I didn’t understand just how much Ireland had become my home until it was time for me to leave it.

I know it sounds kind of ridiculous. After all, I was only there for three months from September through December. But during those three months, I made it my mission to get to know Ireland. I left no stone unturned: I made friends with as many people as I could, traveled around to castles and natural wonders and heritage sites every weekend, ate the food, learned the slang, listened to the music, studied the history, looked at the art, and even learned a bit of the Irish language.

So, yes, I was only there for three months, but I have never felt more present and connected to a place than I did with Ireland, and I felt that I had become a part of it in some way. Everything that had been a mystery to me while I was preparing to go abroad was revealed, and it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

It took all the way up until I was sitting on the plane flying back to the United States for these feelings to rise to the surface. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about going home, or even that I wasn’t looking forward to going home. It was more like I just didn’t want to believe that it could all come to an end so suddenly. So, as I was sitting on the plane, trying to process everything I had done and seen in the last three months, I was suddenly slapped in the face with the question: What’s next?

Despite my crisis on the plane, being back in America at my home university hasn’t been as difficult as I worried it would be. It’s actually really easy to come home and slip back into the same routine you’ve been following for the last three years, walking past familiar campus buildings wondering if you actually ever even went to Ireland or it was just a strange dream. One quick look through your camera roll will tell you that, yes, it was all real, and then here comes that voice in your head again, asking…what’s next?

When I think about this question of “what’s next,” I can’t help but think about how obsessed we are with the future. Everyone is worrying about what assignments they have due tomorrow, what they’re going to eat for dinner tonight, or where they’re going to go for vacation in the summer. And while we’re thinking about these things, we’re forgetting to look at all the beauty and wonder that’s right in front of us, and all the adventures we could go on right now if we just stopped looking ahead so much.

Maybe that’s the true gift Ireland gave me: While I was there, I wasn’t looking ahead and asking, “what’s next?” Instead, I was connecting with people in real time and exploring hidden gems and diving into the history of a place (which are all things you can do at home as well!).

So, if you find yourself at the end of your study abroad program and feel the urge to move on to “what’s next,” I would encourage you to slow down and give yourself some time to reflect. You might even be surprised by all the beauty that exists around you, even here at home.

Go raibh maith agat (Thank you),

Catherine

Catherine Lietz is a student at Eastern Michigan University and an ISA Featured Blogger. She is studying with ISA in Dublin, Ireland.