Stories from New Alumni

She looks back on an extraordinary array of memorable moments and personal achievements during her 4 years in UCD.

"I think the greatest thing was doing a (opens in a new window)TED Talk in second year, on family reunification. That was a really special moment for me, representing UCD and using my academics to inform my work as an activist and campaigner for children's rights.  The same year I also did a playwriting workshop with the wonderful playwright Mary Kate O'Flanagan and took seven academic modules. It was insane! It's the busiest I've ever been in my life, but it was a worthy challenge.

I also had the opportunity to work with UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Legal Aid Board, and the Irish Global Health Network during my time at university. I got to experience and use my studies in the professional world and gain an understanding of the Civil Service, NGOs and charitable work, which was really interesting. 

I received a scholarship from UCD to attend a 3-week summer school on peacebuilding at the University of Amsterdam. I never got the opportunity to do Erasmus so this was an amazing achievement that really complemented my understanding of politics. 

I'm proud of all I've accomplished during my time at UCD."

Her strong faith and supportive community gave Elizabeth the courage and resilience to navigate stressful times.

"My faith in God really anchored me throughout my time at university. Tough things happen in life and there are stressful times, but I was never alone in my 4 years here. I had a great support network in my family, my church family, my partner, my friends, the (opens in a new window)UCD Christian Union and (opens in a new window)Livingstones Christian Society."

Having overcome many challenges in her own life, she's passionate about sharing her story and using her voice to inspire other young people.

"My mom came to Ireland seeking asylum, and I was born in direct provision. I've gone through homelessness and the emergency accommodation system. But these things don't have to hold me back. I can actually use them as strengths to keep moving forward. I'm making the most of my school experiences, UCD and the opportunities given to me to get where I want to be in life. 

We all have experiences that shape us and it's good to share what you've learned. I get invitations to speak in schools and at conferences and it's such a privilege to talk to young people and encourage them to make the most of the opportunities they have. 

When I was 16 I gave up social media. It was having a negative impact on my mental health and self-esteem. It gave me the time to think about what I really believed, without the added influence. It was a time of self-discovery. When I did the TED Talk it was incredible to see that I didn't need to have my own platform online to be seen and heard in the world. 

I love sharing with young people that there's so much freedom to be found without social media. There's a beautiful life to be lived and there's so much fullness and joy to enjoy in the world without this dopamine rush."

Elizabeth is confident that she and her classmates will do wonderful things in the years ahead.

"The Class of 2024 are a great bunch of people and I can't wait to see what change we make in the world. The study of politics and social justice is designed to make you an informed citizen, an informed human being. I love the idea that more empathy is going out into the world as this class graduates."

"D'fhreastail mo dheartháir, Stiofán, ar UCD chomh maith agus bhí a fhios agam gur thaitin sé go mór leis. Bhí an oiread sin cloiste agam uaidh faoin eispéireas a bhí aige agus mar sin is dócha go raibh UCD ar m'intinn.

Bhain mé an-taitneamh as an Open Day. Mhothaigh mé go rabhas ag siúil timpeall sráidbhaile toisc go raibh an méid sin áiseanna agus acmhainní ar fáil ar an gcampas. 

Léigh mé faoin gcúrsa Tráchtáil Idirnáisiúnta sa bhróisiúr agus cheap mé gur cúrsa iontach suimiúil a bhí ann."

Tháinig forbairt phearsanta ar Sheán le linn a chuid ama i UCD.

"Ní mise an duine chéanna is a bhí agus mé ocht mbliana deág d'aois, agus tá sé sin an-nádúrtha ar fad.

Táim fíor sásta leis na caidreamh atá déanta agam. Tá na cairde is fearr agam agus tá caidreamh iontacha déanta agam le mo léachtóirí agus le pé duine eile ar bhuail mé leo agus mé i UCD."

Bhí deis aige staidéar a dhéanamh thar lear le linn a chúrsa chomh maith.

"Tá bliain Erasmus éigeantach agus tú ag tabhairt faoi chéim sa Tráchtáil Idirnáisiúnta agus mar sin chaith mé bliain ag staidéar sa Fhrainc, i Bordeaux. An bhliain is fearr i mo shaol!

Bhain mé an tairbhe is mó as an mbliain, ní hamháin ó thaobh na Fraincise de ach ó thaobh na haibíochta de freisin. Bhí mé i mo chónaí le ceathrar cairde agus bhí mé ag obair i dteach tábhairne Éireannach. Tháinig feabhas ar mo chuid Fraincise mar labhair formhór na ndaoine ann Fraincis amháin.

Bhí dearcadh oscailte agam agus bhí fonn orm rudaí nua a thriail. Más rud é gur sheol duine éigin téacs á rá 'An bhfuil aon duine ag iarraidh dul agus X, Y, Z a dhéanamh?', an t-aon cheist a bhí agam mar fhreagra ná 'Cén t-am?'!"

Tá dea-chuimhní ag Seán ar a chuid ama i UCD.

"Ag dul isteach sa choláiste ar a hocht a chlog ar maidin, staidéar a dhéanamh ar feadh uair an chloig, cupán caife a fháil, agus caint agus craic le mo chairde ar an mbealach go dtí an rang – is iad na rudaí beaga sin a chuimhneoidh mé."

In her 20s, Aundrea's work as a chef took her all across her native Canada and further afield and she enjoyed many opportunities. But as she got older her priorities began to change.

"I really loved my career. I had a great time and I was able to travel. But as I got to my late twenties I was in a long-term relationship and starting to plan a bit more for the future. I realised my job wasn't going to provide the kind of future that I wanted, which was a family and stability.

