Before arriving in Waterford, I was a bit anxious as to what life would be like for me for the next nine months. I had done extensive research on the Victory Scholar Program, but I had a hard time finding information about what a day in the life for a Waterford resident looked like. I found some pictures and Youtube videos, but nothing along the lines of a blog written by a local. So for prospective applicants, I hope this sheds some light on the subject 🙂
Pronounced like “key”, the Quay is the main strip or ‘downtown’ of Waterford. That’s where you’ll find the Granville Hotel, which sponsors big Thanksgiving-like meals for Alyssa and me on the weekends. The portions are so big that we can make them stretch for lunch and dinner!
Walking into the heart of Waterford, you’ll find a bunch of small boutiques as well as shopping centers like Pennys/Primark and the City Square Shopping Centre. Inside the Shopping Centre is Dunnes where we do our grocery shopping. If you spend 50 euro, you can get 10 euro off – a major key Alyssa and I only recently discovered!
Getting around Waterford has gotten a lot easier since we got back from the Christmas break. The city just put out a new line of busses, and they now run all week. The first semester they only ran Monday through Saturday, which made it hard to get around on Sundays but no more! The newest route is the W4, which picks us up right outside our apartment on WIT’s campus, and drops us off at the door of the Shopping Centre in the city. It even goes past the Mercy which is where Alyssa and I play, practice, and coach for the Wildcats.
For longer trips around Ireland, there’s Dublin Coach and Bus Eireann that can pick you up right outside WIT’s campus (super convenient), or in the city. Or if you get carsick and prefer a smoother trip like myself, you can take the W1, 2, or 4 bus into the city and walk across the bridge to Plunkett Train Station. I’ve found the train tends to be cheaper as well!
Dan, Alyssa, and I live right on campus which makes it very easy to get to class (not to mention get a few extra minutes of sleep). Alyssa and I have class in the business building on campus, but Dan has class at the new WIT Arena off campus. All he has to do is take the free shuttle to the arena though! They run every hour and also pick us up a short walk from our apartment. Alyssa and I will take the shuttle to go workout in the Arena – access to the gym is included in our scholarships which is great!
Hopefully, that short synopsis gave some good insight into a day in the life of a Waterford Scholar. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions!
