I obtained a bachelor's degree from Queen's University, Belfast in the summer of 2015. Despite the smiles and the congratulations, the sense of relief that it was successfully finished, the sense of fulfillment and pride suddenly slipped away in the following days. This rapid depletion of self-regard and satisfaction was due to a realization that I knew was inevitable, but had avoided confronting in my three years of study. I'll address this realization soon. But first...

Since I've been here I'm frequently confronted with the question of why the hell I moved from the rolling green fields of Ireland to America. Americans seem positively baffled by my decision to leave the land of Guinness and shamrocks. Why would I come to America, I'm constantly inquired of. A country that is on the verge of handing the Presidency to either a reality TV star/business mogul who seems to think it's alright to say whatever you're thinking, no matter the implications, or a seasoned politician, who might have engaged in some dubious dealings and probably deserves jail time. Whatever my views or which side I'm on, information I shan't disclose in this space, I am thrilled to be here at such a decisive, dangerous, and, I must say, mildly entertaining, time. Alongside this wacky leadership contest, there's also a plethora of social problems, economic difficulties, racial violence, police brutality, the diminishment of the middle class, the list goes on and on, all magnified on worldwide news for the whole earthly population to see. So why would I leave the comfy confines of Ireland to this complicated soup of trouble?

My answers to these questions of discombobulation (without listing any of the persisting political or social problems within Ireland itself, (seriously, so many Americans ironically think Ireland is a trouble-free country. Of course, others know of the trouble my country has faced, but they casually reply with, 'But everyone gets along now, right?')) relates to the inevitable realization I referred to back in the first paragraph of this article. Holding my freshly pressed degree in my hand as I left the gates of education, it dawned on me that I had planned nothing. Any student out there reading, and I'm sure there's a few, who have no plans, post-degree, take a while to think about it. It's a disconcerting feeling, knowing you have the potential and capacity to achieve the academic success of completing higher education, and yet are unprepared for how to apply this potential to your life. I felt like I hadn't gained a whole lot. Except the hangover from knowing I used my student allowance, granted by the government, very irresponsibly. And I felt lost.

And along came America. With her elaborate politics and her slices of pizza and her TV commercials. With her pride, her justice and her statues of liberty. It kind of all just attracted me, and always has. My mother being a born and bred Californian - minus the surfboard and agent (just as some Americans stereotype the Irish, so we stereotype the Americans) - I always had the option to make the move. I pledged since I was ten years old that I would make the move. And I did. And sure, it's been grand.

I don't mind people inquiring why I moved. They hear my accent, and it's a matter of curiosity, of course they will ask. It's the disbelief that I would move at all that gets to me. 'Why wouldn't I move?!' I feel like saying. No, I'm not going to school. No, I didn't move for a job. No, I'm not even visiting. I'm just here. I'm experiencing, shall we say. As I stood at those gates, holding a piece of paper that verified that I had worked sort of hard for three years, I realized that I was 22 and had seen some stuff, but I had hardly seen anything at all. My dad always says, 'You have your whole life ahead of you'. Unless I die, but that's beside the point. We don't need reasons, we don't need explanations, we don't need to feel guilty for making a decision. We need impulse. I impulsively made the decision to hop across the ocean - and I'm enjoying myself.

I guess what I mean, metaphorically, philosophically, in relation to life-ally, is that if you're not happy, if you're not satisfied, go with your gut. Make a trip. Don't dwell on it. Know that it will be good for you. Einstein said, 'The only source of knowledge is experience'. You're young. You're ready. I thought I wasn't. I'm still not, really. I probably never will be. But I'm trying new things. I'm living a new life. Just because I can.