I knew I wanted to go back to school but I took my time and did a lot of research to make sure I'd be employable afterwards. It's a huge commitment, especially for mature students – financially and timewise."

Aundrea discovered that a degree in Psychology offered a world of possibilities.

"There's such a broad range of subjects within the field of psychology and you get a taste of the many different career paths you can take. At first I was really interested in educational psychology, but at that time the PhD wasn't funded by the State and I would have had to accrue a lot of debt. In my second and third year I got excited to work in organisational psychology, which has to do with behaviour in the workplace.

I'm going to DCU to do a masters in work and organisational psychology, which I've heard great things about. A bit of my heart is breaking that I have to leave UCD, but I'll probably be sneaking back here because it's a great school and a great community!"

For Aundrea, that supportive community included UCD Access & Lifelong Learning, the (opens in a new window)Psychological Society and other mature students on her course.

"We had a bond, the mature students. We were a small group of women from diverse backgrounds and we all had obstacles to overcome. If one person was struggling we'd all pick them up and pull them through. Having that community and support is such a nice feeling. Walking across the finish line with these other people, knowing you couldn't have done it without them, is a great moment.

I joined the Psych Society in second year, which was an interesting dynamic because most of the committee members were quite young, straight out of school. It was nice to see how they grew over the semester, learning to plan events and work together. It broadened my social circle and it was fun!

I was quite involved with the Access and Lifelong Learning Centre and worked as an Access Leader. That department plays a huge role in supporting students. My main contact was with Michelle Tracey, who was always willing to go out of her way to help."

She also credits her family, her partner, and her ice hockey teammates for their incredible support.

"My family all live in Canada, but they were as supportive as they could be from afar. My partner is doing his PhD so it was a juggling act of support between us, and his family has been really helpful too.

I play ice hockey for the Irish women's team and they've been another strong community for me, cheering me on every step of the way."

Reflecting on her journey from leaving school to becoming a UCD graduate, Aundrea is proud of what she has achieved. 

"I wasn't the most academic in school and I don't think I would have been able for a degree, coming fresh out of school at 18. It was a massive feat to go back to school, and there have been so many hurdles. What I'm most proud of is the fact that I excelled academically – proof to my younger self that I am smart and I could do it.

I'm not a very emotional person but I think I might actually cry when I graduate from UCD. It's a huge accomplishment."

"I did the 3 years of the BA and did well enough to transfer into the final year of BMus. I was very happy to get the chance to stay, and it was the best thing I've ever done."

When considering her options for university, Isobel knew that UCD was the right choice for her.

"I went to the UCD Open Day and met some of the team from the School of Music. I decided then that this was where I was going, end of story. I refused to go to any other open days!"

She loved the scope and diversity of the music programme, and developed as a musician and songwriter.

"Studying music at UCD, you can make it as practical or as theoretical as you want. It gives you a very broad understanding of music from all over the world, and different instruments that we wouldn't necessarily be familiar with in Europe.

I did a songwriting module – as a singer songwriter that was right up my street – and a module called Post-Truth, Politics and Music.

There are loads of opportunities to get involved in performance-based things too. As part of one of my modules I learned about gamelan, the traditional music of Java and Bali in Indonesia. We went to the gamelan orchestra room in Newman Building and had a lesson on gamelan notation, the instruments, and how they are played, and were allowed to give them a try. I was also in the UCD Philharmonic Choir and we performed in the National Concert Hall. That was a fabulous day."

For students who feel apprehensive about writing a dissertation, Isobel is keen to reassure them that it can be fun.

"An 8,000-word dissertation sounds really scary, but mine was really fun to write. I'd do it again!

I wrote on the themes of nostalgia throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. I even got a tattoo of Groot while I was writing it.

I first met (opens in a new window)Dr Laura Anderson when I came to the open day and I chatted to her for ages. She then became my dissertation supervisor, which was a nice full-circle moment."

She found it easy to balance gigging as a musician with her academic work, as they complemented each other nicely.

"I started gigging when I was about 17, and then Covid happened. When the restrictions were lifted I went straight back in like a steam train and was gigging Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Then I was in college during the week.

There was no clash of schedules and I found it easy to balance them both. A lot of the modules I did actually really helped me in my songwriting."

Isobel had a fantastic support network throughout her time in UCD.

"There's not one person in the School of Music who didn't help me along the way. They're the most supportive and wonderful people, and after 4 years in UCD I genuinely consider them my friends.

Outside college I had the support of my family, my friends and my boyfriend. Actually, it's his fault that I wrote my thesis on the Guardians of the Galaxy. I'd never seen a Marvel movie before I met him!

I'm the first in my family to go to college, so it means a lot that I now have two degrees. I'm so proud and I want to celebrate all the hard work with the people who've supported me."

She's looking forward to passing on all she has learned to inspire future generations of schoolchildren.

"I'm going to do the PME (Professional Master of Education) and teach Irish and music. I'd love to implement an after-school activity like a choir or music ensemble and get the next generation involved in music."

"At 17, I was thrown into a nightmare. Unjustly imprisoned, beaten, and tortured. I thought my life was over before it had even begun. I couldn't see it at the time, but the darkest moments of our lives are often the ones that shape us the most. Every day, I stood at that window, imagining the life I was determined to live. I saw myself in a graduation robe, surrounded by my loved ones, smiling in a future that seemed so far away.

Graduating from UCD was always a dream of mine. I was always around the campus as a child, playing football. I could see the water tower from the mosque in Clonskeagh, and I always felt I would study in UCD one day."

Ibrahim hadn't always planned to study law.

