Abroad

‘Every aspect of life in the US has been beyond anything I could have hoped for’

Grace Furlong’s opportunity came in the form of leaving Waterford for an athletic scholarship across the pond

Grace Furlong at the Atlantic 10 indoor conference championships in Rhode Island in February.

Grace Furlong
Thu Jul 13 2023 - 06:01

I think growing up in Ireland you are always acutely aware that, just as there is the option to grow up and make a life here, there is the option to go.

I always knew I would fall into the latter category. I didn’t quite know what that would look like, but I knew I was going to make it happen.

I think it’s in the blood of Irish people, whether it is an itch that needs to be scratched or something hard-wired into our DNA from the waves of immigration that characterise our history. Either way, my opportunity came through the form of an athletic scholarship. I had done track and field since I was 14 and this was just one of the amazing opportunities it has afforded me.

The choice was difficult, I had heard from a lot of different universities throughout the US – each with their own unique draws. That being said, I had my list of criteria. I wanted an academically rigorous school, near a city and on the east coast. George Mason University had everything, with an excellent athletic department to boot.

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Understanding the dynamics of the systems here in the US, be they tax, health insurance or worker permits, has left me fits of such high stress that I wonder if it would be easier if I went back to Europe

Once the choice was made, the visa process began.

I was lucky to work with a European sporting agency that places athletes in US schools and they carried a huge amount of the heavy lifting involved in applying and gathering everything needed to make it to my visa interview.

Even with this, though, the process was one of the most stressful experiences I’ve ever had. From converting university documents from Latin to English, waiting on responses from different time zones and being entirely new to the educational system here in the US, I had to remind myself good things don’t always come easy.

And this was definitely a good thing. I immediately fell into a pace of life in Fairfax VA that made life before seem half lived.

The people, opportunities and places were extraordinary in this city. I could explore a whole side of myself I didn’t even know existed with people who brought out parts of me that had been dormant for so long in Ireland.

The facilities and supports available through track and field in the NCAA still surprise me, even two years later. Athletic trainers attend every training session, travel destinations are fully-funded and the equipment is unparalleled. At college level in the US compared to in Europe, sport is really well resourced. My two years of graduate school and eligibility in the NCAA passed in a blur, culminating in my graduation with a Master’s in Public Administration in May 2023.

Grace Furlong on her graduation day from George Mason University.

On graduation, all international graduates are allowed to apply for a year-long worker permit. It is up to three years for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates. This was a category that I, unfortunately, do not fall into.

Securing a job is difficult when employers are aware you are on a limited work visa and sponsorship has become such a taboo subject, particularly due to the very low approval rate through the H1B lottery system. Employers are simply not taking the chance.

I was lucky to secure a job as a program co-ordinator and it’s a job I really love though, I am very nervous for the year to come. Right now, sadly, sponsorship right does not seem to be an option and finding an employer willing to take that chance is a wild-goose chase. So, for now, I have to hold out hope.

It was one thing to move to the US as a student where the foundations for your life here are easily defined, but it is another thing to attempt to make a further life here.

Understanding the dynamics of the systems here in the US, be they tax, health insurance or worker permits, has left me fits of such high stress that I wonder if it would be easier if I went back to Europe.

These stages always pass quickly, though, and reflecting on the opportunities, both in the sense of building a career and the people I meet, it is always worth it.

I simply haven’t looked back. Every aspect of life here has been beyond anything I could have hoped it would be.

  • Grace Furlong is from Waterford. She left in the summer of 2021 and went to George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia to study public administration. Now she works as a program co-ordinator for a US government initiative that supports tech start-ups.
  • If you live overseas and would like to share your experience with Irish Times Abroad, email abroad@irishtimes.com with a little information about you and what you do
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