Students have the opportunity to receive scholarships paying for up to $4,000 to study in Ireland after a four-year absence of the study abroad program.
The trip will be for 18 days from June 15 to July 2nd. Throughout the trip, the students will be attending classes in Belfast, Dublin and more, as well as seeing the sights of Northern Ireland.
Lisette Rodriguez is the new study abroad coordinator and the trip will be supervised by LBCC’s psychology professor Kyran Barr.
The trip to Ireland costs about $5,300. Thanks to the funds given to the school by Mackenzie Scott, the program has 20 scholarships that they can give out of a maximum of $4,000.
Long Beach City College’s study abroad program has been put on hold since the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
“We’re rebuilding the program, which will take a little time,” Lisette Rodriguez stated.
Lisette Rodriguez is an advocate for students to go on study abroad trips while at their community college. She looks back at her own study abroad trip to Spain, when she was in community college, as a life changing experience.
“When I came back everything changed. How I studied, how I looked at school. Now I try to travel at least twice a year and I have been to every country,” said Lisette Rodriguez.
The first study abroad trip that Long Beach City College is offering will be during the Summer of 2024 to Ireland studying for the class named Abnormal Psychology, and students who go will get a credit for the class.
The reason why this study abroad program will take place in Ireland and Northern Ireland with trips to Dublin, Belfast and other universities and historical landmarks is because of a period in time called “The Troubles” during 1968 through 1998 Ireland was going through a conflict between the Catholic and Protestant churches.
The Protestant churches were known as the Unionists and desired to stay with the United Kingdom, however the Catholic Church, also known as the Nationalists, wanted to break free from the United Kingdom and be their own nation.
This conflict led to a low-level war and was the cause for about 3,600 deaths Before an agreement known as the Good Friday agreement was reached in 1998.
Even after this time, Ireland continued to struggle. Many citizens would face mental health issues and there was a high level of PTSD in their citizens.
“Although the people of Ireland have had many struggles they also have great resilience,” Barr said.
To apply for the scholarship, students can go to Long Beach City College’s website, press “Admissions and Aid” then go to “Financial Aid” and press “Scholarships.” Then, press “LBCC Scholarship Applications” and go to “Search for Applications.”
Students will then be taken to a general application where you can sign up for hundreds of scholarships at the same time. When you sign up for scholarships you can check “Yes” to the question “Are you interested participating in the Study Abroad Program?” and write a little bit about why.