My name is Madison Weaver, and I am a junior Creative Writing and Multimedia Communications double major at Bucknell University. I’m starting 2018 with a brand new adventure: three and a half months living and studying in Dublin, Ireland.
While my parents briefly lived in Australia before I was born, I will be the first person in my immediate family to go to Europe. I've never traveled alone before, nor outside of North America, so this is a huge adventure for me. My family plans on visiting sometime this spring, and I am so excited to explore with them and show them what I've learned about the city during my time there.
Aside from a few old stories, I know very little about my ancestors. We know that my mother's side has some Italian and Irish blood, and likely a little English and Welsh, but we have very little knowledge about either side of my family before they immigrated to the United States. This Christmas, my parents both took a DNA test to learn more about our family history, and I am anticipating the results while studying in Ireland, as limited as the information may be.
Packing for this long adventure has meant reading a ton of travel blogs and debating every article of clothing in my closet. I have a rather plain sense of style, and my mother has to keep reminding me to pack more clothes and bring something other than denim or black! Recently, my father found a stack of old denim jackets and I'm bringing an adorably rustic Levi's jacket that was once my grandfather's before being passed down to my mother. I’ve found that packing cubes are very helpful when organizing and compressing clothing, and that it’s often helpful to fold bulky items like jeans and roll thin shirts and dresses. Most importantly, I’m bringing my trusty raincoat, new waterproof boots, and a waterproof backpack cover for my favorite bag.
A creative writing major and daughter of a photographer, I'm keeping two of the most important things in my carry on: my journal and my camera. I've been keeping a journal for about four years now, and bought a slim leather covered journal to make traveling and logging my adventures a little easier. While in Dublin, I also plan on using it to keep track of my budget and class responsibilities. This past semester, I took a digital photography course and have grown very attached to my camera. After traveling around New Orleans and Savannah this summer, I am so excited to have another city that blends modern and historic atmospheres to be my photographic playground. Look out for lots of photo posts on my blog as well!
I also took a course on Irish literature this past semester, studying the poetry of William Butler Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney, and Eavan Boland. I’m looking forward to exploring all of the historical nooks and crannies of Dublin, especially those relating to literature. I love learning about the history of cities and can’t wait to be submerged in Irish culture.
Next time you hear from me, I’ll be on Irish soil, ready to start a new journal and a new year on a whole new continent!
Madison Weaver
<p>My mother is a professional photographer, instilling in me a life-long love of photography and visual art. Assisting in her studio since I was fourteen, I've learned to capture landscapes and people in unique ways. I am a creative writing merit scholar at Bucknell University, where I have found my passion in nonfiction writing and honed my writing and editing skills as a news editor for the student run newspaper. Inspired to combine my passions for the literary and the visual, I took the initiative to create an interdepartmental Multimedia Communications major, utilizing the design, marketing, and business expertise on campus to expand my passion for sharing and communicating.</p>
