Author: Nico Clapp

DU student studying abroad at the University College Cork in Ireland. Blogging my adventures, misadventures, and daily life to make the next generation just a little bit less foolhardy than me.

Life at UCC

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The Academics

The experience of entering the Irish education system is what I imagine a baby bird must feel when first pushed out of the nest. Going from the highly structured courses at DU to having nothing due until the end of the term was definitely a shock to my system. I know some of my peers had midterms, but I did not. All of my classes required an essay, and two of them have a final exam in addition to the essay. The ones just graded on an essay are Aspects of Irish Folklore, the Psychology of Everday Life, and Child and Adolescent Psychology. The ones graded on both are Introduction to Modern Irish History for Visiting students and Ancient Ireland. You are mostly left on your own to figure out writing the essays, though most professors are open to questions and UCC has a skill center to help if you need it.

The secret to this is to manage your time from the beginning. I knew that I had a lot of major essays to work on, so I started that work as soon as possible. As I write this, it’s the end of October, about a month and a half before my essays are due, and I have 4/5 mostly complete. I’ve managed my time so that I will not have to work on essays as I study for exams. I highly highly recommend this method, it’s the best way to avoid being ridiculously overwhelmed by the end of the term, and it lets you give your essays the attention they deserve – and it makes some of them even fun to do.

Lectures are a relatively small part of my learning. Many students don’t go to lectures not directly related to their interests, unless it’s a class with a final exam rather than a final essay. Some classes have rotating lecturers, so you have a different person each time. The more niche the topic, the less likely the lecturers will be rotating. I have rotations in two of my five classes, the least niche topics (Modern Irish History and Child and Adolescent Psychology). I would say I do not like rotating lecturers as much, as it means I do not know them well, but it’s fine enough and I still feel like I learn well.

This very independent, non-structured way of learning is difficult to adjust to, but I think it’s very valuable to experience. You learn how to manage your time well, how to motivate yourself, and how to do tasks independent of instruction. I think this will be very valuable to the Experiential Project I’ll be working on when I get back to DU. I’m excited to return to the world of assignments, but I’m so glad I got to experience this different way of working.

Social Life

Am I the best person to ask about social life? Absolutely not. There is a reason this section is shorter than the academics one – I am a massive nerd. That being said, I’m not a total shut in, so I do have some things to say about social life at UCC.

UCC has a lot of “societies.” A society is what we would call a club back in the USA, but specifically referring to non-sports clubs. They use the word “club” specifically for sports-related activities. UCC is one of the few schools in Europe that do not charge you to join a society, which I think is pretty awesome. I’m part of WARPS, which is basically the school’s main nerd society. I play DnD there and act as one of the dungeon masters, it’s a lot of good fun.

You will likely connect the most with visiting students, rather than locals. This is partially due to shared experience, and partially because locals are hesitant to befriend people they know will leave soon. UCC also provides a lot of spaces specifically for visiting students, such as courses specifically made for us and a few school-organized trips to placed like Kildare and Killarney. Societies and clubs are the best way to befriend some locals as well as visiting students.

I made some connections with other visiting students before even getting to campus. UCC provided us with a visiting students chat on the Goin’ app, and I chatted with a few people to find who I clicked with. I ended up clicking most with one person, Kaii, and then was invited by him to join a Discord server to play online art games. Kaii introduced me to more people when I got to UCC, and the people I met through him are the main people I hang out with now. We recently did a Halloween party, which was so much fun! I highly recommend trying to make connections before you get to UCC.

A Guide to Shopping In Cork

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You just arrived in a brand new country with nothing but whatever could fit in your suitcases. It’s likely you’ve never been the one in charge of feeding yourself, previously dependent on your parents or the DU dining hall. It’s weird, it’s overwhelming, and it’s one of the first big challenges of study abroad. I’m here to help guide you through it.

Here’s a rundown of my usage of the stores I’ve been to the most:

  • The best place to go on your first shopping expedition is the Tesco Superstore (not the Tesco Express, which only carries food). It’s a one-stop shop for all kinds of things, the perfect place to get what you need and couldn’t bring with you from home (I got towels, soap, a trash can, cleaning supplies, etc from there). Tesco is also the best place for groceries if you prioritize variety (and often quality) over cheap prices.
  • Lidl is the best place to get lower cost food. I’ve gone there every grocery shopping expedition after the first one. It doesn’t have the variety of Tesco, but it’s decent enough and better for saving money. Just be careful or you’ll end up like me: with armpits stained from the Lidl shopping bag (beware of dye transfer).
https://www.tumblr.com/duinucc/830028250132709376/beware-of-the-bags
  • Normal is a good place for any personal products. It has a huge variety of soaps, shampoos, shaving equipment, makeup – anything to do with taking care of yourself, and at a pretty good price.
  • Dealz and and Mr Price are both good for affordable household goods. Mr Price has more food options than Dealz and Dealz has more clothing items than Mr Price.
  • Centras are everywhere and there will almost definitely be one next to where you’re staying. They’re very good for ready meals and things you need quickly, but they’re overpriced. I use my local Centra when I need to, but I do all of my primary shopping elsewhere.

You will probably be shopping a lot, since you get very little fridge space to store perishable items in the student accommodations. That being said, Cork is super walkable; I can get to basically any of the stores I listed in a 20-30 minute walk, and a very pleasant walk at that (Cork city is awesome for pedestrians).

https://www.tumblr.com/duinucc/830028497916428288/my-groceries-from-today-i-never-get-too-many-at