Erin Landy, a senior at the State University of New York at New Paltz and a member of the field hockey team, spent the 2016 spring semester studying abroad in Ireland, attending the National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) through the SUNY Albany study abroad program.
 
She first had to determine if she wanted to study abroad in Ireland or another country, since she had been to Ireland twice before she was unsure. Landy believed she would feel the most comfortable at Galway and began her process of packing and filling out multiple forms, sometimes having to fill out forms twice because she was not using a New Paltz study abroad program.
 
Any other person would be nervous taking on the daunting task of living in a different county for four months, but not Landy. She credits not being nervous to her having been to Ireland twice previously. 
 
"I wasn't really nervous, I was only homesick the first day," Landy said.
 
While in Ireland, she enjoyed hiking and visiting the many iconic landmarks the country has to offer. She visited sites such as the Aran Islands and the cliffs of Moher, as well as the "ancient domes", Landy described, of Newgrange.  
 
Landy lived in a student accommodation building, staying with six Irish girls she had never met.  She also met and traveled with Keenan Kelly, a student at Albany.
 
Her classes and experience at NUI Galway, Landy described, were different than New Paltz.  Landy had to adjust to a much larger campus and large class sizes. 
 
"The campus was very large, but not too hard to navigate after a few days," she said.
 
Landy explained how the city of Galway is the perfect mixture of city and small town, comparing it to New Paltz.
 
She noticed while traveling around the streets of Galway that the Irish were very friendly and open to people, especially the number of American tourists they see all the time. 
 
But Landy did have to adjust to how cold the weather was. When she was previously in Ireland with her family, she visited during the summer. 
 
"The only downside, which I now look back on fondly, was the long, windy, cold, and rainy walk back from the pitch after practice," said Landy.
Being upset that she would miss her spring field hockey season at New Paltz, Landy joined the club team at NUI Galway. Joining the club team helped her create new friends and new memories to hold onto.
 
"Playing on the NUIG club hockey team was one of the highlights of my semester," Landy said.
 
Playing for the club team helped her perfect her skills as a field hockey player. She was able to work on her stick work, to better her final season playing for the Hawks. Another highlight of her time with the club team at NUI Galway was winning a regional tournament and hoisting the Connacht Cup. 
 
Landy visited many other countries, including Italy, Scotland, and England while abroad. Paris was an experience unlike any other she had while in a foreign country.
 
"Paris was nerve-racking, I saw security in places you wouldn't think," she said.  This was due to the recent terrorist attacks, just months before Erin arrived.
 
Still Landy looks back on her time in Ireland fondly, including the many new friends she made.
 
"We're still in contact, it was hard to say goodbye," said Landy.
 
Now back a New Paltz, playing her final season, Landy wants to make it the Hawks' best season.  One major goal for herself and the entire New Paltz field hockey team is to win a fifth-consecutive SUNYAC championship.