Blog 4 – Dancing Through Academics

/in

Hola, hola, mis amigos! 

 

Wowza! Time flies when you are having fun! I have officially made it halfway through my academic semester here in Limerick! I already have a midterm exam coming up – crazy, right?! I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to experience learning in a whole new context and capacity, which I am delighted to share with you in this blog! Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider the abundant blessings that come from learning! 

 

“Blessings” you say? Why yes! Each and every day, no matter the challenges present, overflows with blessings beyond comprehension! God reaches out to us and gives us “God-winks”, reminding us of His ever-present love and presence! I challenge you to find the “God-winks” that God leaves for you to find in your own life! These are some of my “God-wink” gratitudes from these past few weeks!

 

Three things I am grateful for:

  1. New Experiences (with each new experience comes new perspective, growing my schema of acceptance and love) 
  2. Reverb (an incredible show that blended Irish traditional music with contemporary dance in a modernized fantasy of the future of music and dance – expanding my knowledge and perspective of dance, greatly) 
  3. Spontaneity (there is something refreshing about not planning every second of every part of life – this leads to more adventure and memories made, usually with lots of laughs 😄) 

 

What feeling pervades your mind and body when you hear the word, “academics”? Do you get anxious because tests, exams, quizzes, projects, presentations, and studying are typically parts of the academic regimen? Do you get filled with bubbly excitement because you have the OPPORTUNITY to learn new things? Do you immediately break out in a sweat? 

 

Education and academics mean something different to virtually everyone, especially depending on your background, where you are from, your culture, and how you are raised. I am really beginning to understand and appreciate the various ways that learning can be achieved as well as the benefits and drawbacks of these different modes of information acquisition. This blog is dedicated to comparing my experiences with academics in Ireland to the college life of learning I am accustomed to at MLC in the United States. 

 

Classes Here:

  • Classes have variation in size.
  • There are lectures, tutorials, and lab classes to attend. (I will explain soon!)
  • I have 2-4 assignments that make up my total grade for the entire semester (for each module). 
  • There is more informality with professors. 
  • I am crazy and take too many classes, per the usual! 😁

 

I am not sure what your learning preferences may entail, but because of my experiences attending a private Christian high school and going on to attend a private Christian college, I REALLY appreciate having intimacy within my classroom environments. I don’t like to only be viewed as a test score or a body in a room. I like my professors to know my name, for us to have reciprocating respect, and to be able to actively engage in class content. I typically find myself enjoying these aspects of my classes at MLC, but this is drastically different from what I experience at UL (University of Limerick). 

 

For starters, we must get you to understand the difference between lectures, tutorials, and labs. You may be thinking, “huh???”, and if that is true, then we are twinsies!! That is totally what I was thinking when I first arrived at UL. Like seriously, what do you mean that I don’t just go to the same class period either on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday or a Tuesday/Thursday, depending on the class? Well, here they put an emphasis on hands-on learning in many of their modules! 

 

The lecture time period lasts anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on the class, and is designed to cover the majority of the content in a focused professor-is-telling-you-everything-QUICK-write-that-down sort of way. These classes typically have more people in them, since there is limited interaction between the students and the professor. In one of my lectures, we meet in the auditorium and there are easily over 200+ people in that lecture!

 

Now for the tutorials and labs…This is where more hands on, active participatory learning takes place! These are designed to take the content given in a lecture and make it applicable to the individual, giving practice so that students can be more prepared! Many of my tutorials/labs last roughly 2 hours and are typically my most active moments in a day! I love the way that Ireland structures modules in this way as it really reinforces learning concepts and addresses many different learning modalities (kinesthetic, spatial, visual, etc.)!

 

Not only is there an emphasis on putting learning into practice, but they also focus learning in a way that makes the learner responsible for gaining knowledge. There are no daily assignments for any module. In relation to each module, there are roughly 2-4 assignments given for the entire semester. Assignments could include an essay, midterm exam, presentation, project, or final exam. However, I have a love/hate relationship with this concept. I don’t know about you, but I get lots of anxiety over grades, tests, projects, essays, and quizzes. Having so many daily assignments at MLC gives me quite a bit of anxiety and forces me to be constantly invested in the material learned. It also never gives me time to let new information soak into my brain. 

 

In Ireland, it is a real challenge because you are completely responsible for your learning and what you will take away from a module – you reap what you sow. There is no one holding me accountable for coming home and reviewing the notes from class and marinating in the content, but with the time that I have not completing daily assignments, I am actually able to take the time to deeply process new content and work to shift my ever-changing schemata. My learner responsibility is increasing because I have to take initiative in my learning and my anxiety is less because I am not worried on a daily basis about the grades I am receiving. There are less assignments, but I am so well prepared to complete them that I feel at ease to let go and let God! In the end, grades should be used as a tool to help teachers and learners know where the learner is at in the learning process, not as a punishment for not being perfect. 

