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Over all my Study Abroad was totally awesome. I loved the people I met there, I made friends I’ll probably have forever, and I got a really great education and learned so much. I not only learned a lot about writing and Northern Ireland, but I also learned a lot about myself, and I think I grew more as a person during that 6 month period than I had in the last 2 years of college. The experience really forced me to be more comfortable with myself, and by the time I came home there was a noticeable difference to my friends and family of how much I’d really changed. While studying at Queen’s University I took both writing and literature courses that were really great, but I also took an Irish Studies course as part of the SECAC scholarship program, and in that class alone I not only learned a lot about the history of Northern Ireland, but about people and human nature. I volunteered at a local business called the Ulster Historical Foundation, and I worked with a lot of really nice people. I took trips to other parts of Northern Ireland very cheaply because of their awesome transportation system. I saw the Giant’s Causeway, and that was pretty cool. I also had the pleasure of taking a trip that was organized with the IFSA-Butler program down to Dublin for a weekend, and saw a show at the Abbey Theater. I took further trips to Edinburgh, Scotland and the Scottish Highlands and visited Loch Ness. During my spring vacation I took a longer trip that took me to Milan and Pisa in Italy, Paris, France, and even Athens, Greece. I learned so much and I am very thankful to the Auburn Abroad program for helping me to go and have this great experience.