Cavan students feature in RTÉ docu series

‘My Uni LIfe’ continued yesterday (Friday), for the second week in a row, and is available to catch-up with on the RTÉ iPLayer.

Two Cavan students are among seven taking part in a new five-part documentary series detailing the changing face of higher education in Ireland.

‘My Uni LIfe’ continued yesterday evening (Friday), for the second week in a row, and is available to catch-up with on the RTÉ iPLayer.

Filmed over the past 12 months, the series provides a unique and authentic insight into the lives of seven students across the country, as they navigate through personal challenges and the current Covid-19 pandemic while trying to grapple with the move to remote learning.

Courtney McGrath from Cavan studying at Trinity College Dublin is one such remarkable story.

Her distinct lack of a Cavan accent is a clue to the challenge that she and hundreds of other young Irish students have to overcome on the road to education.

Courtney is profoundly deaf and can only hear through her bilateral cochlear implants.

“From participating in the documentary, I have grown to be more confident and started to believe in myself. I hope that people with disabilities watch the documentary and realise they are capable of achieving anything. I believe in you,” says Courtney.

Each student comes from a different background, accessing university through a variety of routes, but with determination that is key to the personal difficulties they have overcome.

Another local student featured in the series is Alpha Ike from Cavan studying at Maynooth University.

Born in Nigeria and in Ireland since he was 8 and living in Cavan,

At the age of 11 Alpha entered the care system. He says he is lucky, as he still lives with the family he was placed with at that time.

At the age of 13 he developed a love of Gaelic Football and after settling in Cavan, became a first team player for Monaghan Cavan FC under-19s.

He is now in his third of a computer software course after entering university through the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR Scheme).

“I think that an interesting aspect of the documentary is the way it transitioned from being about college life to capturing a piece of history for people involved. I was a different person at the start of the process in a very different world and I appreciated being part of the story of how people coped in this new world,” says Alpha.

‘My Uni Life’ first aired on Friday, November 6, continues each week at 7.30pm.