By Finnleigh Gould

Photo by Lucy McGonigal (Pictured)

Lucy posing with a small pumpkin.

Footprints follow people wherever they go, and so does their identity, culture, and even their holidays.

In November 2024, Lucy McGonigal applied for Study USA, a scholarship program, allowing students from Northern Ireland to study abroad in the States for one year. The program placed McGonigal, who studied Illustration at her home institution, at La Roche University in the Graphic Design program.

McGonigal, curly brunette bangs curtaining her green eyes, said, “I knew this would be an amazing opportunity as I would be learning similar skills whilst immersing myself in a whole new culture.”

One foot off the plane. No roommate. No hustle and bustle akin to Belfast, Northern Ireland. 

McGonigal explained that her worst dance with culture shock, aside from receiving blessings when sneezing, was in her first few weekends on campus. She explained that she had nothing to do. At home, her weekends are chock full of climbing with friends, working in a local bar, and doing her coursework.

“I overcame this,” McGonigal said, “by getting involved in clubs and joining my friends at the gym, who have taught me weightlifting and different exercises that I really look forward to doing each week.” 

McGonigal, surrounded by friends and often sporting a colorful jumper and jeans, has found herself in pumpkin patches and at Steeler games. She has even gotten a taste of wild Pennsylvania. A friend invited her to their cabin for a weekend in the sticks.

The forested backwaters of PA have much to offer: skiing, snowboarding, swimming, climbing, kayaking, and groundhogs.

“I thought it was a dog,” McGonigal said. 

Groundhogs are not dogs, but they are weather prognosticators. Each year on February 2, Groundhog Day, the chubby rodents search for their shadow and report their findings to their inner circle of men in top hats. The groundhogs’ findings determine the arrival of Spring.

McGonigal stated that she plans to go to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to meet the weather prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil, a descendant of a long line of groundhogs. However, Phil’s caretakers in top hats insist that there is only one Phil.

Phil is immortal via the ‘Elixir of Life.’ Phil is 140 years old.

Weather prediction, however, is much older. Groundhog Day is a Pennsylvania Dutch adaptation to Lichtmess, or Candlemas, a German holiday mascoted by a badger rather than a groundhog. Candlemas is rooted in the Irish festival, Imbolc.

Imbolc, the first day of Spring, is an example of various cultural time-markers that have influenced European and therefore American agricultural tradition. 

Agriculture and seasonal change are to thank for holidays across the globe, including Thanksgiving, a day celebrating early harvest. McGonigal experienced Turkey Day for the first time this year.

“I spent Thanksgiving at my friend Morgan’s house, which I’m incredibly lucky to have met. Her family is super welcoming. I devoured my first gorgeous Thanksgiving dinner, snapped a wishbone, went to a tree farm, decorated it and drank lots of hot chocolate,” McGonigal said. “It reminds me of a big version of a Northern Irish Christmas dinner.”

Food acts as a bridge between cultures. 

“I made a popular Northern Irish dessert called Top Hats during Desserts Around the World on campus,” McGonigal said. “I really had fun sharing my culture and giving something back to the school.”

Top hat treats and top hat men cohorting with groundhogs are not all. McGonigal said that she has also shared Northern Irish sayings with her friends. 

McGonigal said, “I’ve taught them ‘Craic,’ which means good fun or banter.”

In good fun, McGonigal expressed that her time abroad has been transformative, and she looks forward to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in the States.