‘For the green and white I adore’

By Adrien Gobin

Associate Editor

Courtesy of Adrien Gobin

Entering my senior year, I faced a challenging question: “What am I going to do after I graduate?”

After months of job applications and what feels like more than hundreds of rejections, it made me think about if I were to take a couple months off and continue this dream of traveling the world. 

Part of me worries about how many career opportunities I would be missing out on. The other part thinks about how many things I am missing out on by not discovering the world.

Before this past summer, I was certain I would pursue a career in my field and was OK with that. And then I interned and lived abroad, and it was one of the best things I’ll probably ever get to experience.

It changed my life.

No one truly prepares you for what studying abroad is going to be like and how much it changes and moves you as a person. 

I always had this dream of going abroad, and when I came to college, it never seemed achievable to me. Between all my classes and extracurriculars, it was never the “right time.” I thought I needed to be in the right period in my life. 

The truth is, I was never “ready,” but I was brave enough to try.

When I first arrived at my apartment in Galway, Ireland, I was sitting with an overwhelming fear of being alone, not getting along with anyone in my program, and worrying about hating my experience. 

All that fear was far from true. I met amazing people in the most amazing country. We did everything together. When we weren’t working, we were with each other. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better group to spend two months with. It is truly what made the experience so worthwhile for me.

Ireland has this homey, cozy feel to it that never goes away - it always lingers. 

Prior to my internship, I had been to Galway for just two days on a family vacation, and ever since that time, I knew I had to go back - it was calling me. 

Part of me is still there. It will forever and always be such a special place to me. 

Traveling teaches you things about yourself you could never fully learn about in your daily life. It teaches you about people, culture, resilience, and how to be independent in a world that exists outside of the one you know. It’s so fascinating.

Experiencing those feelings and new cultures truly changes perspective and shows just how big the world is, how much there is to see, and how many people there are to meet. 

With only 15 days left until commencement, I still haven’t figured out what I am going to do yet after graduation but I do know that not a day goes by where I am not thinking about my days exploring Ireland and what I wouldn’t give to go back and do it all again. 

Even though I’m still jobless but searching, I will spend every day trying to get back to ‘the green and white I adore.’