"I loved planes as a kid and I always wanted to study aeronautical engineering. I never anticipated that I would study law. But life doesn't always go the way we plan.

My path changed when I was in prison and facing the death sentence. That experience steered me towards law, and when I was acquitted of all charges I applied to do a law degree. I jumped back into education straight away and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made."

Balancing student life with work and advocacy was challenging.

"It felt like I was living two lives, studying during the day and working tirelessly through night shifts. I travelled extensively to advocate for human rights, and in the midst of all this, I took a leap of faith and opened my own business. It was exhausting, but every time I thought I couldn't keep going, I reminded myself that I had survived way too much to stop now.

Then Covid hit. The isolation triggered a lot of emotions."

Fortunately, he found all the support he needed to overcome the challenges he faced.

"There were many times when I felt like I didn't want to complete my degree. I reached out to my college counsellor and I'm forever grateful I made that call. She told me to take one step at a time, and I received amazing support from UCD the whole way along my journey.

UCD, and especially the Sutherland School of Law, gave me the opportunity to reclaim my life, to rebuild my future, and to execute my dreams."

His faith and his family were also an incredible source of support.

"I owe everything to Allah SWT for guiding me through the darkest times. And to my family, for their unwavering support. Without their love, strength, and belief in me, I wouldn't have made it this far. I couldn't have done it without them."

Despite working full time throughout college, Ibrahim managed to make time for the (opens in a new window)Law Society and other social activities.

"When you're in college, you'll find some group that will facilitate your interests. You'll find a place where you can discover and use your skills.

It's hard as an introvert, but step by step I started reaching out to lecturers, to other students, to everyone. I went to all the parties and joined in everything that was going on, even though I was usually the oldest person there. I never felt like an outsider. I made great friends and great memories."

He has some advice for students who are just starting out on their own college journey.

"Go out of your comfort zone. Reach out to people. You'll meet people who are smarter than you, and some who are less smart. Some will be going in different directions. Comparing yourself with other people will not benefit you. Focus on your own journey.

Freedom isn't found in the absence of struggle, but in the refusal to let that struggle define you. This is your story. Write it the way you want to."

Graduating from UCD is a proud moment for Ibrahim.

"For some people graduation is just another phase in life, but for me it's a huge accomplishment. Most of my extended family in Egypt wouldn't have had the privilege of going to college. I know how blessed I am to cross that finish line. It's a dream come true.

Everything fits into place in the end. You just have to trust the process of life."

"I've been working in the arts all my life, really. When I left school I studied theatre and drama, first in a post-leaving cert course and then at the Gaiety School of Acting. Even as a teenager I was writing and creating my own music and theatre pieces. I released an album and worked on a short film. I always had lots of different stuff going on.

Outside of that, I painted houses; I worked in bars, warehouses, factories – normal kinds of jobs. Then in my thirties I started to think about what I could do that would give me a stable income and still allow me to be an artist. I thought about becoming a schoolteacher, but I knew I'd have to get a degree first."

A degree in English and Drama at UCD felt like a good fit.

"I researched my options and visited a few universities but I was leaning towards Dublin. The people I spoke to in UCD were encouraging and the vibe was right. I thought, this could work!

I started a degree in English and Drama, and it was a different kind of world for me. All these new people, new thoughts, ideas, modules. I was deep diving into stuff I already loved, like theatre, drama and poetry. It was starting to inform my writing, my songwriting, my critical thinking. Everything, basically.

Then I did a film module with (opens in a new window)Associate Professor Jorie Lagerwey and she encouraged me to transfer to the English, Drama & Film programme, which would add a year to my degree and would allow me to go on Erasmus for a semester."

Robert's experience on Erasmus laid the foundations for a new creative project.

"I studied film at the University of Iceland for a semester, which was amazing. I met an incredible filmmaker from Shanghai who was doing her masters, and we shot footage together for a module called Icelandic Culture. I was drawing comparisons with Irish culture, and I made a short film called A Version of Life.

When I got home, (opens in a new window)Professor P.J. Mathews encouraged me to develop it further and expand it into a theatre piece. The week after I graduate I'll be performing A Version of Life in the Creative Futures Academy Trapdoor Theatre in Newman Building as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival.

It couldn't really be any better than to finish my UCD journey in Trapdoor. Marina Carr, Frank McGuinness, Brendan Gleeson… all these people started their own journey as creatives in that same physical space.

There's a Brendan Kennelly poem that I'm using in A Version of Life called Begin. This feels like a beginning for me. UCD has been and will always be a key time in my life. Transformative, definitely."

Robert benefited from the support of outstanding teachers with industry experience.

"I'm very grateful for all the amazing people who encouraged me. It's a great asset to be taught by brilliant people who have real-life experience in the industry and the arts world as well as the teaching side. All my tutors were exceptional."

He is proud to graduate with a first-class honours degree.

"It means a lot to me because I worked hard and did my best. It's not about a piece of paper, it's what it represents – the academic learning, learning about the self, and the internal journey, the life journey. It's a document of a chapter in my life that I needed to experience. But it's just a chapter, because there's a bigger story."

Following an instinct to realise his full potential, Israel Olatunde dropped long held plans and decided to study something completely new at University.

"At first I dreamed of doing Engineering at UCD. It was my first choice all the way through school and then, on the final day of the CAO, I had a change of heart. I had to go with Computer Science and I don't really know what pushed me in that direction, but I'm really happy and grateful to be here. I didn't have any experience with coding. I'd never researched the course or the job opportunities. I wanted to try something new."

The course opened his mind to new possibilities and harnessed his natural curiosity.

