoever will be funding the majority of your time abroad and decide on a weekly or monthly budget for this time. Budget for items such as groceries, public transport, coffee and eating out, entertainment, shopping and travelling. This will help you stay on track and avoid overspending when you get to your destination. My final pre-departure tip is to pack for the weather! I knew coming into this time that Ireland got quite chilly and was known to be rainy, but I didn’t take this information as seriously as I should have. Umbrellas do not last long here so a good-quality raincoat is essential. During the winter months, thermal clothing comes in handy to wear under your normal clothes and some durable, waterproof boots will do you well. Good luggage is crucial if you are planning to travel around Europe during your stay as you don’t want it to break after the first trip.

Experience at the host university:

My experience at Trinity College has been one I will never forget. One thing that I wasn’t expecting was to make friends with more international students than local students. This is mostly because international students arrive a week earlier than the local ones in order to tour the campus and go through a sort of “orientation”. Naturally, this means you will often make friends with the people that you meet throughout this time. Also, we are studying with those who are in their third year at Trinity College and have probably had the same friends since the first year–it is understandable that they wouldn’t feel the need to make friends with international students. Another thing that adds to you making international friends (and was a bit of a shock to me) was that student accommodation here is filled with about 95% international students because the cost of rent and living in Dublin is so high that most of the students live at home.

I thoroughly enjoyed the academic programme at Trinity College, to equate credits I landed up taking five modules and one elective. Each has two hours of lectures per week, and some have an extra one-hour tutorial slot. Each faculty had its own building – the business building was incredibly advanced and had its very own café where you could buy coffee and lunch and sit down to work at a table or in a cubicle. The campus itself takes your breath away, there is even a contemporary art gallery at Trinity! I found the modules here to have a majority assignment-based approach to the syllabus as opposed to Stellenbosch’s primarily exam-based approach. Only one of my modules has an in-person exam, two have online exams and the rest have only assignments.

I actually really enjoyed this as it allows one to plan out their workload more efficiently and brought a nice practical aspect to the module content. For example, in my Creative Thinking, Innovation and Entrepreneurship module we had four main assignments where we had to elevator pitch an idea for a business, come up with a Minimum Viable Product (or demo) for the business, perform actual customer research for the business and then create a Business Model Canvas to finalize the business idea. It was so enlightening as I have learnt the theoretical side of entrepreneurship for three years but actually had no idea how to go about starting a business until now. I found classes to be smaller than at Stellenbosch as well. The teachers are so passionate about their modules that it is inspiring. Societies play a big role on campus, there is a whole society fair at the beginning of the year where students can join societies ranging from horse-riding to scuba-diving to political parties – it was incredible fun.

Apart from the academics, I cannot recommend enough to travel while you are abroad– Ryan Air flights will be your best friend. If you come to Trinity College, do make an effort to go and see the rest of Ireland, it is such a beautiful country that you will find Dublin to be the least impressive of it all.

Return to Stellenbosch:

I return to South Africa in about a week and I am so excited. I think that it is going to be a weird adjustment going from cold, rainy Ireland in winter to sunny South Africa, but I can’t wait to lounge by the pool and soak up the rays. I am not, however, excited for the long plane trip from Dublin to Dubai, Dubai to Johannesburg, and Johannesburg to Durban followed by another two-hour car drive back to my little farm town called Greytown.

I can already see how my perspective of South Africa has changed since I have been abroad. Many people back home speak about Europeas this magical place where everything is perfect and runs smoothly and so it has been eye-opening to experience it for what it truly is–Europe has problems just like South Africa. Governments here also have disgruntled citizens, there is still crime and an energy crisis. On my return, I do think that I will be equipped with more practical knowledge–in life and academics. I think that I have had so much exposure to other cultures that my self-awareness and awareness of the sensitivities of others have increased a lot. This experience has taught me critical thinking, to be open-minded and has made me even more willing and excited to learn about the experiences of others as I go forward.

Academically, I’m excited to go into my final year at Stellenbosch with all of the new knowledge that I have gained during my semester at Trinity College. I wish to major in marketing during my final year and the marketing module that I took here this semester has given me a completely different perspective on marketing management by analyzing the digital, artificial intelligence and automation aspect of contemporary marketing– it is brand new information, and I am so excited to apply it to my marketing modules in 2023. Going forward, I think that this time will allow me to see South Africa through new eyes – when you live in a country for your whole life it is easy to take for granted its beauty and cultures and only remember the bad things about it, that is until you have to leave it for some time. I will be less harsh on my beautiful South Africa, this time away has only grown my love for her. As for my future plans, being away has made me realize just how much I want to eventually settle and raise a family in South Africa.