Owen sits on grassy rocky cliffs overlooking a calm sea and curving coastline under a cloudy sky.

A Semester of shenanigans

Junior Owen Dwyer (Agribusiness, Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences; Mars, PA) spent his Spring 2026 semester studying at the University College Dublin in Ireland. He flew over on January 12th and traveled back on May 15th to start his summer internship with Elanco!

Lakeside village with terracotta roofs and pastel buildings beside a calm lake, misty mountains beyond.

While in Ireland, he has been living in the campus dorms and taking a full set of courses. Although the classroom size and teaching styles are similar, the evaluation is very different. In his first 7 weeks of classes, he had only three assignments, all of which were presentations. The majority of his grades are based on exams, with some of his final exams worth 50-60% of his class grade.

Owen has been able to travel a great deal while abroad; he has already visited Berlin, London, Brussels, Milan, Amsterdam and Paris. He shared, “My favorite place I visited was in Switzerland, where I went to a small town and was able to ski the Alps, a lifelong dream of mine. Also, Galway, Ireland, to see where I have ancestral roots, even though it was generations ago. But I love Dublin, especially the hikes outside of the city, including the Howth Cliff Walk.”

Owen in a black jacket by the River Thames with the illuminated Tower Bridge in the background at night.

There have been a few surprises during the semester. The first being the weather; it was cold when he arrived, and it hasn’t warmed up throughout the semester. Next has been the ease of public transportation; he travels all over Ireland on the bus and train. Owen has also learned a great deal about Gaelic football, hurling and rugby; there is a big emphasis on these sports. The last surprise was the heavy Irish accent; the ag students from rural Ireland have thick accents, which has made conversing more of a struggle than he imagined.

Owen commented, “Studying abroad has opened my eyes to a whole world. It has shown me that there are so many things on this planet to see and so many different things to experience. The people I've met here who are well-traveled are very well-rounded and interesting. While I have been able to experience a lot of Western Europe, in the future I would love to see more of Eastern Europe, Asia and South America. I now hope to live outside of the US for a time period, if possible, just to experience a new culture.” He has made friends with students from Dubai, Paris, Sydney and Toronto.

Dramatic sea cliffs with grassy tops overlooking churning blue ocean waves under a cloudy sky.

He concluded, “In a way, this all feels like a vacation because there are so many opportunities to see amazing things. I will definitely miss being able to hop on a bus for 2 hours with people I met weeks ago and see a city that has been around for hundreds of years, or booking a flight three days before to go to a city I’ve never been to. I also will miss all the friendships I’ve made.”