Meet our Student Ambassador immersed in the vibrant culture of Ireland, sharing first hand experiences and insights from their journey as a student in this captivating country!
And here we are again starting a new year. I have to say that after having concluded the December holiday period, I feel good which surprises me since my experience dealing with Christmas 2022 was quite lonely.
My name is Emilio C. Nogueda and I’m currently studying my second year on the Film and Broadcasting Production course at TUS in Limerick city. For me it was always easy to adapt to other environments or people since from the age of 15 I began to live away from my parents’ house, however due to the proximity I always found myself back home for Christmas, something that when I moved to Ireland did not happen since I am originally from Mexico and to be honest it was such a mental and psychological challenge to go through these dates on my own for the first time. You can basically summarize my last experience with the holidays here as a Yellowstone marathon and Taytos, which I had already gotten around to the idea that it was going to happen again, or maybe not…
I still remember the joy I felt that morning of December 15 when Florent, one of my best friends who lives in Cork, called to invite me to spend the Christmas season with him and his girlfriend. I couldn’t contain my excitement and that same afternoon I bought my train tickets and started counting the days til I arrived and spent a warm Christmas again in the company of the people I love.
Soon the day arrived and I ran to the train station after work, the train trip was pleasant and although Cork greeted me with some rain, the warmness when arriving at my friends’ house changed the whole weather for me. The three of us in the company of two other friends spent an extraordinary evening talking, laughing and playing board games, not to mention the delicious banquet that awaited on the table, all so that the next day we prepared to go to Kinsale and take a walk through the beach.
The rest of the vacation passed normally, that week off we were in our pyjamas playing video games and watching films all day long, only to go out and do our shopping for the new year on the 30th and return to where we were the night of the 24th. Looking back on it 3 weeks later, I can say that my heart still feels immeasurable joy when remembering such beautiful moments. I‘m happy to know that despite the distance there is always someone thinking of me which makes me feel well received and loved in this which may not be my country but my new home.
Emilio Castanon is studying Film and Broadcasting Techniques at TUS via Education in Ireland.