 

Informality and professors. How does that make you feel? If a professor were to cuss in the front of class, how would you respond? If you were told to call a professor by their first name, would you? Good questions to ponder, especially because all of the above would highly unlikely be seen at MLC. Here…it is all about the craic (pronounced crack- as in “fun”), baby! Professors may not know my name, but they sure do know how to make class sound like a conversation! We call professors by their first names and they are not afraid to use artistic language with us! They are real and relatable – people who go out to the bars drinking, people who experience hangovers, people who experience conflict, people with families, people who sin, people who strive to make a difference in the world, and yes, people who work as a professor. It is so lovely to see professors being vulnerable because it makes students know and feel that they are human too! Side note…I realize all of the things I just listed might be concerning and I would like to keep you from fretting…I do NOT go out to the bars drinking and I have NEVER been hungover. I know that is extremely hard to believe, but it is true…just ask Laura! 😉

 

So I know at this point I have carried on and on about classes here, but I haven’t told you what kinds of classes I am taking yet…don’t worry, don’t worry…it’s coming…hehe! But wait, let’s be honest. It’s me we are talking about! What kinds of classes do you THINK I would want to take? If you have ever had the silly goofy opportunity to talk to me or meet me, you probably know one key thing about me – my favorite thing in the whole wide world (except for Jesus and my family/friends and Micah)…is DANCE! Yeppers, I decided to get myself involved with the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, here at UL! Currently, I am taking:

  •  An Irish Traditional Music and Dance class (with a Ceili dance tutorial)
  • An Irish Dance Performance Skills class (focusing on learning hard and soft shoe Irish dance)
  • I got invited to take an Irish Set Dance class (with partners)
  • An Aesthetic and Expressive Activities class (a physical education class focusing on teaching young learners gymnastics and dance)
  • A few non-dance classes 
    • Communications 
    • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Needless to say, I am a busy, busy bee, and I absolutely adore EVERY opportunity to move my body and learn new ways of dancing!

 

Highlights of my time thus far include:

  1. Being accepted into the BeMindfUL Programme (looking at mental health and suicide prevention strategies)
  2. Going on a Tree Blitz (working with the Environmental Society to identify every type of tree on campus) 
  3. Purchasing Irish Dancing Hard Shoes (I have so much fun practicing and mixing Irish dancing, tap dancing, and pointe all together into my own fun style) 
  4. A Trip to Dublin (I played Gaelic games, ceili danced, enjoyed the Dublin castle and EPIC museum)
  5. Attended Mallow Street Christian Fellowship 

 

Low-lights of my time thus far include:

  1. Group work for projects 
  2. Not standing up for what I believe in 
  3. Having a lack of motivation 

 

Learned Insights from the Low-lights: 

  1. Group work is a large part of life and most occupations. Learning how to interact with others and find ways to communicate can be a challenge in the moment, but rewarding in the end. These moments of frustration will only lead me to perseverance, determination, and growth in my character as I work to lead my group to find success and comfortability within the context of uncomfortability. 
  2. I have a terrible habit of not standing up for what I believe in while others tell me their thoughts and beliefs. It is vitally important to validate that all people are entitled to their opinions, but I should also not back down from any opportunity to share Jesus with others, especially when I am uncomfortable. I have sinned against God by not putting His name above all and I have asked for forgiveness. I share this with you so that you may find courage and hope in the Lord as He gives you the strength to let the light of Christ shine through you – which is something I pray for deeply!
  3. Let’s face it. Life can be a challenge and there are times when motivation gets so low. I have dealt with this low-light, especially because I am not held accountable for completing a lot of work at the moment. But where does our motivation really come from? It comes from the joy of Jesus! Guys! Every day that we wake up is another day of God’s amazing grace and we ought not to take that for granted! Our motivation is found in the greatest blessing – that Christ died and rose from the dead for our sins! We can confidently wake up with the intention to serve the Lord with the day that He has blessed us with! “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). 

 

Scripture that has surrounded me these past few weeks: 

  • Psalm 18:2 – “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” 
  • John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” 
  • John 15:12 – “My command is this; Love each other as I have loved you.” 

 

Friends, this is all that has been on my heart and mind these past few weeks! I am so thankful to God for blessing me with the experience to love learning in a whole new way – I am truly dancing through academics and life! May the Lord bless you and keep you, now and always! 

 

In Jesus name,

Katie Gilkey