Sadly, my time in Belfast has officially come to an end after two short weeks. Though, these two short weeks were filled with amazing opportunities that I will carry with me back at Pitt and throughout life.
My international experience was filled with a lot of rigorous but rewarding coursework. As I mentioned in my last blog post, we had class everyday from 9-5 Monday through Friday. This included lectures from our program instructors as well as guest lecturers from Northern Ireland who were experts in their respective fields. We also engaged in a number of cultural discussions.
Another part of the program was the site visits that we went on. We visited a number of special education schools and program hosts where we were fortunate enough to observe teachers and students within the classroom and learn about special education in Northern Ireland. This was especially rewarding as we were able to interact with the students firsthand and see the methods and therapies in place. As an aspiring physical therapist, it was very interesting to see how they integrate physiotherapy into the special education system. However, it was also very informative and we were able to note the flaws within the system.
As a part of the cultural component of my course, I had to interview three different locals during my time in Belfast. This was an especially daunting task for me, and it caused a lot of stress and frustration. However, once I completed the interviews, I was actually extremely grateful for the assignment. Each of the people I spoke with taught me different things about the culture in Northern Ireland. Everyone was very nice to talk to and the conversations ended up being really naturally as opposed to forced interviews. I even made a friend through the process, and we hung out afterwards and exchanged social medias.
Outside of the academic experiences, we were also able to explore Belfast in the evenings and on weekends. My friends and I found some really great restaurants, and I got to try a lot of different Irish food, which was a goal of mine. As someone of Irish descent, I have had a lot of Irish food before, but I wanted to have authentic Irish food. We went to St. George’s Market in Downtown Belfast, where we got to try more food and buy little goodies. My friends and I also went to both the Titanic Museum and the Ulster Museum while in Belfast. The Ulster Museum is actually considered to be one of the best local museums in the world. It had a lot of interesting information on the Troubles that we got to learn. Outside of Belfast, we visited Giant’s Causeway, which was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. It was absolutely beautiful and helped me to truly appreciate Ireland’s beauty.
Throughout the two weeks, I grew personally, academically, and professionally. Personally, I learned to be more lenient with myself and allow myself to enjoy life more. Usually, I am constantly working or studying to try to stay ahead and on top of things. Because I was only in Ireland for two weeks, I really wanted to make the most of my time. So, I forced myself to take a break from academics constantly and enjoy the new country I was in. I also became more comfortable with change during my time abroad. Since it was so short, I had no choice but to adjust quickly. Academically, I learned to be more focused in my work and goals for the day. In order to finish my assignments but still have time to do fun things, I had to be diligent about my work. Professionally, I grew in my ability to engage in professional environments. In all of our lectures and site visits, I was very engaged and ask questions. I feel like I improved in my ability to generate questions during presentations and lectures.
Overall, my most significant takeaway from the trip was that there is no perfect system in any respect. My program focused on international healthcare and healthcare for children with disabilities. Going into the program, I viewed the United Kingdom’s free healthcare as the ultimate goal and a major positive. After spending time learning about the system, I now recognized that even with its benefits it is still a flawed system. I think this is important for me to remember as I go into the healthcare field and work to make improvements in our own system. I also learned to appreciate all of the small moments and take breaks every once in a while. It is not always a race to the finish line. I am hoping to be back in Ireland soon, but for now I am looking forward to enjoying my last semester at Pitt in the fall. See you all soon!
Best, Reese