"I love learning new things. Computer Science was about learning a new way of looking at things. In secondary school, it's all about memorising but in the first year of Computer Science we focused on our problem solving skills - how we actually think and look at problems."

UCD played an instrumental part in moments Israel will treasure forever, such as late nights working on projects with his friends Joseph, Chris, Azmain and Edmond, and completing an internship in his third year.

"I was accepted for an internship I applied for with KPMG. That was a special moment because I had no experience with Computer Science going into UCD. I had no idea what I was doing. I was just learning along the way with my peers. Getting that acceptance was a really big achievement for me. An internship might seem small to someone else, but I was really proud of myself." 

As a promising young athlete, Israel received a scholarship from the UCD Ad Astra Academy and enjoyed a seamless transition to running with UCD Athletics Club.

"UCD has amazing sports facilities, and I was able to receive so much guidance and support. It helped me steer my career in the right direction and I'm really grateful to be a part of that… Ann and Darina from the Ad Astra Academy have been such a great help, they support me in any way they can.

On the track, a special memory is one of my first national titles, the 100m in 2021. To do that with the UCD jersey on my chest really meant a lot to me. It was just a testament to all the hard work I had done and all the support I got to get to that stage."

Earlier in 2023, Israel was awarded the Dr Tony O’Neill Sportsperson of the Year Award at the UCD AUC Sport Awards.

With graduation approaching, he reflects on his journey and shares his Olympic hopes.

"I’m a little bit emotional because it's really been a rollercoaster of a journey. Especially with the Covid-19 pandemic in the middle of my studies. Second year was pretty tough for everyone because that's the year that everything was online. It was really difficult but we all pulled through. 

UCD has a rich network of alumni and I’m honoured to be a part of it. I look forward to reconnecting in the future. Having my degree is really helpful and useful and I will definitely use it along the way, but right now I'm a full time athlete and I'm currently sponsored by Adidas. That's my main focus for the next few years. The main dream and goal right now is competing at the Olympics."

"I'm from Poland originally but I moved with my family to Ireland when I was five, and so I've done all of my education in Ireland, from primary school to secondary school. I was always interested in science, curious about the world.

UCD does a general Science course, so I did a bit of Chemistry, a bit of Biology, even a bit of Physics. I was convinced that I was going to do Chemistry but then I chose Biochemistry, which is in the Biology stream."

Mateusz advice to students entering university life is to leave their comfort zone and dream big.

"If you’d told me when I was in secondary school about all the things I've gone on to do, I wouldn't have believed you.

I started playing volleyball in sixth year, and throughout my time at UCD. I was even playing for the national team and the captain of the student team." 

Forming a close-knit group of friends helped Mateusz to settle into student life, and they motivated each other to work hard at their studies.

"Back in secondary school I was very shy. I had friends, but not that many. In my first year, I was doing Karaoke in the student bar on the stage, with everyone looking at me. I didn't mind because it was fun and I have made a lot of friends in Science. I changed completely."

During his time at UCD, Mateusz was able to take advantage of some exciting opportunities to travel and study abroad.

"I went on exchange to Miami in my third year and that was living the dream, it was the best semester of my life. I met amazing people! Even today I was texting friends that I met in Miami; I went to Asia to visit them and to Amsterdam recently for a reunion.

I also went to Paris for an internship at one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe, (opens in a new window)Institut Pasteur. I was doing groundbreaking work with a postdoc researcher and I met so many cool people there."

From his very first lecture on biochemistry, metabolism and cell signalling, Mateusz was captivated by the complex interactions between cells. 

"It's super complicated, but so elegant at the same time. I wanted to learn more about it and discover new things. Now I study proteins and cell signalling, solving problems.

My final year project was on cell signalling and skin cancer, basically how one of the pathways can go wrong. There's a family of proteins that has three proteins inside of it. One of the proteins was neglected in research, but recently Dr. Jens Rauch discovered it has a lot of different functions outside of the pathway and it's really important in cancer as well. So we discovered a lot of cool things about it. 

In labs from first to third year you're doing experiments that have been repeated a thousand times, and you know exactly what the results will be. Whereas with this project, you're the first person seeing the results ever. It's pretty exciting."

Mateusz has had such a good time studying at UCD that he confesses he is reluctant to graduate, but the future holds exciting new possibilities.

"Dr Jens Rauch not only helped me with my final year project, but afterwards with career advice. I'm going to Canada soon for five years. First for a Masters, and then the PhD at the University of Montreal.

The protein I'm going to work on was involved in my thesis as well. I still can't believe I'm  going to Canada to work in one of the best labs in the world."

He owes his thanks to a strong network of family, friends and teachers who have guided and helped him.

"Firstly my mum who supported me along my entire journey, not just at UCD. Patrick Scannell, my Biology/Ag Science teacher, who helped me in secondary school with after-school chemistry and important advice. Dr Jens Rauch, my final year project supervisor, lecturer, and a person who instilled a passion for cell signalling in me. Dr James Baker and Dr Júlia Torné Cortada for introducing me to the world of science and developing my passion and skills. Finally my friends, especially Richard O'Driscoll, Kim Zitzmann, Sara Knežević and Daniel Griffin."

As he prepares to close the chapter on his undergraduate studies, this is the first time in 19 years that Jordan Feeley has been out of the education system and he reflects on how he's grown in confidence since starting at UCD.

"I'm from Wexford, it's a quiet place compared to Dublin. Going up in my first year was strange, and I felt unsure if I belonged. UCD has a huge campus and a massive student body. At first it was difficult socially to engage with the community… but then Covid-19 hit in the middle of first year."

The pandemic motivated Jordan to get involved socially and support new students.

