This week was the last week of classes here at UCD. Yesterday I finished my last Irish class, and my classes finally came to a close. Even though the lectures are done, the semester doesn't feel over...maybe that's because I still have three more weeks here in Ireland. But, I think this provides a good opportunity for a reflection on my time in class while here in Dublin.
Each class had it's ups and downs. My sociology class was kind of boring. It was intro level, and quite frankly, the subject seems like common sense. It makes me a bit nervous for the final exam where I'll have to write an essay on a sociological topic given. I'm really not sure how in depth I could go, but we'll see what happens. Irish was one of my favorite classes. It was also intro level, but it was fun learning about the language. It's a crazy language with weird pronunciations and spellings, but the class was fun. I made some good friends in the class, and the teacher was a cool guy. Can't imagine I'll ever use Irish, but hey, it was fun, and I can now carry a basic conversation in Irish. Irish Studies was a different matter. We had different lecturers every week, teaching us about different aspects of Ireland. Some of them were good, but others were just awful. Overall, not a good class. It was boring, and worst of all, I didn't really care all that much about the material. Then there was our final which we took two days ago. They told us it was going to be easy, based on our readings, of which there were 30 (and not small ones either...30 looooonnnng readings), and that we should focus on the big, main ideas. Then I open the exam booklet, and they asked about some of the smallest, minute details imaginable. Oh well, what's done is done. Next was Archeology. Now, when I registered for this class, I figured that a class based on two field trips and a final essay would be easy. That wasn't exactly the case. The field trips were fun, I met more people, and got to see a different side of Ireland. But....the essay...5000 words logging our experience and talking about the sites we visited. Again I had the problem of simply not caring very much. The journal was due two days ago...I started it on Monday night and was still able to finish it on time. Last was History. Now this was a great class. It was about International War and Peace from World War 1 through the Cold War/Decolonization. It was a very fascinating class, although I wasn't a fan of reading the writings of egocentric history academics. But I learned a lot about a time period about which I was previously ignorant.
I've got to say, the Irish academic experience is significantly different than the American experience. First of all, at home, I'm literally in a classroom or lab for at least 15 hours a week. But here in Dublin, I average maybe 10 hours a week. On top of that, I have no class twice a week. Another difference is the structure. Back home, my classes are either on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, or on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Here, they're all over the place. Sociology is on Monday and Wednesday. Irish is on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. History is only on Thursdays, and Archeology was just two field trips. Then there is the assessment method. I was so used to two or three midterm exams per semester, but here I had either no midterm, or just an essay. There's almost no continuous assessment (the exception being my Irish class for which we had four assignments total). As if this wasn't different enough, the grading system is totally messed up too. To pass a class, all you need is a 40 percent overall, so an A is above 70 percent. Then again, given how hard my Irish Studies final was two days ago, it makes sense...seriously, that final was as Charles Barkley says, "just turrble".
Now it sounds like I'm bashing the Irish education, but it really wasn't as bad as I make it sound. They simply value self-motivated, outside learning. Reading, learning, and studying outside of class is essential here...probably should have done more of that!
Now, enough of school stuff. Lately, I've been spending time with non-American international students, and I've got to say, I love it! This is why I came abroad for a semester. It's really amazing that even though we're so close to the end of the semester, I'm still making friends and getting to know my current friends even better. I had a realization a few days ago: I'm anxious to come home because I miss all my friends from home and from school. At the same time, I realize that as soon as I get back home, I'm going to miss all the friends I made here. It's a lose-lose situation for me! Thankfully there's Facebook for us to all keep in touch!
Well, now that classes are over, I need to study for final exams (Yuck!). Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home, and don't go too crazy doing your Black Friday shopping!
Each class had it's ups and downs. My sociology class was kind of boring. It was intro level, and quite frankly, the subject seems like common sense. It makes me a bit nervous for the final exam where I'll have to write an essay on a sociological topic given. I'm really not sure how in depth I could go, but we'll see what happens. Irish was one of my favorite classes. It was also intro level, but it was fun learning about the language. It's a crazy language with weird pronunciations and spellings, but the class was fun. I made some good friends in the class, and the teacher was a cool guy. Can't imagine I'll ever use Irish, but hey, it was fun, and I can now carry a basic conversation in Irish. Irish Studies was a different matter. We had different lecturers every week, teaching us about different aspects of Ireland. Some of them were good, but others were just awful. Overall, not a good class. It was boring, and worst of all, I didn't really care all that much about the material. Then there was our final which we took two days ago. They told us it was going to be easy, based on our readings, of which there were 30 (and not small ones either...30 looooonnnng readings), and that we should focus on the big, main ideas. Then I open the exam booklet, and they asked about some of the smallest, minute details imaginable. Oh well, what's done is done. Next was Archeology. Now, when I registered for this class, I figured that a class based on two field trips and a final essay would be easy. That wasn't exactly the case. The field trips were fun, I met more people, and got to see a different side of Ireland. But....the essay...5000 words logging our experience and talking about the sites we visited. Again I had the problem of simply not caring very much. The journal was due two days ago...I started it on Monday night and was still able to finish it on time. Last was History. Now this was a great class. It was about International War and Peace from World War 1 through the Cold War/Decolonization. It was a very fascinating class, although I wasn't a fan of reading the writings of egocentric history academics. But I learned a lot about a time period about which I was previously ignorant.
I've got to say, the Irish academic experience is significantly different than the American experience. First of all, at home, I'm literally in a classroom or lab for at least 15 hours a week. But here in Dublin, I average maybe 10 hours a week. On top of that, I have no class twice a week. Another difference is the structure. Back home, my classes are either on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, or on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Here, they're all over the place. Sociology is on Monday and Wednesday. Irish is on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. History is only on Thursdays, and Archeology was just two field trips. Then there is the assessment method. I was so used to two or three midterm exams per semester, but here I had either no midterm, or just an essay. There's almost no continuous assessment (the exception being my Irish class for which we had four assignments total). As if this wasn't different enough, the grading system is totally messed up too. To pass a class, all you need is a 40 percent overall, so an A is above 70 percent. Then again, given how hard my Irish Studies final was two days ago, it makes sense...seriously, that final was as Charles Barkley says, "just turrble".
Now it sounds like I'm bashing the Irish education, but it really wasn't as bad as I make it sound. They simply value self-motivated, outside learning. Reading, learning, and studying outside of class is essential here...probably should have done more of that!
Now, enough of school stuff. Lately, I've been spending time with non-American international students, and I've got to say, I love it! This is why I came abroad for a semester. It's really amazing that even though we're so close to the end of the semester, I'm still making friends and getting to know my current friends even better. I had a realization a few days ago: I'm anxious to come home because I miss all my friends from home and from school. At the same time, I realize that as soon as I get back home, I'm going to miss all the friends I made here. It's a lose-lose situation for me! Thankfully there's Facebook for us to all keep in touch!
Well, now that classes are over, I need to study for final exams (Yuck!). Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home, and don't go too crazy doing your Black Friday shopping!
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