Gaeltacht alone

AliceRyan

I am a 17 year old fifth year student studying honours Irish.

My mum put my name down for a scholarship and I got called for an interview- short Irish oral. I got the scholarship and I was thrilled.

It is for 3 weeks and worth almost 800 so it is an excellent opportunity but I am very nervous because I wont no anyone there. I am initially quite shy when I meet people but when I get to know them I talk a lot.

I am afraid that everyone there will be with friends or that I will be housed with a group of friends who will ignore me. Any advice on dealing with this/ making friends quickly?

Also what should I bring for the 3 weeks. Any experiences/ advice would be fantastic. Thank you

GaelMise

AliceRyan wrote: »

I am a 17 year old fifth year student studying honours Irish.

My mum put my name down for a scholarship and I got called for an interview- short Irish oral. I got the scholarship and I was thrilled.

It is for 3 weeks and worth almost 800 so it is an excellent opportunity but I am very nervous because I wont no anyone there. I am initially quite shy when I meet people but when I get to know them I talk a lot.

I am afraid that everyone there will be with friends or that I will be housed with a group of friends who will ignore me. Any advice on dealing with this/ making friends quickly?

Also what should I bring for the 3 weeks. Any experiences/ advice would be fantastic. Thank you

You know nobody there, nobody there knows you, therefore you can be anyone you want and they will just accept that.




(I suggest you be Batman)

Insect Overlord

I went to Irish college alone after TY. Ended up meeting 2 lads I knew from Limerick and sharing a room with them for the whole thing. Best 3 weeks ever. You might not meet people you know, but you should be guaranteed a new gang of buddies. And pretty much everyone cries when they're going home. :pac:

What to bring? Clothes, toiletries, copies, pens, dictionary, a towel, swimwear, a good jacket, a GAA jersey/sports clothes. The bean an tí might not want hair straighteners or curlers, so be prepared to have to use them in secret. Same with mobile phones and chargers.

Which Irish college are you going to?

hullaballoo

I agree with An File, you will be guaranteed to make a new group of friends, possibly good ones.

You'll be sharing a room with at least one other person so, even if it might be initially awkward, you will notice that the fact that everyone is essentially doing something new in a strange place will make it easier to mix. People don't go to Irish college to make enemies either, so don't be worried!

One thing that I found was that the food was never enough for my appetite, nor was it particularly varied. It might be an idea to bring some snacks (nutritious ones, not crisps and dairy milks) that will last you the three weeks. Crackers, dried fruit and nuts are a good idea. Obviously, people will steal these things from you so compensate for that.

AliceRyan

I am going to one in cork. Also what age are most people as I have been told that 17 (18 in the summer) is very old for it. Will everyone be a lot younger? And is it easy to make guy friends as I know very few locally but always get on better with them. Thanks for all the advice.

An File wrote: »

I went to Irish college alone after TY. Ended up meeting 2 lads I knew from Limerick and sharing a room with them for the whole thing. Best 3 weeks ever. You might not meet people you know, but you should be guaranteed a new gang of buddies. And pretty much everyone cries when they're going home. :pac:

What to bring? Clothes, toiletries, copies, pens, dictionary, a towel, swimwear, a good jacket, a GAA jersey/sports clothes. The bean an tí might not want hair straighteners or curlers, so be prepared to have to use them in secret. Same with mobile phones and chargers.

Which Irish college are you going to?

deirdremf

AliceRyan wrote: »

I am going to one in cork. Also what age are most people as I have been told that 17 (18 in the summer) is very old for it. Will everyone be a lot younger? And is it easy to make guy friends as I know very few locally but always get on better with them. Thanks for all the advice.

There will be all ages, I'd imagine.
Beidh an-spórt agat, agus cuirfidh tú aithne ar dhaoine eile go tapa. Ach is dóigh liom go mbeidh tú i dteach le b'fhéidir 10 gcailíní eile, agus cuirfidh tú aithne orthu i dtosach.
B'fhéidir go mbeidh duine eile ó do cheantar ann, nó fiú ó do scoil!

Moonbeam

I went alone 5 years in a row and made some brilliant friends:)
I can be shy but so many other people were in the same boat.
I loved every second of it.