SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock senior Harmony Kasper, of Ellwood City, is one of more than a dozen American students from the university who spent time studying abroad this past year.

On Wednesday night she and dozens of others were honored by the university for their work participating in exchange programs around the world.

Kasper, 23, is graduating with dual degrees in journalism and creative writing. She was among 43 students honored Wednesday by the university — 12 graduating international exchange students; 18 international exchange students returning home; and 13 American students who participated in SRU's long-term study abroad.

Kasper's time abroad was spent studying at Ireland's University of Limerick. But she did more than polish her writing skills and visit tourist destinations during her four month stay. Kasper's family traces its ancestry and family name, which is Murray, back to northern Ireland. The senior jumped at the chance to visit Newtownbutler, a village in County Fermanagh where her grandmother, Patricia Hahn, believed a relative might have been buried.

Kasper's search ultimately proved unsuccessful — the relative might have been destitute and buried without a headstone — but she came away from the trip enriched nonetheless. Kasper said she was aided by the county newspaper, the Fermanagh Herald, which ran a front page story on her search, and received many messages from residents helping her suss out the history of her family name in the area. Kasper said the experience left her feeling more connected than ever before to her family's roots across the Atlantic Ocean.

“She (my grandmother) kind of instilled in me my love of Ireland,” Kasper said. “This trip really reinforced that love.”