Diana

Prior to receiving he Bursary, I worked part-time during the first half of first year and I was beyond exhausted with trying to balance study, parental responsibilities and a job. I was not aware of the 1916 Bursary until I received an email and enquired about it with the mature student office. The overall process was not difficult. I was a single mother of three young children aged 7, 6 and 5 when I started my journey in UCC. During that time, I was faced with countless stressors especially financial issues. I also struggled with my mental health due to the trauma I sustained from the biological father of my children, including emotional and physical abuse.  Being a 1916 bursary recipient enabled me to strive towards completing my degree, contributing towards childcare costs and basic daily needs such as food expenses. In return, this helped me a lot to regain control over my anxiety and focus on my studies. It was a difficult road indeed, but I will be forever grateful to be a recipient of this bursary as it gave me hope and determination to pursue my studies in order to lead my children towards a bright future.