Study Abroad Opportunity: Ireland

USC Aiken is giving students the opportunity to be a part of a faculty-led study abroad trip to Ireland for Maymester! This trip will count as 3 credit hours for Theatre, Digital Storytelling and Cyber Security!

This trip will take place from May 5th to the 17th in 2024. 

During this trip, students will be able to visit various cities throughout Ireland. Some of the highlights mentioned on the flyer for this trip are:

• Cliffs of Moher

• Book of Kells

• Black Taxi Tour

• Traditional Irish Storyteller

• The Little Museum of Dublin

• Game of Thrones Studio Tour

• Blarney Castle

• Giant’s Causeway

The price of this trip is  $3,900. This is a bit pricey, but a wonderful price for almost two weeks in Ireland!

This price includes:

• 11 nights of accommodation

• Daily breakfast 

• All ground transportation

• Welcome and Farewell Dinners

• Historical & Cultural Walking Tours

• Full time on sight program director in case of emergencies

• 24/7 emergency support 

• SAA’s mandatory health insurance

• SAA’s $5m liability insurance

• Tips & Gratuities 

The price of this trip does not include:

• International Airfare

• Meals that were not mentioned

• Passport and Visa Fees 

• Single Room Upgrade Costs

• Optional Activities

• Optional Travelers Insurance

• Personal Expenses 

After asking Elizabeth Dille what value a trip abroad holds for students, she stated:

 “So I’ve been working in international education for almost 15 years and I would say that for me the reason that I have stayed so long in the field and continued to really find ways to support students studying abroad is because it is such a transformative experience. I’ve had some students who wanted to just have an adventure, explore the world and they came back with so many new ideas for career paths. Or some of them came back and had like a whole new research project they wanted to do. So it's just one of those things or even if it's not connected to anything specifically it's just such a transformative experience. It teaches you so many different skills as well as even just being in such a global world.”

I asked her about her personal experiences with traveling abroad and she said:

“So actually my first global experience was I took a gap year between high school and college in the early 2000s and I at 18 years old got on a plane and did a volunteer experience in Nairobi Kenya for five months. I’m proud of my mom for putting me on a plane at 18 by myself, and so that was my start to this journey through international education. I also did a faculty lead program in college to the UK and Ireland. That was a 12-day trip, so that’s similar to our Aiken abroad program that we have so you're traveling with a group for usually credit for a specific class. And then I did an internship in London during grad school and I worked in the paper conservation lab at the Westminster City Archive.”

She also stated:

“I learned so much from all the experiences. I think even now, I still process or think back to some of those times, and I'm such a different person. But at the same time, things learned there continued to shape my own views and so since that first experience I think I’ve traveled to over 25 different countries. Some of them for work, some of them for my own travel and some I’ve been back to several times that I didn't expect to be back to several times.” 

After asking, so with this current trip going to Ireland, personally, where do you think the best spots to stop are, she replied:

“So I’ve been back and forth to Ireland several times and I love to explore those smaller cities. So one of the stops in the Ireland program is Encork. And that area and that region, which also includes Klarney and you can go towards limerick and things like that. They are cities but they feel like smaller towns and so I think they are so cool to just wander around. The Irish people are super super friendly and just love to have a good time. Love to chat, and welcome new people. I love that area of Ireland. I’ve driven through or popped through Northern Ireland, which is where part of this trip is going, but I haven’t been to Giant’s Causeway and that is a part of the trip, and it's on my list but I haven't been there.”

Her advice to students who are planning on going or aren’t fully sure is: 

“I think it is a jammed-pack experience and especially because you can knock out, I wouldn't recommend doing all nine credit hours, but you could do six credit hours. And that's for a 13-day program to knock out credit hours, that's pretty cool. I think it's also, especially if you've never traveled before, Ireland’s a great first location because it's so welcoming, it's really easy to navigate and it's super safe. Then also, it's with a group, it's traveling with USCA faculty, and then we will also have an in-country tour guide who is Irish and will be with the group the whole time too. So its a really great first type of experience where you do have time to kinda go off on your own and explore and get some of that immersive experience, but then you also have the oversight, have the support services in the country with you the entire time, so I think if its trepidation on potentially the issue is safety, or just I've never traveled before, I've never been on a plane before, whatever the case may be, it’s a great way to take that first step with a support structure in place.”

She also stated:

“There are tons of scholarships out there students can apply for both at USCA, we have a study abroad specific scholarship, but there are also external scholarships students can apply for that will more than cover the trip cost, even some of the tuition cost, and you can access summer financial aid by taking these courses as well.”