Arcadia Ireland

“You’ll never walk alone” is an expression that has become synonymous with the beautiful harbor city of Liverpool. Though most would associate this phrase ,taken from the lyrics of the Gerry & The Pacemakers’ 1963 rendition of this classic song, with the impressive sporting culture and legacy of the famous soccer club based in the city, Liverpool F.C. , I believe that it perfectly encapsulates the ideals of Arcadia Abroad and our goals of supporting and assisting in building community among our students during their time studying abroad.

We at Arcadia work to provide students with the tools, means and opportunities to integrate and create a solid support network, both within Arcadia itself and the new cities and colleges that host the students during their study abroad period, all with the intention that our students feel like they are “never walking alone” through their study abroad experience. 

The regional excursion to Liverpool emphasizes this fact as we witness students coming together from three different Arcadia centers, England, Scotland and Ireland, to bond as one while they venture into all the glorious attractions and atmosphere that a city like Liverpool has to offer. The majority of these students have never encountered nor interacted with each other due to the fact that they are studying and living in different countries under different Arcadia centers.

We at Arcadia recognize that one of the challenges that will be faced during these regional excursions is how to integrate all of these students from different centers to build a sense of community within the trip during a limited period of only three days, while not compromising on the student experience in their enjoyment of the sights and attractions of the city of Liverpool. In addition to this, we are also very aware of the fact that our students’ comfort levels in terms of meeting and befriending new people in an environment that is unfamiliar to them, so we understand that we need to find the delicate balance between creating a feeling of belonging among all the students from the different centers during the trip and respecting their personal boundaries when it comes to the matter of being introduced to a large group of new people.

In preparation for this particular co-curricular event, the staff at Arcadia England worked extremely hard to plan the schedule, activities, meals and accommodation in a manner that would best facilitate the students’ satisfaction with the excursion and aid in encouraging the students to bond with each other and integrate the students from all three of the different centers to form as one cohesive community as the Arcadia Liverpool group, rather than having separation between the students who are studying in different countries

All three centers collaborated in the planning in the upcoming weeks to the trip to be able to best assess how to create a regional event that would consider and benefit the enjoyment of all of the students involved.

It was brilliant to see the three centers work together in the making of this excursion and take suggestions from each other on how to improve the trip in order to enhance the experience for each student and allow the students the opportunity to build a connection with each other and establish a sense of community among themselves.

The entire regional event was a great success with activities involving a treasure hunt walking tour of Liverpool, a photo competition, a visit to the iconic Beatles Story Museum and a delightful ferry trip across the Mersey River with a view of the famous symbol of the city, the liver bird. During the trip, we witnessed that through the different activities planned by Arcadia, students from all of the different centers bonding together and making new friends with each other.

The feedback from the students about this particular excursion was overwhelmingly positive, with many students stating how they appreciate the scheduling of the trip as it allowed them to interact with the other students, especially those students from the different centers.

It is safe to say that through this regional excursion between Arcadia England, Scotland and Ireland, the students were truly left with the feeling that they “will never walk alone” through their study abroad with Arcadia.