Ireland

At John Paul the Great Catholic University, students have the opportunity to spend 90 days in Ireland serving with NET Ministries. As a transfer students, Trinity’s class schedule is a bit askew, so within a year of arriving in California, she was already off to Ireland to spend a quarter studying abroad!

Things were a bit of a rush as she contributed to several of her friends’ Senior films in addition to her own final exams. The internship started during the “long break” at JP Catholic, where everyone is required to move out of their apartments for a month as they bring in a new Freshman class and clean and reassign housing. Trinity arranged with her roommates to rent a storage unit and they kindly agreed to return her stuff to the apartment at the end of the month. By the time she was on the plane, she had pulled 3 all-nighters within a week and a half, packed all her belongings into storage, and managed a 22-hour travel day plus an 8 hour time change. When she arrived, the NET team was participating in a day of silence, so her welcome was not quite what she expected.

After a month of training, she and three other volunteers were assigned to a local parish where they taught catechism classes and provided activities for the youth group. She stayed in a tiny house with another female team member, where they lived, worked, and learned together. She had a chance to visit some churches in Dublin and Knock. She even got a chance to go to Rome for a weekend.

At the end of the 90 days, she was glad to have had the opportunity. She recommends it to any other students who have a chance to participate. She enjoyed teaching and working with the youth group. She says she was affirmed that ministry is for her, but that the missionary (travel) life-style is not. The most challenging part was the lack of home comforts, close friends, and routine.

Trinity is on track to graduate by September 2025. She looks forward to working in ministry and making a home wherever that may be.