By Jennifer Bannon

It’s kind of ironic that after 20 years of peer pressure and Irish alcoholism, I bowed to the devil drink of the shores of the Atlantic thousands of miles from home!

Call it the heat wave, the heightened excitement and lowered inhibitions of beer pong or the sheer lack of 7up in my vicinity, but it was during my J1 in New Jersey that I learned what a lightweight I was and how it gives you excuses for all kinds of trouble making!

And, as a girl addicted to drama, it was a revelation that I would bring home from my working summer in the states and use to cause havoc at home!

My friend Ray and I decided to go on the J1 when I was just finishing up my third year in college. We chose to go to New Jersey because it was near New York and it seemed to be cheaper than most of the J1 destinations.

After a few disasters with out of date passports and wrong flight dates, we made it to the bright lights of NYC. The first few days were calm, as we were eased into American life in the Manhattan apartment of Ray’s aunt. We then made our way down to New Jersey in the searing heat in the company of eight suitcases.

The thing about New Jersey was that it was probably different to most J1’s in that there were no Irish people around at all. We made friends with the people we worked with which meant we spent a lot of time going to pool parties, playing beer pong and going on dates with Jersey’s best!

New Jersey does have some major advantages. It is a lot easier to get a job there than it is in New York, or any of the big cities nearby, but is still close enough to the cities that you can go up within a couple of hours.

Washington D.C, New York and Philadelphia are all near but the nightlife in Jersey is decent too. You definitely do need to be over 21, it is practically impossible to get in without ID.

The beaches are amazing too and the talent is nothing short of top notch. One thing though; with so many perfectly toned bodies around, you may feel the need to hit the gym to work off all the amazing food!

The one thing that sticks out about my summer in New Jersey is the really cool vibe of the house we lived in. The house really summed up what our summer was about; in it were two trainee pilots from Texas and Colorado, four absolutely mental Russian girls, a fantastic art student from New Jersey and a really quirky woman from The Village.

One thing that the J1 really taught me was how to save money and appreciate living within your means. Another thing that was really important was choosing the right person to travel with. Luckily, Ray and I got on really well (and I am not the easiest person to travel with) so it worked out great but it is definitely something you do not want to get wrong!

New Jersey. Definitely not your standard J1, but it made for the best fun and we learned loads about cultures and countries we really knew nothing about. I would definitely recommend New Jersey, but only if you are prepared to move outside the box!