I knew right away that I wanted to study abroad in Italy, but choosing the specific city was a bit difficult for me. Should I choose Rome, the center of all things culture and history? Or perhaps a more modern city such as Milan? In the end, I am so happy I chose the small, charming, historic city of Siena, and I would recommend studying abroad in Siena to anyone who will listen. Here’s why.

A few weekends ago, I was able to take a trip up to one of New Zealand’s 10 great walks. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is said to be one of the most beautiful day hikes in the world. This hike lived up to its expectations.

I recently spent the weekend in Hangzhou. Hangzhou is known for its lovely lake, called West Lake. We took a boat ride on the lake, and one of the viewpoints from the ride is the same image that is on the back of the Chinese one-dollar bill! Such a cool experience to see the origins of such a prominent picture. Hangzhou is very much a tourist city and some parts of the city had the feel of a town where people buy their second home, very high-end and classy. Everything was beautiful. My friends and I went to the Lingyin Temple while there.

The average day of classes in Dublin begins when my alarm goes off at 7:30 in the morning, (2:30 Eastern Standard Time) conveniently accompanied by the rising sun. Where I am housed, in Binary Hub, I’m lucky enough to have an East-facing window, which means that mornings involve a lot of squinting and rushing to shut the curtains before I change, but I am also afforded a lot of natural light.

There are so many reasons to study abroad. There are even more reasons to study abroad in Granada. Here are the things that I love about Granada:

The coffee

As a part of the IES Abroad program, during our spring break, an opportunity for a getaway vacation was graciously given to us. Naturally and thankfully, this just meant traveling from one tropical island to several other tropical islands. Throughout this week, I was able to visit the islands of Floreana, Isabela, and Santa Cruz. It was fascinating to observe the subtle yet distinctive differences between these islands, since that is really what makes them so intriguing to humans in the first place.

In hindsight, I'm a bit of a nightmare child. But I feel like this applies to everyone in college, not just abroad. Call your parents! Not just for emergencies either!

When studying and traveling abroad it’s easy to fall into the trap of just checking things off a list. You can keep track of the number of countries traveled to, new restaurants tried and museums visited, but at the end of the day it’s hard to say you truly know a place without getting to know the people.

A few weeks ago I briefly traveled to Beijing, China. I was only there for two days and spent one of those days at the Great Wall and the other day within the city, viewing just a few of the many historical structures they have. I was able to see Tiananmen square, a 109-acre large square! And then I visited the Forbidden City, an enormous palace for the emperor.

As I near the end of my study abroad experience, I can use three words to describe my feeings. Firstly, I feel grateful. My experience is not over yet, but being close to leaving allows me to reflect on the great opportunities I have had. The second word is overwhelmed. I realize that the finals schedule is approaching, that there are still places I want to explore, and that my life will transition again soon.