Arcadia Ireland

Last Thursday we had a really nice visit from Sarah Pauling, Senior Intercultural Program Advisor at the Centre for Global and Intercultural Study at the University Michigan! Sarah had just been to London and Scotland to meet with staff there and was accompanied to Dublin by James Ballantyne of the Arcadia University London Centre. 


Thursday morning we met with Sarah and James at our Center on Fishamble Street and in typical Irish style, we put the kettle on for tea!  It was a pleasure to chat and learn more about her role primarily with UCD STEM students. Sarah, a young and energetic advisor, has already a wealth of knowledge through her own study abroad experience. I could see how students would feel connected to this laid-back but knowledgeable and insightful lady! 

Now for lunch! The sun was shining at a very nice 26 degrees (an Irish heatwave!) as we strolled up Dame Street passing Dublin Castle and City Hall with Trinity College only a stone's throw away. It was nice to give Sarah the local walk so that she could see exactly how close we are for her students to drop in and chat. We reached the wonderful Avoca restaurant on Suffolk Street and took our seats in a lovely airy room at a roundtable. There was a buzz about the place with holidaymakers and business people chatting and enjoying the wholesome food always to be found there! We chatted about our roles in Dublin and about co-curricular events. Alice highlighted the recent activities that our Summer STEM students had participated in. She had met all four of the University of Michigan students and could show Sarah photos of their adventures in Dublin and Ireland. We went our separate ways in the afternoon and Sarah had an opportunity to explore the City her students are currently experiencing. 

Friday morning Sarah and I met at the Arcadia offices and took a taxi out to UCD, about a 20-minute journey away. We drove through Ranelagh village in Dublin 6 and there was a promise made that we would return in the afternoon. The shops and cafes looked as quaint and quirky as ever and Sarah seemed very excited to return. 

Our meeting was at the O'Brien Centre for Science at UCD with Dr. Jennifer Mitchell, Associate Dean for Science Study Abroad & Jamie Wells, Science Support Manager. Mainly we discussed the STEM Summer research programme. There was a strong focus on expectations and how students can be prepared for a full lab experience when participating in the programme. UCD also gave us an outline of the diversity of projects on offer to students and their plans to expand these even more. 

We continued our UCD experience with a tour of campus accommodation by Ryan O'Meara who is a current student at UCD. He took us to Roebuck complex where our students are currently staying. On these types of tours, I'm always reminded of how lucky our students are to live in such a great area in a high standard of accommodation. Sarah also seemed impressed. 

In the afternoon we attended student poster sessions and spoke to Michigan students and their work for the past 6 weeks at UCD. Now my knowledge of science is pretty limited but it was hard not to be completely impressed by the work these students had done. Sarah had a chance to reconnect with her own students and learn about their work.  As each one of them spoke to us there was a strong air of professionalism. They were passionate about their research and some had strong plans to continue work with their team at UCD. I suppose it would be hard to invest so much quality time in something and then simply leave it behind. We took some great photos and after a generous amount of time with everyone, we left the students and their assessors to wrap up their session. 

Before leaving UCD I took Sarah on a short tour of campus to show her the State of the Art Students Services building with excellent sports facilities, a cinema and more. We visited the health and counseling service and I showed her the Students Union building. 

Finally, it was time to leave. We returned as promised to Ranelagh for Sarah's self-exploration afternoon and evening. Her plan was to walk around the village before taking a side street off to the nearby Donnybrook where she would take a Dublin bus back to City Centre. Once again allowing her experience what our students do on a regular basis. Sarah mentioned that despite the rain forecast, she might do the Bray to Greystones walk with a stop in the Happy Pear cafe the following day. I must catch up with her and ask how that went!