Sabirah Mahmud

Program:

• SA: CASA Dublin: Trinity College Dublin

Ask me about...

• Studying abroad as a first-generation student from a Muslim and POC background. 

• How to keep costs low and budget enough to visit a multitude of countries. 

• Being independent when it comes to cooking, cleaning, and taking care of your body.

My Experience Abroad:

As a Penn student, we have a very unique undergrad experience. It is not a typical experience to study at an Ivy League as an undergraduate student, especially with the tremendous amount of opportunities we are provided throughout the four years. The CASA: Trinity College Dublin program provided me a significantly different undergraduate experience, socially and academically. In classes that were significantly bigger than my typical under-fifteen classroom size at Penn, I had to adopt the ability to learn within a lecture-style environment. Moreover, as the social culture at Trinity did not revolve around the campus environment, I was challenged and delighted to be able to integrate into the larger Dublin community than be focused in solely on campus-oriented social environments.  It was challenging to adopt to a completely different campus culture. Although I was a junior, in essence I felt as if I was back to being a freshman again. The experience was valuable,  however, as I was able to understand what worked for me as a campus culture environment especially as I look forward to applying to graduate programs post-grad.

Other Highlights:

• Hiking the mountain in Bray with my Egyptian friend, Marwan, and catching the most beautiful sunset.

• Weekend camping trip in Sligo where I got to go star-gazing near the Atlantic Ocean.

• Debating and being invited as a student speaker in the Graduate Memorial Building with the oldest debating societies, the Hist and the Phil.

• Spending Culture Night in Dublin exploring Grafton Street and the many different events offered with a group of exchange students from Italy, Morocco, Egypt, Germany, and Switzerland.