Maynooth University International Summer School Is In Full Swing!

MUISS Students on their Dublin Orientation Day
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - 09:45

We here are MUISS have had an exciting and busy first two weeks, I am here to give you a quick rundown of all the events and trips our international students have been taking part in in order to be immersed in Irish culture and life. From GAA sessions to trips to the hill of Tara our students have been all over the country already with many more experiences to come.
It all started on the 6th of July with our arrival day. Students from all over the USA and Canada arrived into the terminals of Dublin airport to be greeted by one of our friendly MUISS staff. The students were transported to Maynooth University where they enjoyed a quick tour of the campus before relaxing that evening with pizza and a movie. Arrivals day is always one of the most enjoyable days of the programme, amongst the mayhem of Dublin airport the students bring a real excitement and exhilarating atmosphere. There are new people to meet and places to see and after hours of travel the students have arrived in their home for the next four weeks.
 
After an exciting first day the students were invited to attend a trip to Dublin. This was the first time in the capital for most students and was a delightful day out. Our students gathered onto buses and received a tour of Phoenix Park and the city centre before arriving at the Guinness store house where they enjoy their afternoon pulling the perfect pint and enjoying the views from the panoramic sky bar before travelling back to Maynooth to relax before their first day of class the next morning.
 
At MUISS it is not all classrooms and essays, our students learn outside the classroom through induvial class trips. This is an excellent way for students to learn in a non-traditional sense and an excellent wat to get out a see around the country. So far, our guests from University of North Texas have enjoyed a trip to the Dáil Éireann-Our national parliament. Our economics of the European union class enjoyed the same tour before attending an interactive talk at the European parliament in Ireland. Our public speaking class also had the pleasure of attending the Dáil before receiving a talk at the old Irish Seanad- the upper house of the Oireachtas. These trips to Dublin were extremely beneficial to our students as the learned a lot about current Irish politics as well as the history of our government buildings and structures. Our creative writing class travelled to trinity college where they had the honour of viewing the book of Kells. This trip was extremely enjoyable for this class as they had the pleasure of learning some Irish history whilst viewing one of the most famous books in the world.
Some of our classes travelled outside of Dublin to places like County Meath where they viewed historical sites such as Trim Castle and The Hill of Tara here, they were truly immersed in Irish history. Our international business class attended a tour of the Newbridge Silverware factory in Kildare where the learned a lot about the manufacturing and history of the world-famous tableware company. Our Irish heritage class travelled to Clonmacnoise and Corlea where they gained a lot of knowledge of Irish history and mythology.
 
 
Our students also have the pleasure of attending events organised and lead by our team of hands on coordinators. So far, our students have enjoyed taking part in sporting events such as ultimate frisbee lead by the university’s team and GAA football lead by local coaches. Our students have also been spectators as they travelled to our national stadium to watch two of our best hurling teams Cork and Kilkenny battle it our in the quarter finals. This was an excellent way for our students to watch some Irish sport and soak up the riveting atmosphere. Our students have also taken part in a photograph challenge around the campus grounds and the town of Maynooth where they snapped their most creative photographs in order to win some prizes. Our students also travelled to Base where the true competition began as they battled it out in laser tag and bowling before enjoying some pizza. Our students have also been socialising and demonstrating their vast general knowledge skills every Tuesday at a trivia night hosted at our local pub.
We have certainly been busy over the last two weeks and that is certainly not slowing down any time soon, with weekend trips to the famous Giant’s Causeway and the beautiful Glendalough coming up this weekend and an overnight trip to the city of culture; Galway coming up. They also have events such as karaoke and a ceili to be warming up for. Our students still have a lot to look forward to for their last two weeks.

Article written by MUISS Coordinator Ann-Marie Browne.