"I said to myself, I was lucky enough to have those first couple of months in person. There are incoming students that are going to come to UCD in September that aren't going to have any footing at all. I got involved in the Students’ Union, the English & Literary Society and Access Leading.

Access Leading is about helping disadvantaged students coming to UCD. The UCD Access and Lifelong Learning [ALL] team set up a weekend before the main orientation to get the students comfortable at UCD. They helped me in my first year, so I wanted to pay them back. I was giving campus tours, doing Q&A's and making sure students knew that the ALL office is located at the entrance to the James Joyce Library and they could go there anytime for help."

Jordan's involvement in the (opens in a new window)English & Literary Society complemented his studies in Classics, English & History.

"From 2020, I was the Events Manager [for the society]. It was my job to host events, make sure they're accessible, not too stressful for students to join. We hosted creative writing workshops, conversations, movie nights and collaborated with other societies. We even had a ball with the Trinity Literature Society."

Fortunately, travel restrictions eased and the opportunity to go on Erasmus came up in his third year.

"I always wanted to travel and I did six months on Erasmus in Amsterdam, it was great. I was in the University of Amsterdam, meeting people from different cultures and getting used to being away from home. Part of me has always been a home bird but I wanted to get over that. The best way to do that is to force yourself to travel and get out there."

Academically, Jordan has thrived during his time at UCD. His final year dissertation in literature focused on the writer Jack Kerouac, identifying his trauma during the war. 

"I was so stressed about it at the time, I thought it was going to be terrible, but my supervisor  asked me to enter it for an award with the (opens in a new window)Irish Association for American Studies."

Hard work at his studies also paid off when he was awarded the Maureen Wall Memorial Medal for History.

Looking ahead to graduation, Jordan is planning to celebrate with family, catch-up with his classmates and enjoy the milestone.

"To the 2023 class in general, I'm proud of everyone. We got through Covid together. Half of our studies were online and we went through a lot of uncertainty. It might feel sometimes that everyone's moving on, that people are studying here and studying there. But we're lucky to live in an era when we can send a message to someone on the other side of the world."

After graduation, the plan is to take a year out to build up his savings and consider his options.

"I'm thinking of doing the PME to teach in secondary school or going into English and doing a PhD. It's important for students to take time off to think. There's a lot of pressure to do certain things, especially when you have a lot of aspirations. It's okay to take time to breathe, to plan, and take care of yourself before you go on to do those things."

Originally hailing from Ukraine, Dariya Bazhenova moved to Italy at the age of seven and later came to Ireland as a teenager by herself to complete her education.

“At seventeen I had the opportunity to go abroad to improve my English. I decided to go to high school in Ireland so I went to school in Templemore, Tipperary.”

She liked Ireland and the Irish culture so much that she decided to stay on and study for her undergraduate degree at UCD.

A talented multilinguist, Dariya wanted to continue studying her favourite school subjects, languages, in college. To keep her career options open, she opted to study Business with French through the Commerce International programme at UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business.

“[UCD] is one of the best universities in Ireland and I wanted to move to Dublin, especially after two years in Tipperary.”

When teaching went online at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dariya returned home to Italy, where she kept busy by taking on an internship on top of her coursework.

“I couldn’t just stay at home with Mom after two to three years living abroad, so I decided to do an internship in human resources.”

Eventually Dariya was able to go on Erasmus, studying in Paris for a semester and then completing another internship through French where she focused on Sales and Business Development.

“The business was focused on the French market, so I expanded the product into Italy and some English-speaking countries.”

While working as UCD Residential Assistant, Dariya received a call from her manager asking if she would be interested in working as a Key Liaison between Ukrainian refugees arriving at campus accommodation and management.

“All my friends were planning to go to Canada and America. I hadn’t any summer plans, because of the war [in Ukraine]. My brother and Dad are still there. My Mam is fine, she’s in Italy, but she’s not 100% and so that’s why I didn’t want to leave Europe.”

“When they arrived on the UCD campus…it was very, very emotional because I am involved in this…It’s unfortunate that [the war] happened, but I had the opportunity to help my native country.”

Reflecting on her UCD experience, Dariya said, “I am so proud of having contributed to this university and to the community that exists in UCD. To have given something, and to have received something back.”

“Graduating from UCD is a stepping stone. It’s one of the best universities in Ireland, and I am proud of myself.”

Following her UCD graduation, Dariya will be returning to France to begin a Master’s in Management programme at EDHC Business School.

“It’s in a small city in the north of France, Lille, and then from January I’ll be in Paris for a year and a half. It’s a two year program.”

“I am saying goodbye to Dublin for a while, but I might be back in the future.”

Right now Ahmed is undergoing an internship in Chemical Engineering with MSD, where he has been supported and encouraged by fellow UCD alumni.

While he will be returning to Belfield to study for his masters, Ahmed is starting this new chapter of his life in a different place than when he started his undergraduate degree in 2019.

“It’s definitely made me more confident!”

Growing up in Ballaghaderreen, the youngest in his family, Ahmed was weighing up a lot of interests and options to inform his CAO choices. He was torn between studying science, engineering and business.

Aeronautical engineering first interested him because he had initially dreamed of being a pilot. Unfortunately, the cost of training as a pilot was out of reach for his family. He then leaned towards business, but he credits his brother for convincing him to study engineering in the end.

Moving up to UCD with a few friends around him made all the difference in his transition to living and studying in Dublin, but he still lacked some confidence.

“I’ll be honest, in the beginning I was a very shy person coming in and I kept to myself.”

