Goodbye Georgia, Hello Ireland!

Hi everyone!

For the past several weeks of summer, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading my friends’ blogs and living vicariously through their bright photographs and vivid descriptions.  Their ability to transport my imagination to a diverse range of countries (Kenya, Nicaragua, Ghana, Ethiopia, New Zealand, and Australia, just to name a few) with merely words and clicks of a camera has inspired me to keep a blog of my own to document my upcoming journey in Ireland. I hope to not only share my (mis)adventures with you, but also use this blog as a tool for reflection. As my friend Brian mentioned on his Kenya blog, I must remember to not see and hear, but rather observe and listen. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy! :)

(Note: I apologize in advance for the length. This is an intro post, so it will be pretty long in order to bring everyone up to speed. I also wrote this on the plane when I should’ve been sleeping to combat impending jetlag, so I also apologize for the numerous typos that are scattered about this blog post.)

I decided to attend Duke because they emphasized the idea of global citizenship. The DukeEngage program is the epitome of service on not only a community level, but also on a global level. DukeEngage sends Duke undergraduates (fully funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) all over the United States and all over the world with the purpose of providing meaningful assistance. Upon combing through the long list of domestic and international programs, I eventually narrowed my many options to my top choice, DukeEngage Dublin. The Dublin program initially caught my eye because it was hosted by the Kenan Institute for Ethics, which also headed my transformative pre-orientation program Project Change (but my account of this experience requires a whole blog to itself). After doing further research, I found that it especially appealed to me because the program focused on working with refugees, a group I had previously worked with through World Relief Atlanta and grew increasingly passionate about through Kenan’s Winter Forum. Refugees are a group of people who have been forced to leave their homes because of at least one of five reasons: religion, race, nationality, political opinions, ethnicity, or because they are part of a persecuted “social group.”

I now realize that the description on the website was much simpler than our actual tasks and challenges to come. After the first week of orientation, seven other Duke students and I will all be working at different NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that focus on bettering the lives of resettled refugees in Ireland.  Derek and I will be working at Educate Together, an organization that works to establish multidenominational schools in Ireland. Once I actually start working at Educate Together, I will go into more detail about the organization. While we may not be living in challenging conditions like my other friends are, we are definitely being challenged in other ways.

Challenge numero uno: understanding the Irish accent. My mom brought home the movie Once and wanted to watch it with me because it was shot in Dublin. I agreed and loved the movie but also quickly realized one major problem: I could barely understand what the actors and actresses were saying because of their Irish accents. I told myself that my difficulty stemmed from our slightly malfunctioned speakers. It wasn’t. Sitting next to a guy on the plane who told me he was flying back home to Ireland, I sadly discovered that yes, indeed. I can barely understand the Irish accent. Even if I do (eventually) understand, it takes me a couple seconds to process, making me seem like I have extremely slow reactions/am not really paying attention to what he is saying to me. #awkward. Looks like work is going to be a major struggle. My friends Brittany and Alice have claimed that they won’t let me back in Georgia if I don’t acquire an Irish accent by the end of the trip, so I suppose I really need to practice understanding what Irish people saying.

But in all seriousness, I’m admittedly nervous and not all too confident about the challenges to come. During discussions, our program directors Bill and Suzanne have emphasized the importance of always being engaged and thinking profoundly about not just “what” but “why.” I’m afraid that I won’t contribute responses and questions that are profound enough to these discussions. I’m even more worried that I won’t contribute anything that is sustainable in the long-run and useful and profound to Educate Together, that I’ll disappoint myself. I’m not even sure what I can contribute to this incredible, already accomplished and well-established organization. But I’m staying positive and am going to definitely give my job my best, in hopes that I will leave some sort of good impact, big or small, on Educate Together. I’m also terrified that these eight weeks will whirl by and be over before I truly process what is happening. Bill and Suzanne have warned us that sometimes, the transition takes far too long and the period of “active, deep engagement” is, as a result, far too short. I’ve tried to lessen the transition period by reading the Irish news and information about Educate Together, but I’m still unsure of myself.

All I know is that I hope to grow. I hope to gain confidence. I hope to make new friends. I hope to not take any day or anything for granted. I hope to see some of the most beautiful sights in the world. I hope to actively participate in discussions and events. I hope to remain positive and energetic the entire time. I hope I create unforgettable memories. I hope I come back changed for the better. I hope I come back with stories to tell. I hope that I learn from others and am humbled by this experience. I hope to live in the moment. But most importantly, I hope to be engaged through this whole DukeEngage experience and beyond.