SEÁN MAC DHONNAGÁIN

Award Year: 2016

Course: Mathematics, Statistics

Activity: Dramsoc

Occupation: Student

When I think of the six years I spent at UCD, the first thing to come to mind is not the studying itself, but my time in Dramsoc. I first stepped into the theatre at the start of my second year and by the end of the year, I had been on stage in eight different plays and involved backstage with several others.

Over the next few years, I became more involved in set building. Dramsoc gave me the opportunity to design sets that could be surrounded by water, or made up of honeycombs, or that descended from the ceiling. This, to me, was the true magic of the society – the chance to take an idea, be it a set or a script or a lighting design, and to bring it to life using all these amazing resources offered to all of us.

I will always look back fondly on the time I spent in the Society. I will proudly recall representing UCD at the Irish Student Drama Association Festivals in Belfast and Galway, and playing to full seating rigs in the Dramsoc Theatre. Most of all, I will remember the friends I made in the Society – friends I hope will still be my best friends many years from now.

Edward Mackle

Award Year: 2003

Course: Computer Science

Activity: I got the award for rescuing a drowning woman in the River Liffey

Occupation: Initiative Manager, LEGO Foundation in Switzerland

When driving down to Dublin to start my undergraduate degree in Computer Science, I did so alone. No one from my school in Northern Ireland was attending UCD that year. Therefore, as I turned the key for the first time to my apartment in Merville, I can safely say I had no idea what the next 4 years would hold.

While I enjoyed my degree (and did just enough to get by each year!), it was the friends I made who had the greatest impact on me. From a group of French and American foreign-exchange students, to my classmates or my rowing crew, each group helped me realise a fantastic university experience.

I cannot profess to be a typical recipient of the President’s Award – as I didn’t receive it for consistent student excellence over many years at College. Instead, I received it in my first year. During the annual UCD-Trinity boat race, a woman was seen floating unconscious in the water near the Ha’Penny Bridge. Being a strong swimmer, I decided to jump off the bridge (my grandmother told me never to try anything like that again!) to help rescue the woman.

It is hard to believe that 15 years have now passed since that I turned that key in Merville. In those early days, it was difficult to look to the future and to plot a personal journey. However, looking back now, I can see the strong foundation that UCD provided for a career that has taken me to the United Nations in New York, and more recently to the LEGO Foundation in Switzerland. I was lucky to also meet my wife at UCD, but I am not sure that my university experience ever prepared me for married life with 14-monthold twins!