He quickly got stuck into life at UCD and when things got difficult, he found essential support along the way from the Access and Lifelong Learning team. They were able to support him financially, and helped him connect with the (opens in a new window)Islamic Society. It may seem like an innocuous thing, but simply finding suitable places to eat on campus and to have a place to pray made a huge difference.

Slowly, UCD started to feel like home. And then things changed again!

“I was in second year when Covid started, but the following year was the hardest. I think everyone contemplated leaving during that year, just to take a year out.”

Despite all of these challenges, Ahmed managed to see it through. He applied himself, joined working groups, and got organised. He put in a hard graft…and he made it!

As an Access Leader, Ahmed was able to be a role model to others over the years and to share what he learned along the way. He has offered advice and mentoring to many incoming students. He also had the opportunity to connect with an alumnus from his small town, who happened to have completed the same course that he was studying.

Ahmed believes new students should get in touch with the services designed to support them through their college experience.

“Use the resources available to you…go to the programme office, the Access centre, or the SU. They genuinely care.”

Having previously used the (opens in a new window)UCD Accommodation Pad to find digs, he encourages incoming and continuing students to use the trusted platform which is run by UCD.

“I got lucky. I found something fifteen minutes from UCD.”

Luke Murphy had his heart set on studying architecture, his uncle was a trainee draftsman and Luke saw himself following in his footsteps.

Undaunted by a two-hour bus journey from his home in Clondalkin, Luke was determined to go to UCD. He attended the UCD Open Day, hoping to find out more about architecture but while he was there, he was blown away by a powerful speech on planning by Dr Mick Lennon.

“[The course] had all the aspects of everything that I liked, geography, the art aspect through urban design. It was that medium between architecture and everything else in engineering and landscape architecture.”

In a twist of fate, Luke ended up not getting enough points to study architecture and found himself pursuing his second choice, City Planning & Environmental Policy.

“I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get architecture. Well, I said, let’s see how this goes and it might not be the worst opportunity.”

He quickly settled into planning and liked how intimate the course was. In hindsight, he thinks that it was a much better fit for him than architecture.

“There was only 25 in the course. It was a very small class…so it made that transition from secondary school to college easier.”

A self-professed workaholic, Luke’s dedication paid off when he was invited to apply to the UCD Ad Astra Academy. Initially he thought his friends had played an elaborate joke on him and nearly missed the deadline to apply.

The Academy opened up doors for him to meet other students studying across different disciplines in UCD.

“I also got a University scholarship. It was nice to see that hard work being recognised, and it’s something that I never thought I would achieve in college. I was always told that you’re a number in college.”

Luke was also delighted that he was studying a three-year course, with an option to do one of three different masters programmes after that. He opted to study the MRUP Masters of Regional & Urban Planning.

“In my master’s degree, I was recognised again by the faculty in the school, and I won the Student Planner of the Year award with the Royal Town Planning Institute.”

Luke is delighted to be graduating from his masters and is now working as a Graduate Planner.

“I did an internship with a big private planning consultancy, John Spain Associates. I was lucky enough that they offered me a full time job when I graduated.”

Samson came to Ireland from Uganda in 2012 as an asylum seeker.

Initially he wasn’t that interested in education, but the people he met along the way saw something in him and encouraged him to go on to study even though it meant starting as a mature student.

“I was 19 years old and a refugee when I started my Leaving Cert, and after that I had a gap year, so I applied to UCD to do a Diploma in Continuing Education.”

He was interested in Medicine at first, but through conversations with others  he discovered that he was particularly drawn to Engineering.

After completing this Access and Lifelong Learning course, he was accepted on to an Engineering course at UCD – Chemical Engineering, and that’s what he’s been doing for the past 5 years.

“One of my special memories is being granted the Réalta Scholarship, because initially I was going to do only the Bachelor’s degree…this enabled me to pursue a Masters and do an internship. With this you get one year of experience, and it made a huge difference to me getting a job straight out of college. During the internship is when I got into a graduate programme, so I feel it really helped me a lot.”

Samson starts work at Eli Lilly on their graduate programme on the same day he graduates.

“I’ll be a cleaning process engineer, because that’s what I worked on in my internship and thesis.”

There have been exciting developments in this area recently, and Samson is looking forward to being part of the innovation and changes in downstream processing especially.

“As time progresses, after 2 years, then I will change to something else. I really like bioprocessing and I think maybe I could be a manager one day, so I think in time I will do a masters in Project Management.”

He is proud to recommend studying Engineering at UCD because it allows students to “start off general and over time start to specialise or even add business into the mix.”

Reflecting back on his experience, he assures potential students that “there is so much support and the labs are very good. Even when I went into industry, I was used to most of the machines because we had them in the labs.”

One of his favourite modules was “downstream bioprocessing; growing cells into the bioreactors.” He feels lucky to have discovered this and to be going into this area of work.

Outside of the classroom, Samson joined the Islamic Society and even though he wasn’t on the committee, he “helped out with events, especially welcoming new members.”

Samson also got involved on campus through his role as an Access Leader, where he “supported students who visited and offered advice when they came in, to answer questions and to encourage them to join UCD.”

He is passionate about helping others who are in the situation he was in and is involved with the (opens in a new window)Dun Laoghaire Refugee Project. He is happy to report that “they have a few refugees [at DRP] who are considering studies at UCD!”

So what does it feel like for him to look back on the last 10 years in Ireland as this conferring milestone approaches?

“I am really looking forward to [my graduation day] because it’s been 8 years of constant studying. I’m excited and it will be emotional for me because I’ve come very far! When I think about it, I can’t believe I’ve done that.”

