I am Ailish Power, a first year Business and Spanish student at Trinity College Dublin.

I moved to Gaeltacht na Déise from New York when I was three years old, and I completed my primary and secondary education there through Irish. Growing up in the Gaeltacht has influenced my a lot as a person, for example I love singing Irish Sean-Nós songs and playing Gaelic Football. Being fluent in Irish has also made learning Spanish much more enjoyable for me. I am extremely excited about spending my third year in Spain and fully embracing and absorbing the language and the culture.  It was daunting moving away from home, being the first one to leave, but Dublin city and the entire college experience has made me mature and I am so grateful to be receiving this education and this incredibly useful scholarship. I am immensely looking forward to commencing and building a career in International Business for myself

4th Year Report

My name is Ailish Power and I’m in my final year of my Business Studies and Spanish bachelors degree. I’m studying a wide range of modules this year, including Company Law, Managing New Product Development, Social Innovation, Strategic Management and Spanish grammar. I also have a final year project which will be completed in Spanish, and I have chosen the energy company Endesa as the basis of this project. This year is as busy as previous years, but I couldn’t be more grateful to be at the finishing line. This scholarship is a big reason I’ve gotten this far, and I would like to thank the McDonagh family for all their support over the years. Thank you.

3rd Year Report

This year I had the amazing fortune of being able to go to Madrid on Erasmus for the duration of the year. My scholarship made this year abroad possible for me. I have found this year academically challenging as all of my classes have been through Spanish, and I’ve found the university’s culture to be too relaxed and unaccommodating for my liking. However this has been one of the best years of my life. Absorbing the culture of Madrid has been enlightening and I’ve found getting to know people from all around the world and practising my Spanish at various language exchange meetings really enjoyable. My younger sister started college this year and thanks to this scholarship my parents could focus on her instead of me, and so much financial pressure was taken off me while I was away. I am so grateful for this. The scholarship has truly made my life a million times easier and it inspires me to succeed in order to be in the position to do the same for others in the future. A sincere thanks again.”

2nd Year Report

I’m currently interning at State Street Corporation in the Investment Management Services department in Boston, MA as part of the Summer Internship Program. It’s really interesting as I’m learning a lot about middle office financial services and all the work that’s done behind the scenes of trading. I believe that it’s really important to have an understanding of the services provided to Investment Managers and Custodians if embarking into a career in Financial Services. I’m also preparing to move to Madrid in the beginning of September for two semesters of Erasmus, which I’m ecstatic about. I’m extremely eager to improve my fluency in Spanish and embrace the culture in the art capital of the world. The second year was a very productive time for me. I took really versatile classes which gave me a well-rounded basis education of Business. I’m certain that the information I learned in the classes I took in the second year will stand to me not only in my career, but when making personal financial decisions in the future. This scholarship has been so useful for me and I’m so grateful that I have the support of this organization and the people behind this organization during this time in my life. Thank you.

 

1st Year Report

I’m currently in my second year of Business Studies and Spanish at Trinity College Dublin. I found my first year in college extremely interesting and rewarding. I lived in Trinity Halls which was an incredibly enjoyable experience and I loved taking part in all of the events they had to offer. I found my modules challenging but interesting and I feel like I’ve come a long way this past year. I interned for a month this summer at Chapdelaine and Co. and I feel like not only did it give me a wonderful insight into the world of investment banking but it helped me shape my own career path. I’m very grateful for this scholarship as it makes a tremendous difference and keeps me focused on college and my career. I am loving my second year so far as I find my modules even more interesting than last year as we move on from the introductory modules and go into more detail. I am incredibly excited about my classes next semester, as well as my Erasmus next year in Spain. Thank you immensely for this opportunity.