ZOE FORDE

Award Year: 2013

Course: Social Science, Social Policy

Activities: Please Talk

Occupation: Communications Officer

I became involved in mental health awareness campaigns following my own diagnosis with depression. I wanted to make sure other UCD students never felt as alone or scared as I did, so I joined the UCD Students’ Union Welfare Officer’s mental health campaigns before joining the Please Talk committee, who highlight the help available to students on campus. With Please Talk I held tea/coffee mornings in faculty buildings and on campus residences, outreach events, gave talks on mental health, and hosted the annual candlelight vigil to remember those who had lost their lives to suicide. At each of these occasions we highlighted the power of Please Talk’s simple message: Talking is a sign of strength.

The opportunities UCD gave me to raise awareness around mental health allowed me to give back to the community that had helped heal me during my own struggles.

Darragh Gaffney

Award Year: 2005

Course: Chemistry

Activities: Science Day; Class Representative; Volunteers Overseas

I was delighted at the time to receive the President’s Award and I’m sure it has definitely helped my career having it on my CV since, but the part of it that definitely meant the most at the time was the fact that the nomination for the Award came from a fellow student. And while I know my parents were very proud of the achievement, the photograph receiving the Award from Dr Hugh Brady definitely took pride of place on my Grandmother’s mantelpiece!

It was not until I started to put myself back in my 23 year old’s shoes and to remember all that happened during my time at UCD that I realised the significant impact those years, and in particular my final year, had and continue to have on my life. Academically, achieving my BSc put me on a career course that I love, but the core element that kept coming to the fore from those reflections was all about the people. The friendships and relationships that were formed and solidified during those years have had the greatest impact on my life. I met my wife and mother of our two children, Kim O’Reilly, in UCD in that final year. My best man at our wedding, who also played a big part in getting Kim and I together, Liam Doyle, was a friend I had met through being involved with Science Day. Fr Tony Coote, UCD Chaplain, married us.

Occupation: R&D Manager, Monaghan Biosciences

As the Chemistry class of 2005 we recently met up to mark 10 years since we graduated and at the moment I am organising to catch up with some friends that I met in the first week of 1st year! Everywhere I look, and it has taken this reflection to realise the connections back to my time at UCD stand out and those years in UCD have truly shaped my life!

Sin Ad Gaughan

Award Year: 2015

Course: Social Science, Social Policy, Information Studies

Activities: Students’ Union Disability Rights

Occupation: Master of Public Policy

Audio Descriptors, Radios and Mexicans…

When I think back on those three short years as an undergraduate student most definitely there is a personal feeling of inclusion in the extracurricular activities which make UCD such an exciting, interesting, and a humane place.

First year was getting to know my way around. Being a mid-forties mature student I guess reflected the growing diversity of our student community. Never one to shy away from a bit of work (or ageism) I offered myself for election to the voluntary role of UCD SU Disability Rights Co-ordinator in my second year. By then the bearings had been established and €4,000 of Newman funding had been personally secured for projects in regard to Disability. This included ‘Audio Descriptor’ equipment for people with vision impairment for the UCD Cinema, a UCD photo shoot for the IASE ‘Job Shadow Day’ national campaign, an animation workshop on the theme of disability, and a field trip to UCD from St Michael’s House Intellectual Disability Services. We attended the 2014 ‘Better Together’ awards, where UCD SU achieved a top 20 status nationally and an accreditation. However, the highlight of that time for me was being a recipient of the President’s Award.

Never one to be idle, in my third and final year the role of a broadcaster on UCD radio beckoned, with my own weekly one-hour show, ‘Social Issues with Sinéad’. The topics discussed included: Student Welfare, Accessibility and Disability, Housing and Homelessness, Lone Parents and Childcare, Employability and Education, Adoption and Fostering, The Environment, The Voluntary Sector, and Data/Archives/Information. I am indebted to all my guests, academic and otherwise, over that series and in gratitude to Belfield FM student radio for the opportunity. Then, in the final month of the degree, when I thought nothing else could surpass such fabulous UCD experiences, I was absolutely delighted and surprised to be awarded a travel scholarship. One of the three UCD delegates chosen to attend the Universitas 21 ‘Global Aging Populations’ conference in the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico 2016. Luckily we travelled together, which is very reassuring, considering that Mexico is half way around the world! The itinerary for the week was amazing with lots of excursions and networking as well as two days of undergraduate research presentations. I was also so excited seeing Mexico, its culture, food, music and people… And that says it all….

Through my time in UCD I have done such interesting things and met such lovely people. People from many backgrounds and each with their own wonderful story. I can only hope that any contributions during my time as a student, has helped to shape UCD into the lively, diverse, engaging, and inclusive community it is today.