His parting words of wisdom for fellow classmates: “We should keep learning. We should always have that hunger for more knowledge. You can join the alumni and even donate to help students like me. My scholarship was made possible because of donors and we now can give back!”

A self-professed globe-trotter, Valetha Fladrich, has always been interested in traveling to new and exciting places. She grew up in Singapore and then went to study for her undergraduate degree in Australia.

Valetha then met and fell in love with her now husband who is from Germany, and moved to Europe after two years of a long distance relationship. They initially lived together in the Czech Republic, before moving to Ireland five years ago.

Valetha worked in human resources for a large multinational company for a number of years. She always knew that she wanted to return to education to further develop her skills and enhance her career prospects.

Eventually she decided to study for a (opens in a new window)MSc in Human Resource Management at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School where she was impressed by the schools’ global reputation.

“It’s internationally recognised so it’s great to broaden my network…I’ve studied in Australia, I’ve studied in Singapore and have never seen such an international cohort of classmates.”

The employability of graduates was also a factor which influenced Valetha’s decision to study at the UCD Smurfit School.

In particular, the programme provided an opportunity to specialise in the field of HR and earn a professional accreditation.

“My master’s degree is Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development [CIPD] accredited. CIPD is the professional body for HR professionals…which means that going forward, apart from the Irish market, I could also work in the UK market. The CIPD accreditation is an equivalent to the SHRM certification in the USA.”

While studying for her degree, Valetha also got involved with co-curricular activities. She saw these activities as an opportunity to connect with others outside of the classroom and apply what she was learning in lectures to real life situations.

“Undergrad, I was very focused on the academic side of things, so this time around when I was doing my master’s, I wanted a change.”

Valetha took part in the Global Leadership Programme where she had the opportunity to be mentored and volunteered on the newsletter team producing content.

“We had a lot of sync up calls trying to brainstorm new ideas, how we can encourage people to join events. I really enjoy creating for social media, so I volunteered to do a few posters and I also came up with an idea whereby [students] could share stories about what they have done and how they feel about the programme.”

“I think going forward, I would be a mentor and hopefully I can help someone in return.”

Having earned the Global Leadership Programme certificate, Valetha also achieved the UCD Advantage Award from UCD Careers Network and completed the Intercultural Development Programme.

Valetha has decided to further specialise in the area of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) and is currently writing a dissertation on this subject. Moving forward, she plans to settle with her partner in Germany where she hopes to connect with fellow UCD alumni and stay in touch with the friends she made while studying at UCD.

“[UCD] will provide me with a solid alumni network…two of my classmates are originally from Germany, so when I travel over I also have the support of friends and guess what, they also specialised in HR. So that means, apart from friends, I also have a future potential network. You never know, we might be working the same company. I feel like the world, sometimes is very small.”

Orlaith Wolohan had worked in a nursing home for many years, and felt that she would enjoy a role which involved caring for and interacting with patients.

“I started off doing a PLC in 2017, and had done some interviews with nurses and with representatives from some of the colleges about the different types of nursing and the different routes you can take. From that I’d heard a lot about mental health nursing, and I was interested in psychology as well.”

The opportunity to transfer to study (opens in a new window)Mental Health Nursing at UCD came up in Orlaith’s second year, and she was thrilled when she found out that she had been accepted onto the course.

One of the things Orlaith appreciated most about the programme was the opportunity to complete placements in a variety of different areas of mental health nursing, from acute mental health nursing to more community-based work. She felt supported and encouraged on her placements.

“It was great to build up your knowledge and skills in different areas, to be prepared for going into the workplace as a registered nurse. You can take your experience with you.”

Research was another area that Orlaith got to experience for the first time at UCD.

“In third year I had the opportunity to take part in a research scholarship. We looked into the experience of COVID-19 for parents of children with rare diseases. That was a wonderful opportunity. It was great because I always had an interest in research, so this opened the door and showed me what was involved.”

Orlaith and her sister both graduated on the same day, so it was a double celebration for their family. Now she is looking forward to her career in mental health nursing.

“I’ve already started working as a mental health nurse. I got a place in St Vincent’s University Hospital and I started working there a couple of weeks ago. My plan is to stay on the wards for a couple of years and then go down the research route. Fingers crossed that it all works out!”

Bernadette Brady graduated from UCD with a BSc in Chemistry in 1990 and completed a PhD focusing on carbohydrate chemistry in 1995 before taking some time to travel and consider her options after graduation.

This all came to a halt however when, soon afterwards her mother suffered a stroke and began to show signs of what turned out to be Alzheimer’s Disease. As the only child of older parents, Bernadette selflessly stepped up to act as a carer. She was honoured and glad to be able to provide this care for her parents over the years.

After Bernadette’s mother passed away in 2017, she felt drawn back to the university campus where she had formed many fond memories.

“I used to go to UCD to walk, because it’s my happy place.”

One day she decided to get in touch with one of her former demonstrators who was now a professor of Chemistry in UCD, Professor Pat Guiry, to ask for some advice about the possibility of returning to science after such a long absence. Professor Guiry told her about the master’s degree programmes in the School of Biomedical and Biomolecular Science. After a lot of research and consideration, Bernadette applied for the MSc in Biotechnology. Her application was successful and she began her studies in September 2021.

Back as a student on the Belfield campus, the very first lecture rekindled her passion for learning about science.

“It was mesmerising…I thought, this is back to science, back to UCD and I’m the luckiest woman in the whole world. Behind the compulsory face mask, I could not stop smiling.”

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bernadette and her classmates wore face masks to ensure a safe teaching environment.

Initially, Bernadette was unsure how she would fit in with her classmates as a mature student. She was thirty years older than the most of the students in her class. They were the age she was when she was first at University back in the late 1980s.

