A festive atmosphere filled the Douglas Hyde Theatre as students from diverse backgrounds gathered to celebrate their completion of the Changemakers mentoring course, a programme offered by Technological University of the Shannon (TUS ) Athlone and College Connect.
The programme, which aims to empower prospective students furthest away from higher education, has had a transformative impact on the lives of many participants.
In a powerful speech to the graduates, Laura Murray, a current TUS student and mentor on the programme, spoke candidly about the challenges she faced as a single mother juggling higher education and parenthood. She emphasised the transformative power of education and expressed her gratitude to TUS Athlone’s support services, particularly the Access service, student resource centre, and College Connect, for guiding her along her educational journey.
“Thank you college for being more than just a university of learning. It has been a transformative adventure in ways I never thought possible,” Laura said.
Another student Sarah Kilmartin, who was a mentee on the course, spoke of the empowering effect Changemakers had on her aspirations and how much the underpinning values of the course, teamwork, diversity, and inclusion had on her outlook.
“I felt so nervous as I was walking into the building because it was something new for me and I wasn’t sure what would happen. As the weeks went by, I made lots of new friends and also got to explore the college which was really interesting and also gave me an idea of what I would like to study in the college,” Sarah added.
This graduation ceremony marked the completion of the second instance of the Changemakers programme in TUS Athlone in 2023. The enrolled group, representing diverse groups identified in the National Access Plan (NAP ) 2022-2023, hailed from various centres across Westmeath, including Athlone FE Centre, Athlone NLN, Athlone Training Centre, and Moate Business college.
Changemakers is a mentoring initiative under College Connects regional mentoring programme, which aims to create direct engagement opportunities for prospective students with current university students and access staff. The programme focuses on building capacity, raising aspirations, and exploring power, leadership, and change across diverse groups, illuminating pathways and fostering empowerment through peer support.
TUS Athlone has hosted three iterations of Changemakers since October 2022. The first course targeted people seeking asylum and those with experience of Direct Provision, while the second, held in the spring of 2023, focused on Further Education and Training students. The third, open to all students from target groups identified in the NAP, aimed to widen participation and enhance educational aspirations for the most socio-economically disadvantaged people in the Athlone area.
“The Changemakers programme has been an incredible success. It has empowered mentees, mentors, and community partners alike, and we are committed to continuing this important initiative in years to come,” Marta Johnston, Community Connector for TUS Athlone, remarked.
To learn more about the Changemakers mentoring programme and to express interest in participating in future iterations, please contact TUS Midlands Access Service [email protected], or College Connect; [email protected].
College Connect is a regional access programme that aims to widen participation by enhancing educational aspirations and opportunities for the most socio-economically disadvantaged people in the Midlands, East, North Dublin (MEND ) region. The project is led by Maynooth University in partnership with DCU, Technological University of the Shannon (Athlone Campus ), and Dundalk Institute of Technology.
