Notre Dame students embrace community-engaged learning in Ireland

A semester abroad is a time rife with growth and opportunity. For the 2025 spring semester Notre Dame Dublin students, the influx of new people, places, and classes has not been overwhelming; it’s been energizing. Through the Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) program, many students have taken on additional responsibilities through intentional, place-based volunteer opportunities to better understand Ireland and its capital city.

Notre Dame students can opt to volunteer with a variety of organizations during their time studying in Dublin. Consistent weekly service placements draw students beyond their Notre Dame and Dublin-host university “bubbles” and into relationships with diverse communities and the people and organizations who live and work within them.

Notre Dame Dublin’s CEL program partners with organizations ranging from educational outreach to food banks in the city centre. Regardless of the organization, the spring 2025 cohort engaged deeply with the University’s mission to “create a sense of human solidarity and concern for the common good.” In different ways, students offered their time, gifts, and talents to be a force for good in their temporary home.

Beyond an opportunity for community service, these experiences also prompt students to recontextualize their understanding of Dublin and the wider nation. With no language barrier between Ireland and the United States, students can sometimes be lulled into a more comfortable study abroad experience. Volunteering and community engagement is one way to combat this, bringing the differences between Ireland and the US into sharper focus and encouraging students to encounter cultural complexity and challenge assumptions.

The Community-Engaged Learning Program

Dublin is an international city, and many of our students worked with migrant communities who now call Dublin home. Lauren Engates, a resident of Lyons Hall, volunteered at Crosscare Aftercare in the Youth Education Service (YES) program, which supports unaccompanied minors from refugee and migrant backgrounds on their education journey in Ireland. Lauren met weekly with one student to work on advanced English language acumen as he prepared for university.

“We worked through business vocabulary so he could practice his English skills and learn terms that may not be intuitive to someone who did not grow up with English as a first language,” Engates shared.

Engates’s experience was echoed by Allison Elshoff, a junior studying abroad at University College Dublin, who also volunteered at YES. Elshoff said the work was eye-opening, especially as she witnessed “very young people living independently and navigating the Irish educational system.”

Elshoff shared that her appreciation for service organizations like Crosscare grew significantly across the semester. “Given the obstacles and language barriers these students face, centers like Crosscare provide a much-needed space for these young people to receive educational support and be part of a warm, encouraging community,” she said.

Reid Ragsdale, a Spanish and pre-health major, shared that the experience made him more grateful to Dublin as a city. “I was able to witness the city’s openness to newcomers firsthand,” he said. “This receptiveness was inspiring, especially in contrast to the opposite trend in attitudes towards immigrants we are seeing in the United States.” Ragsdale hopes to carry the skills and perspective he gained at YES into his future professional life.

A weekend at Barretstown

In addition to weekly community engagement, students also had the chance to participate in a weekend of service at Barretstown Family Camp, founded by Paul Newman in 1994 to support children with serious illnesses and their families. These family weekends are a chance for campers and their families to relax and enjoy time together without the daily stress of illness.

Notre Dame students served as caras, the Irish word for “friend,” across the weekend by leading camp activities, serving food, and entertaining children while their parents sought respite and reconnected with one another.

Engates said she was drawn to participate in the Barretstown weekend because of the camp’s mission. “I think every young person should be able to experience the ‘magic of camp,’ so it is wonderful to see an Irish organization bringing camp to children who may not usually be able to attend,” she said.

That magic was made possible by a brigade of volunteers, including twenty additional Notre Dame students who spent a Friday through Sunday living with local volunteers and supporting the camp. “The weekend is a true testament to how much Notre Dame wants you to immerse yourself in Irish culture and engage with the local community,” Elshoff said.

The Notre Dame students embraced the camp culture fully. Some led dances while others helped kids try new things, like horseback riding or climbing the rock wall. While Notre Dame volunteers provided logistical support to the camp, they most importantly provided emotional support to campers, their siblings, and parents.

Christine Hruby, who spent her semester at Trinity College Dublin, said the most meaningful part of her weekend was watching the campers grow in confidence. “By the last day, they were very comfortable and open to getting to know us and the other campers,” she said.

Hruby shared a story of her encounter with a camper who was too scared to try horseback riding. “After some chatting, we were able to make her feel safe enough to just try,” Hruby recalled. “While she rode, I talked with her about her family, her favorite sports, and her hobbies. By the end of the ride, she was so happy and confident that she wanted to do it again.”

Justin Zych, a finance major, shared a moment with an eight-year-old camper who was struggling with archery. “He spent the morning frustrated, explaining to me that when he tried archery last year he couldn’t even reach the target,” Justin recalled. “After some encouragement and perseverance, he did more than just reach the target. He hit the bullseye!”

Stories like Hruby’s and Zych’s show the quiet but powerful impact of simply being present to others. The most valuable thing you can offer is your time, and it is in these small moments that we grow immensely.

Over the spring 2025 semester, more than half of the students in Dublin engaged in community service. While some tutored newly-arrived migrants for their Leaving Cert exams, others found community in serving lasagna to families in Kildare. The drive to leave a place better than you found it is instilled throughout a student’s journey at Notre Dame, and this was certainly the case this semester.

The Dublin students gleaned lessons and grew from their engagement in Dublin. Some of these lessons were about Ireland itself, and other lessons were more introspective and personal.

Hruby said her experience confirmed her desire to build a life of service: “It really solidified for me that I want to work in a field where I can give back and leave a lasting positive impact.” Elshoff echoed this sentiment, saying she was grateful to have made an impact, no matter how small, during her short time in Ireland. Engates noted how her perspective shifted to a more global lens through her work at YES. “Service in Dublin enriched my understanding of world politics and issues I may not have fully understood, being from America,” she mused.

Despite the serious nature of the work, students found joy in their engagement. Elshoff said volunteering allowed her to “step outside of [her] normal routine and see a different part of Dublin that [she] otherwise would not have explored.” Ragsdale valued becoming part of a team and working toward a shared goal, saying these experiences helped him move beyond a surface-level understanding of the city. “These valuable interpersonal interactions allowed me to see the varying layers of Dublin culture and feel like more than a tourist,” he summarized.

Zych encouraged future students to consider volunteering abroad to move beyond that touristic view of Dublin. “While signing up for volunteer work may not be everyone’s first instinct when studying abroad, it truly provided some of my best memories of the entire semester,” he said. “I’m so thankful for the experience.”

“I would recommend taking advantage of any Notre Dame volunteering opportunities to anyone looking to immerse themselves in the country they get to call home for a semester,” Elshoff said in agreement.

Through their time, presence, and engagement with local communities, the spring 2025 students came to call Dublin home away from the Dome.