James McDonald grew up in Ballymun and from an early age hoped to attend the university that he could see up the road. In this piece, he explains how Access scholarship support made it possible for him to graduate with a BSc in Enterprise Computing from DCU in 2018 and to undertake his MSc in...Continue Reading
Casey McHugh is in her second year studying the BA in Communications Studies at DCU. She is from a small village in Co. Donegal. The route to university was not an easy one for Casey and she explains the challenges that she has overcome to attend third level education and how she is thankful for...Continue Reading
Claire Joyce is in her third year studying Irish and Geography at the DCU Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences. As a member of the Traveller community, she explains the challenges that she has overcome to attend third level education and what the support of the DCU Access Programme has meant to her. “Although they...Continue Reading
Sean Trimble comes from a north Dublin community where just 15% of students progress to third level education. With the encouragement of his family and support of DCU’s Access Programme, today he is a second year Business Studies student in DCU. “In 2017, I became the first person in my family to attend university thanks...Continue Reading
Joy Newton from Co. Sligo, a graduate of DCU’s BA in Communications Studies, is one of the two NTR Foundation scholarship recipients enrolled in the newly established MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society at DCU in 2018/19. In this piece, Joy tells us how her interest in climate change was piqued and why...Continue Reading
Emma is an Access student who recently graduated with a BA in Law and Politics at DCU and is now studying for her LLM (Master of Laws) at DCU. In this piece, she explains the impact the Access Programme has had on her education. “I came to DCU in 2015 on the Access Programme and...Continue Reading
Time spent at DCU has a special place in the hearts of many students, staff and alumni. Through a memorial scholarship, many of our supporters have chosen to honour the memory of their loved one and to recognise the important role the University played in their loved one’s life by offering the same opportunities to...Continue Reading
Diana Oprea moved from Romania to Ireland in 2011 and settled in Rush, Co. Dublin with her family. She is currently a second year student on the BA in Global Business at DCU. At just 18 years old, she was selected as one of the youngest ever participants on the Washington Ireland Programme in 2017....Continue Reading
Twenty-two year old Laura Brady from Drumhillock in County Monaghan was the inaugural recipient of the UrbanVolt postgraduate scholarship in 2017/18. She explains how the scholarship opportunity has enabled her to pursue a future career in human resources. “I have always had a keen interest in business which stemmed from growing up on my parents...Continue Reading
Shepherd moved to Ireland in 2007 from Zimbabwe, fleeing political persecution and violence under the regime of Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. Shepherd had lived in the town of Gweru for his entire life. He was happily working as a salesperson selling industrial equipment and protective clothing whilst raising two children with his girlfriend,...Continue Reading
