By Julia Oller | Echo
The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence-unless it's a stone fence in the middle of the Irish countryside.
For the 29 students in Taylor's Freshman Irish Studies Program (FISP), icy Indiana can't compare to the rolling hills of Ireland.
"The landscape (here) is a bit of a letdown," said freshman Ryan O'Malley.
Twenty-three freshmen and six student leaders (overseas mentors) from Taylor met for the first time two days before they flew to Ireland on Aug. 20. They spent three months learning new skills like Irish dancing and immersing themselves in Irish culture. In the process, the students formed a tight bond. The group's home base was the YWCA in Greystones, a seaside town south of Dublin.
"Being so close 24/7 made us more than friends," said freshman Megan McKechnie. "We became a really big family."
Anna Wolford described an incident that sealed their already-close relationship. What the freshmen thought would be a relaxing day trip to the Cliffs of Moher turned into a frightening thrill ride. Strong winds at 80 mph blew sea spray and rocks 700 feet up the face of the cliffs, hitting one student in the back of the head. People were thrown over walls and onto the sidewalk, and the door was ripped off the bus. Although no one was seriously injured, the terror of the moment highlighted how much they cared for one another.
"Nothing says family more than overcoming death-defying obstacles together," Wolford said.
The tight-knit nature of the group has created a few more obstacles since arriving home on Nov. 26. While in Ireland, the FISPers quickly became inseparable due to their constant interaction. Making new friends while maintaining relationships with one another has been difficult for a few of the students."We weren't being pushed in Ireland to have intentional community. We genuinely wanted to know each other, whereas at Taylor it's almost forced to have intentional community to the point that people aren't genuine about it," McKechnie said.
Even though she misses Ireland, freshman Bekah Estes immediately felt embraced by the Taylor community, especially in her wing, Third East Olson.
"People don't understand what it feels like to be on our side," she said. "It's difficult spending energy getting to know new people, but the girls on my wing made it so much easier."
To remain close as a group during the transition, the FISPers meet every Wednesday for "family dinner" in the DC. The students' emphasis on group cohesion reflects the people-oriented Irish society they adopted during their semester abroad. Irish schedules are fluid; spending time with others is viewed as more important than living by the clock. The only time that matters is teatime, when everyone drops what they're doing for conversation and a biscuit.
This aspect of Irish culture hit home for several of the students when they parked themselves at an Irish coffee shop in Greystones to work on a project. While many Taylor students treat Starbucks like their second home, an oasis ideal for studying and caffeinating, the manager of the Irish shop politely asked the FISPers to put away their laptops and textbooks, saying, "This is not a place for work but for fellowship."
"Our group was dumbfounded at first, and some were really annoyed," Estes said. "Their focus is so on the people and the community . . . and we realized that's something you should never be frustrated with."
O'Malley came to love the relaxed pace of Irish life.
"I could live with a little more Irish 'laidbackness,'" he said.
Learning from the Irish, the FISPers are trying hard to settle into their Indiana home.The Upland grass is looking greener already.
Thumbnail photograph provided by Vinny Owen.
