Nancy Buckley

Single or Taken: Single and ready to mingle, baby

Major: History and theology

What he’s looking for in a significant other: Someone who is compassionate, and has a good sense of humor are two big ones. However, the one thing I find most admirable in a girl is someone who embraces her flaws and imperfections. There is nothing more attractive than a girl who is just herself, completely natural, and doesn't feel like she needs to try and be someone else around me.

Why he picked Fordham: When I first started looking at colleges I wanted to stay in NYC, but I wanted a campus. Fordham is amazing for academics and the humanities. It was the perfect fit for me -- not too big, not too small -- it was just right.

Campus Involvement: Vice President of the senior class on USG, Sunday school teacher at local Bronx church, a job which I obtained through the theology department, and model in the Fashion for Philanthropy fashion show.

Hobbies: I love to cook. I'm half Irish and half Italian, but my Italian genes take over when I cook. I grew up loving food, and loving emulating my dad in the kitchen. I also enjoy martial arts, especially Brazillian jiu-jitsu, and witty banter and good conversation among friends and family. 

Favorite Pick-Up Line: I don’t have a pick-up line.

What is your guilty pleasure? Watching the food network, and shows on bravo.

When I tell people that I am studying in Dublin for the semester the common response has been, “Have you ever met a mean Irish person?” This, I have learned, is a rhetorical question.  No, I have not.

The Irish poet, W.B. Yeats once said “There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t met yet.”

This week I experienced the perfect example of the pure friendliness that Irish people typically have.

Last Friday, my parents and I went on a road trip to central Ireland to find the house my grandmother grew up in.  We knew the town and the county and nothing else.  When we arrived in this small town (2 pubs, a car garage, a barber shop and a post office was the center), my dad went into one of the pubs and asked these men at the bar if they knew my mom’s family. Within minutes a handwritten phone book was pulled out and we had the phone number of the “bog oak man” who happened to have the same last name as my grandmother.  We call this man who knows my mom’s cousins and directs us to the house and tells us to stop by his house afterwards because it is at the end of the same block. 

Walking through the streets of New York City it is easy to spot a tourist — they typically have maps, fanny packs, running sneakers with their jeans and are sporting some sort of bright neon color because apparently, NYC is going to go black and it will be necessary to be in a glow-in-the-dark neon t-shirt.  So naturally when I came to Europe, I thought that I would blend in because I would be in my normal everyday clothes. Turns out, I was wrong.

Prior to departing to Europe for the semester, some of my other American study abroad friends tried to update their wardrobes to fit the “European style”.  I however, arrived in my regular American clothes, not thinking that styles would be drastically different. However, after being here for almost two months I have noticed some styles that I have not seen in the US.

During orientation week (which was 4 weeks ago - time is going so fast!), our program directors asked us what we thought the American stereotypes were to Europeans; amongst other negative adjectives, competitive was repeated many times in our group.  Prior to coming to Ireland, I never thought of Americans as overly competitive individuals, but after four weeks in Dublin, I understand why; the American lifestyle is completely different.  The best example I can think of is sports. 

In my last post, I was looking forward to joining club sports here at University College Dublin, but as I found out, they have a completely different mentality here.  At home, I both swam and rowed in high school and throughout their respective seasons I had practice six days a week for at least two hours a day. Basically, swimming and rowing consumed my life.  At UCD, most sports teams practice twice a week and they are optional practices; it is so relaxed!

I was really hoping to join the swim team, but I found out the team practices once (yes, just one time a week for just one hour) during one of my classes, unfortunately. I was at a complete loss for words when I learned this, and it suddenly became obvious to me why Americans are perceived as competitive: sports consume our lives so much that it is an actual disappointment if we do not succeed. 

Also, in America, every child dreams of being a Major League baseball player, a NFL linebacker, a professional ballerina, etc. In Ireland, the only professional sport is rugby. All other sports are played by amateurs.