Talk:Mitchell Scholarship

Sat in front of a Mitchell Scholar on the bus from Dublin airport on Easter Saturday, earlier that week an opposition member of parliament had criticised the money being set aside to support the programme and her conversation easily caught my ear. She had met a friend and it was fascinating to listen to her but it did sow seeds of doubt whether they were the brightest and best and deserving of such generous support. Alot of ordinary conversation on gossip about the other scholars, parties, and boyfriends etc. They apparantly socialised as a group together and the one female scholar who did not, and who consequently was deemed to look down upon everybody else, was perhaps taking the opportunity to break out of the bubble and so get to know Irish people as the scholarship programme surely intended. Meanwhile, the girl behind me demonstrated a very limited knowledge of Ireland. A potted tourist guide her newly arrived friend did not rise above such observations as "Dublin city is cute but it has no skyscapers"; "JFK made a speech here just before he got shot"; and "Everybody is called John." "Everybody gets drunk all the time and it is easy to get into a fight in a pub", possibly a fair observation but not the casual arrogance of the following comment, but she displayed a remarkable lack of knowledge or curiosity of Ireland. Surely the Mitchell scholars should demonstrate a greater interest in Ireland? Or else apply for a Marshall or Rhodes scholarship. Or maybe she is waiting to collect her ticket to Oman. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.192.136.229 (talk) 20:35, 14 April 2010 (UTC)