At DCU, ‘they really care about their students’ says Ian Clancy who receives his Bachelor of Arts in English and Geography after his joint honours course at DCU St Patrick’s campus.
Ian, who already had an interest in both subjects in secondary school, wanted to go to DCU after going to open days and “I liked the vibe in St Pat’s.”
For the first year of his three year course he lived on campus and found the clubs and societies were helpful and there were events held specifically for people with on campus accommodation. He also found “there was a good community spirit in St Pat’s because it used to be an independent college so there was always rivalry between Pats and Glasnevin (campus) particularly in GAA.” Ian played hurling and they won a Freshers All-Ireland in hurling.
In second year, in a module on geopolitics, he looked at the political issue around waste water treatment and the environmental impact of it. “That steered me towards the environmental side of Geography,” he explained. The pandemic, which led to half of his three year course going online, “was annoying,” but he got a routine going which made it easier. When he started his course he anticipated he would go on to do a Professional Master of Education (PME) which would allow him to teach.
However he found “I drifted away from that somewhat.” It was during an online class towards the end of year three that Ian and his fellow students said to one of the lecturers that they needed more information on Masters programmes. “The lecturer really took that seriously and she organised meeting former DCU graduates who went on different paths; she did not have to do that at all, she was taking time out to do that.” The sharing of experiences by the other Alumni made it easier for Ian and has fellow students to relate to and contemplate their next step.
Ian is currently doing a Masters in Climate Change and tutoring part-time and said he believes that in DCU, “they really care about their students.” “From the likes of the lecturers who are all highly regarded academics in their own field but they take the time out to get to know their students. I don’t know if that happens in all the colleges.”
“In the final year we were on a first name basis with the Head of Department and if you went to them with an issue, they were there to support you straight away.”
