Former McCallum baseball player, senior Gabe Schiebel plans to head off to Dublin, Ireland, for college this fall, an unexpected opportunity that changed the course of his college decisions.

The summer before his junior year, Schiebel and his family visited Dublin on a trip, and he decided it was not only one of the coolest places he’s visited, but his favorite. All it took for him was a lengthy visit to see the town, and Schiebel quickly applied to Trinity College in Dublin, and University College Dublin. “I just applied to the top two schools out there soon after,” he said, “and I got into both.”

While it was a little weird for Schiebel to think about going to school overseas, Schiebel’s desire to go to college in Dublin won over his fears to leave home.

Deciding to major in politics, Schiebel had always had an interest in the subject.

“My dad was kind of interested in politics,” he said, “so I think I got a little bit of that from him. I also took AP Government here, and I really enjoyed that.”

Realizing early on that a career as a Major League Baseball pitcher was not in his future, Schiebel realized politics would be the subject he wanted to delve deeper into after high school.

Not sure what he hopes to accomplish in the field of politics, Schiebel said his main goal is to learn.

“I’m just learning as much as I can get and trying to get as many experiences as I can, to really figure out what type of work I want to go into,” he said.

Not just a stellar student, Schiebel has been a great friend to former teammate and senior Nathan Nagy. According to Nagy, Schiebel has been a consistent energetic presence in Nagy’s life as his teammate.

“Gabe is a very energetic guy and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Gabe sad,” Nagy said. “There’s always a real high spirit, and he’s a big support guy.”

While his high energy and overall cheeriness are fairly well-known aspect of Schiebel’s character, Nagy feels that Schiebel’s academic success is often overlooked.

“I feel like some people underestimate his intellectual ability, but he’s a pretty smart guy,” Nagy said. “I didn’t know that until we were telling each other our ranks, and he’s like, ‘We are neck and neck,’ and I was like, ‘Wow, this guy’s really smart.’”

Similar to Nagy, another close friend of Shchiebel’s, John Dietz, was aware of his plan to apply to college overseas and was rooting for him along the way.

“Gabe told me his plans at the beginning of the year, to apply to college in Ireland,” Nagy said. “I remembered telling him how I could see that being a great option for him.

Schiebel ultimately deciding to accept admission to the University of Dublin. The commitment was something had never thought he do, until he visited Dublin this past summer.

“I really never considered it as an option,” he said. “Only when I visited did I become interested.”

Very few people in Schiebel’s life had gone to school overseas, so it was a new experience for Schiebel.

The college application process for international students is different from applications for colleges in the United States. According to Schiebel, the Irish application regiment was more stressful.

“Essay wise, it was pretty similar,” he said. “It would ask why you wanted to attend the college, like a lot of essay prompts here, but it was annoying because it was through a whole separate portal.”

Not only does applying to schools overseas have different requirements, but they also have international guidelines.

“You had to upload a lot more components, like your passport, your birth certificate, lots of stuff you didn’t have to do for American colleges, only international,” Schiebel said, “so it was not fun.”

After the application process, comes the waiting game to hear back from top choices. Schiebel kept his expectations in check because he was applying overseas.

“I really did not think I was going to get in,” he said. “Admission rates for the two I applied to are around 20% and 33%, so I was really excited when I got accepted.”

As the school year draws to an end, Schiebel reflects on his past high school experience and all the memories that have led him to this new path he plans to take.

“I think my past self would be very pleased with where I am right now, and I think I’ve grown a lot and I never would’ve expected to be going to this good of a university.”