“I was very hesitant to try to connect with the class, because I thought I’m probably older than their parents…there was just a sea of young faces coming towards me the first morning. But we had to wear masks, and I was grateful for that. I thought maybe they won’t realise how old I am.”

Group projects helped forge a bond with fellow students. She enjoyed the group dynamic and soon appreciated that they were all in it together. The friendship, encouragement and support of her classmates helped her to enjoy every moment of her Masters degree journey.

“They were the loveliest, happiest, and warmest group of people from all over the world.”

Many years of being isolated at home as a carer meant that returning to a normal life was very daunting for Bernadette, but her time studying at UCD again helped her to surmount this.

Bernadette is now putting her energy and compassion for others to good use. She recently volunteered at the (opens in a new window)UCD Festival this summer and also regularly volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Society who supported her when she was a carer.

“There are hundreds of carers my age who say, when caring is over, what do you do next? Because of that feeling of getting older and panicking. I’d love to say to people, just go back and reconnect…I had completely lost my identity, my ideas for my own future. It really started a new chapter of my life.”

Bernadette’s new chapter has begun! As part of the masters programme there was the option to do an internship and Bernadette’s fellow classmates encouraged her to go for it. She completed an internship with a company based in Dublin and has now accepted a role in the clinical chemistry lab.

With an undergraduate degree in sociology and a research masters under her belt, Jet Klokgieters knew she wanted to explore more about the effects of digital technology on society.

Having completed her previous studies in the Netherlands, Jet now planned to study abroad. Her mother drew her attention to the MSc in Digital Policy at UCD, which was exactly what she was looking for. The fact that the course was one year long was a draw too, since Jet had just completed a two year masters degree.

She applied to the course and was delighted when she was accepted.

“Dublin is the heart of digital Europe with Google, Meta and all those companies having their headquarters there. The city itself is nice, and UCD is also a really good university. I think everything sort of came together.”

To make the most of her experience studying in a new country, Jet had saved up over the years. This allowed her to afford to live in purpose built student accommodation in Dublin, and focus on her studies. She was keen to get to know Ireland better, and visited many of Dublin’s museums.

“Dublin is quite different from the Netherlands, but also quite similar because it’s still sort of Western Europe. I think Ireland also has its own distinct culture and is really unique.”

Jet found UCD to be a very inclusive environment, full of people from all walks of life and with many different experiences. Some of her happiest memories from the master’s are the daily conversations she would have with three friends she made at UCD.

“People were welcoming in UCD…I had friends. I felt at ease, happy and connected.”

Jet enjoyed her course and the fact that the master’s class was small, which she felt led to a better learning experience and provided her with the chance to connect with her lecturers.

“I tried to make the most out of the opportunities here. I talked a lot to the professors and asked a lot of questions in class.”

An aspect of the course that surprised Jet was the opportunity to complete modules outside of her discipline in related fields, such as a law module that she took on data protection and privacy.

“I was not expecting to be able to do a module at master’s level in law but they knew that there were students from Social Sciences, so they didn’t make it too technical.”

Jet enjoyed living and studying abroad so much that she is now exploring opportunities to work outside of the Netherlands.

Anu Bode Favours came to Ireland when she was 4 years old and hadn’t left the country since, until this year when she went to Dubai. And now she's heading off to London in October.

Initially, she was "hellbent on Medicine" but when the CAO offers came out and she didn't get the course, she was gutted. The BSc Computer Science with a specialism in Data Science at UCD was the next best fit.

With a bit of encouragement from her dad and her mum, she is happy to report that now she believes, "it worked out for the better."

"In 6th year it's a really big decision to make…you just have to do what's best for you at the moment." 

Reflecting on her undergraduate experience, Anu shares: "Initially I found the course really difficult. It was a very big jump and I don't think I realised there would be so much Maths. So first year was a real struggle for me, second year I got more comfortable and had more of an understanding of the concepts, and it was third year where I really found my stride. When we chose I streams, I chose data science, and I think that served me a lot because I chose something that I was genuinely interested in to combine all my interests together." 

"Intro to Python was my favourite. We had to do big projects, but we got to see the results. It was really rewarding."

Another satisfying challenge along the way was her final project on a "time series analyser" which she explains, is "a way of presenting data over a certain period of time to understand and observe data". Impressively, she made a website to drop data files and create the X-Y axis; an easy way to run the data. 

Anu was actively involved in a number of co-curricular and extracurricular activities at UCD. Having come through the Access route, she became a digital ambassador, a science student leader, got involved in the Christian Society and the African Society, and even did a campaign with the HEA focusing on (opens in a new window)Women in pStem. All of these projects, she says, "made [her] experience in UCD even better."

One of the obstacles she faced in first year was commuting from a small village in Meath. "There was only one bus to my village and one bus back… so it was difficult to get involved." 

Notwithstanding the housing crisis, "if I were to give advice to students it would be to live as close as possible… or at least accessible with more regular bus times…college in general is not easy. There are fun parts, but it's tough."

She experienced this in final year, when she really felt burnt out and genuinely didn't know how she was going to get through it. "It is a testament to the people I have around me, all the people I have supporting me, helping me, and pushing me."

Lately she's been doing an internship in NHS Digital and this further solidified her career choices. She explains that, "with STEM I was able to combine my interests and pursue things I really love."

In October, Anu is off to Imperial College London to do an MSc in Health Data Analytics and Machine Learning. "I couldn't have done all of this without UCD, and all of the caring people I have around me at UCD". Next big challenge is finding a place to live in London for her Masters. And after that? "… I hope I get a job."