Students from Durham College had the chance to visit Ireland over Reading Week to explore towns and cities in the country and to get a sense of culture and history outside of Canada.
They arrived in Dublin on Feb. 18 and stayed until Feb 26. The trip involved seeing beautiful galleries, visiting Limerick Institute of Technology, exploring towns and seeing scenic places such as the Cliffs of Moher, which is famous for shooting scenes in Harry Potter. They visited the Ring of Kerry, and Trinity College.
A variety of different programs took part in the trip, including Music Business Management, Digital Photography, Multimedia, and Science.
“The key was for the students to interact and get to know each other,” said Tony Sutherland, a Music Business Management professor who helped put together this trip.
On this trip, students got to understand what life is like away from North America and to realize there is so much more to life than what we have here.
“Being there gives you an amazing sense of place, a sense of self, a sense of history, and a sense of culture,” said Sutherland.
The students had the chance to get to know each other, learn about Ireland, and to travel with other students who share the same interests.
A big part of the trip was the visit to Limerick Institute of Technology. Linda Cheng, a professor in Contemporary Web Design, has students who study at Limerick. The traveling students were given the chance to see what courses the school offers and to see if they would like to study abroad for a year too.
Aria Poynter is a first year student studying Music Business Management. She went on this trip and enjoyed all the beautiful cultures that surrounded the country.
“We got the chance to see the arts side of Ireland and visit towns and cities that are much different from ours, like the nightlife in all the little towns, everyone is always out and about, ” said Poynter.
This was her first time visiting Ireland and she said it was a great experience. She will consider studying abroad, along with other students who also showed interest in it.
“I could definitely see myself studying in Ireland for a year,” said Aria. “It would be an awesome experience.”
The students who went on the trip have the chance to complete two years at Durham College and two years at Limerick Institute or study for three years at Durham College and do one year abroad.
Sutherland said there were multiple purposes for this trip. “There are lots of purposes but a main one was to expand the students’ horizons outside of their lived experiences in Durham, Ontario, and Canada,” he said.
Sutherland has taken students to New York, Cleveland, and New Brunswick. This was the first time going internationally and he is keen to make it an annual event.
