Ireland, From the Instructor's Eyes

After six weeks in Ireland with two cadets learning Gaelic, MMI's reporters sat down with Dr. Rankin Sherling to talk cadets, comfort zones, the media blitz and the benefits of this summer's study abroad program for Marion Military Institute and all involved. 

Read a transcription of Dr. Sherling's interview here:

Q: Why are the cadets learning Irish?

Dr. Sherling and Cadet Gordon Lawless review
notes from the morning's class before heading
into afternoon classes. The course schedule at
Oideas Gael is rigorous and rewarding. 

A: Cadets Connelly and Lawless are studying Irish for a few reasons.  The first, I guess, is that I started a free, weekly class on Monday evenings in the Fall semester of 2014 for anyone who was interested.  Both Connelly and Lawless have Irish roots, so that’s one reason they were interested to learn it.  Hopefully, they've learned more and more about Irish Gaelic and that will spur them on to further study.  It’s really a treasure trove of a language, very valuable.  Not only is it the ancestral language (if you go back far enough) of just about everyone with Scottish, Irish, and Manx roots, but it also has a literature that’s older than English and most other European languages still in use.  And the fact that it is still in use is another little miracle.  The English actively tried to exterminate the language in Ireland, Scotland, and Nova Scotia for years.  But here it is.

Q: Why do you think the Irish media were so interested in you and the cadets?

A: They were interested because it’s a good and unusual story.  A few years back, a student from Mississippi comes to the Gaeltacht to learn Irish at Oideas Gael.  They didn’t hear from him for a while and then, out of the blue, he tells them he wants to come back with two students of his own.  It’s a nice story. They were also interested in the fact that Connelly and Lawless are students at a military college in Alabama.  And, again, I think they were proud that our school saw the cultural and intellectual benefits of sending them to Ireland to learn about Ireland, the Gaelic culture, and the Gaelic language.

Q: What are the main benefits for the cadets of this experience?

A: They learned a new language, which science tells us will make learning other languages much easier.  Once the second language is learned, somehow every language you learn after that is easier.  They also got to study overseas, the benefits of which are heavily documented.  That’s why large schools send students on study abroad programs.  Travelling is one thing, but studying in a foreign country is even better.  They not only learned about but lived in a new culture. They met students from all over the world who were in Glencolmcill to learn Gaelic: Ireland, England, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, France, the U.S., the Czech Republic, and more.  They interacted daily with their teachers, who were native Gaelic speakers.  There was also lots of hiking in the mountains, so there was good exercise.  They met and spoke with Gaelic speakers in two different Gaeltachts (areas where Gaelic is still the first language): southwest Donegal and Connemara. I think they also gained a type of confidence that comes from experience.  It was visible in them both.  Plus, they had a blast.  They’re 19 and 20 years old and they got to study Irish Gaelic on a 5-week trip to Ireland.  It was fun.

Q: How can this exposure and overall trip benefit MMI in the future?

A: I think it can help a lot.  The fact that MMI is willing to commit funds to sending kids abroad for cultural and linguistic education is pretty incredible, and that sort of commitment to outside the classroom education might just be the thing that convinces a student to come here rather than another junior college.  

The Irish media, of course, seemed very interested, and that’s always a good thing.  You really can't buy the type of exposure we got over there.  We were on the BBC twice, on Irish language TV (TG4), in the largest daily newspaper in Ireland, and several smaller print and online newspapers. We may not even know all of the benefits of that exposure, yet.  It may take a while to come to fruition, but there will be benefits.

I also met several people who could really help to create a lasting “Irish Program” for MMI. One of them has connections with the Irish Military College, and hopefully we can follow up with him.  Can you imagine sending one of our cadets to study there for a semester?  That would just be an incredible opportunity for the student and our school.  Another person I met a was very wealthy man from Dublin who owns an Island off the west coast and who asked me if I would be interested in helping him start a program where Irish language students would come out to the island, learn Irish Gaelic, and experience a way of life that has almost completely disappeared since the Republic of Ireland depopulated most of the islands off its west coast in the 20th century.  The list could go on and on.  There are so many beneficial aspects of going to Ireland and getting that type of media exposure.  

Sherling and the cadets researched the different types of wildlife, sea life, flora and fauna when they were not in class.

Footnotes:
Dr. Rankin Sherling is a history instructor at Marion Military Institute. With a grant provided by MMI, he was able to bring two cadets, Gordon Lawless and Travis Connelly, to Oideas Gael (an Irish language school) in Co. Donegal, Ireland, for a language and cultural immersion experience in one of the most remote places in Ireland. The cadets and Sherling attended Irish classes in the mornings and afternoons, spending their spare time exploring and documenting the diverse natural world of the rugged west coast of Ireland. The trip was something of a media sensation in Ireland, as the Irish media covered the trip extensively in print and on the radio. See the media coverage HERE and HERE.