Owen Regan
UMBC Faculty-Led: Dawg Days Abroad in Ireland
Major: Pre-Engineering & Media & Communication Studies
Pre-Departure Post
Hello reader,
My name is Owen Regan, and this summer I, along with 19 of my classmates and two professors, am going on a study abroad trip to Dublin, Ireland. During the two-week trip, we will be staying at Trinity College, taking classes and exploring Ireland through tours, personal adventures, and planned excursions. During my time at UMBC, my plan is to become an engineer and hopefully end up in a construction engineer or architectural workplace. Dublin is an incredibly architecturally built-up city that blends historic brick buildings with the steel and concrete infrastructure of our future. I am so excited to come face-to-face with this melting pot of
Human engineering that tells a story of the buildup of Dublin’s construction. I also hope to further my documentary skills during the trip. I enjoy filming my adventures and others’ experiences. I hope to create a comprehensive video of the trip with heavy input from my classmates. This will also be a great opportunity, as we are all either freshmen or transfer students, to create connections we can rely on coming into our first year at a new place.
The weeks leading up to our trip, we all attended a class twice a week where we met our professors and started a course on the Hero’s Journey. This depicts the common story of the hero through human history and the archetypes that come with it. We also became familiarized with Ireland’s culture and its own journey for independence. After a couple of weeks of getting to know the other students and getting more and more excited for the trip every class, we left for the airport midday Friday. We traveled on a bus and a plane until we arrived at Trinity College on an Irish Saturday morning. Afterwards, we got settled, then walked to a renowned local bakery where we all came together over coffee and pastries. From there, we went to the National Gallery of Ireland, where we walked through galleries depicting all different styles of paintings. After that, we were given an Irish soup lunch and brought back to Trinity for some free time. We ended our day in the pub, eating, talking, and being merry.
The next day, we toured Trinity’s beautiful historic campus, continued our class on the hero, and became more versed in getting around Dublin. Leaving Trinity, we went on a tour of Dublin where we were shown historic pubs, a communist bookstore, an arts district, and given a talk on the politics of Ireland. After the tour ended, it was about time for the kickoff of the championship match of Ireland’s own Gaelic football. The teams were Kerry vs. Mayo, a team plagued with superstition of being cursed and therefore hadn’t won since 1951. We all gathered in pubs to watch the game and eat with locals, and after getting the rules and scoring explained, we marveled at a new complex sport. Mayo won! For dinner, we all enjoyed a three-course meal with live music and traditional Irish dancers.
In-Country Post #1
Hello again from Dublin,
It’s been four days here, wow. I do miss my family, dog and house but the apartments we’re staying in are great. Mine has a deskside view of a bustling corner, nestled between train tracks and an entrance to Trinity College. I’m sitting there working a lot so it’s nice to have something to look at while I distract myself but more on that later. I’m grateful for this living experience for a couple of reasons. Not having the professors stay with us creates a feeling of independence heightened by the group’s eagerness and the teachers’ urges to explore a new big city. We text our friends when we have time to go out, and as long as we are in twos we can go wherever we want. The inclusive public transportation passes help too. Another reason is that I get the feeling that shared spaces, bathrooms, and living around classmates is going to epitomize a lot of our college experiences so it’s great practice as we all await our coming college life. That along with balancing a workload with independent fun with friends are skills I’m anxious to figure out for my future and I think my current journey will be a great test track to start testing the waters. The lectures and assignments aren’t easy but the best part is connecting the teachings with all the things we get to see here. We’ve learned about Ireland’s fight for nationalism through lectures and visiting a museum which used to be a revolutionary stronghold. We’ve learned about the book of Kells through a movie based on its creation and then actually going to see it in person right here at trinity.
Now there is a balance to this workload, and on the other side is fun and adventure. If you get the work done early it just means that night you can sit in a pub with your classmates, enjoy the vibes, and listen and sing to live music. During the day though we can walk the streets of Dublin stopping in stores to buy interesting things that will remind us of the trip or souvenirs for our family and friends. Some of my greatest joys this trip has been impromptu conversations with locals. I was told Irish people are known for their curiosity, friendliness and hospitality. I’ve found this to be very accurate. One of my favorite moments of the trip so far has been looking for a bathroom in The Liberties of Dublin and catching an old security guard just as he was locking up the church’s doors. We asked where the closest bathroom was and he replied “right here” and ushered us through the door. He immediately wanted to know all about us, where we were from, what we were doing in Dublin, and what we were doing today. I told him all about the Umbc program and he listened with a grand smile and raised, white eyebrows. Then I told him my last name Regan, and that my ancestors were from County Cork where they immigrated to Boston. He said, “Really, I’m from County Cork! And I have a granddaughter who lives in Boston!” We conversed some more, he informed me my last name was a Cork surname, and he sent us on our way. That happens everywhere, whether it be a quick bestoweth of Irish wisdom or a conversation about where I’ve come from it feels Ireland has greeted me with open arms.