Case Study A - Martin Sedivy

Martin is a very organised and experienced traveller, so he had certain criteria that needed to be met before deciding on the destination for his Erasmus. He was seeking an English-speaking environment, he wanted to participate in IT-focussed classes, and lastly the college needed to have a bilateral agreement with the institution where he is currently enrolled, the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague.

Thankfully, the Dublin Institute of Technology met all of those requirements. And so we find this Informatics and System Engineering postgrad sharing a flat with other students in Dublin City and taking a variety of classes in DIT – mostly in the subject Business Computing.

Martin is also developing his English language ability, which is invaluable when it comes to taking notes in class. ‘Some of the lecturers have the typical Irish accent, so it’s sometimes a little difficult,’ he says. ‘But after a couple of months it’s not bad.’

Feeling at home in Dublin has not proved too difficult for Martin. ‘I’ve already lived in the United States, which was a pretty tough experience, so I have good skills when it comes to settling and establishing a new life.’

As an ‘open-minded’ fellow, one of Martin’s favourite aspects of Dublin is the variety of people living here. ‘Since you opened to the gates to the country years ago, I think Ireland has become one of the most multicultural places in the world. It’s awesome.’

‘It’s a small city,’ he adds, ‘I used to live in Prague which is a lot bigger and busier, but I like Dublin just the way it is. It’s something different, the “Irish spirit” maybe, you see things that you wouldn’t see anywhere else.’

A compliment indeed for the city from such a well-travelled man!