My journey to Dublin began with a five-hour layover followed by a four-hour flight delay, which didn’t help much with my nerves about flying by myself to a different continent where I knew no one. However, when I arrived I was warmly welcomed by the representatives of the program, and by random Irish people around the airport, asking me questions about America, and saying how much they hoped I would love their country. 

I was moved into on-campus accommodations at University College Dublin, along with twenty other American students, and began conducting research in the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology. It was here that I spent my weekdays working alongside PhD candidates from Ireland and across the world, studying the synthesis of substituted 2-guanidinyl pyridines, which have been proven to inhibit the enzyme urokinase Plasminogen Activator (uPA), which is known to promote cancer metastasis. While working, I synthesized two novel compounds and one novel reaction, meaning no one has been recorded to produce these before. This amazing opportunity has allowed me to think innovatively in the lab setting, and has prepared me for my future goals to go to graduate school for a PhD in organic chemistry. Additionally, my career goal is to work in pharmaceutical research, in which this research project will prove helpful due to the medical applications of the final synthesis product. 

Another large part of my experience abroad was forging new friendships, both with Americans and people of other nationalities. The group of students I studied with were from many universities across the United States, many of my new friends were from Michigan State, University of Michigan and Southern Methodist University; most of whom I never would have met if it weren’t for this program. I also had the opportunity to work with two Irish undergraduate students during my eight weeks in the lab, who taught me so much about their culture and have plans to visit each other in the next few years, as they have never been to America before. 

This program also gave me the opportunity to travel on the weekends, which was extremely exciting as I had never been to Europe before. I traveled to London to visit a friend that was on another MSU study abroad program there, I visited Belfast twice and got to explore the Dublin area. My most fond memory was traveling to Paris in July with two of my best friends that I met on the research abroad. Through middle school and high school I took French for seven years, and this gave me the chance to utilize my knowledge in the language and culture. We made friends with students who were French and German but studied in Sweden and have plans to visit them again next summer. The most memorable part of this trip was watching the Bastille Day fireworks over the Eiffel tower, something I’ve dreamt of doing since I was eleven years old. 

Name: Cecilia Morgenstern 
Status: Senior 
Major: Chemistry 
Hometown: Traverse City, Michigan
Program: Arcadia University Summer STEM Research in Dublin, Ireland