F ORMING GLOBAL MINDS

Top 1% world university Irelands largest and most international university M ore than 5,000 international students from

122 countries 2 5% international staff L ocated in Dublin, Irelands capital

*QS World University Rankings 2012

Programmes start on January 14th, 2013.

For more information or to make an enquiry,

visit www.ucd.ie/isc or call a Student Enrolment

Advisor on +44 (0)1273 339333.

UCD International Study Centre,

19-20 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland www.ucd.ie/isc

14619_07.12

University College Dublin

International Study Centre

International Foundation Year

Pre-Masters Programme

Progression to a wide range of degree

programmes including Business, Chemistry,

Mathematics, Economics and more

Entry from IELTS 5.0 or equivalent

NOW ACCEPTING

APPLICATIONS FOR

JANUARY 2013

14619 UCD ISC ad A4.indd 1 06/08/2012 15:04

2 Yeah! International Student Magazine

4 Chat with ! Brendan White

Head of Trinity College Dublin and

UCD Dublin International Study Centre

6 In Focus

International Student Forum to

canvass student opinion at the

Mansion House, Dublin

10 Special President Michael D.

Higgins launches the first Irish,

Spanish, Latin American literary

festival

16 Post Card from Waterford City

12 Irish Awareness

Some reflections for the struggle

to keep life in the global water crisis

18 Student interview

The ups and downs of running a

college society with Gabby Heath

UCD student

Recommend19 What students

Alena Rakytova (Slovakia)

Michael Tedula (Germany)

23 Deal linked between In focus

Limerick Institute of Technology

and Chinese Yangtze University.

14 Campus

National college of Business

Administration (NCBA)

20 News & Entertainment

A variety of talent and

experience by the

African Students association

of Ireland (ASAI )

30 Exclusive

International Student wins

Miss Ethnic Ireland 2013

competition

13 13

Miss Ethnic Ireland 2013

36 36

31 31

8 86 6

chat with

Head of Trinity College Dublin and UCD Dublin

Could you explain to our readers a little about

what you do?

BW.The International Study Centre provides

foundation programmes for students from outside

the European Union for progression to degree

courses with the university partners. Nowadays,

international students come from such varied

backgrounds ( we have students from 16 countries

in the Centre from Colombia to Saudi Arabia to

Korea) and what these programmes do is

effectively bridge the gap between the academic

or language background of these learners and Irish

university students. The Centre is run and

managed by Study Group and the company helps

the university partners in Ireland to recruit

international students from around the world and

prepare each one for successful transition into

graduate and postgraduate studies. We currently

work with Trinity College Dublin and UCD Dublin,

Ireland's leading universities.

Students can progress to a very wide range of

degrees, from Economics and Finance in UCD to

Chemistry with Molecular Modeling in Trinity

College Dublin.

What is Study Group's main purpose and

goals?

BW! Study Group is the world leader in the

provision of western education for students

from around the world. 50,000 students from

over 130 countries enter Study Group

programmes each year, delivered in 48

campuses across the USA, Canada, the UK,

Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Study

Group offers career education through a

diverse range of government accredited

vocational and degree-level courses; helps

attract the highest caliber students from

around the world to higher education

institutions and provides high quality English

language training for international students.

There are foundations programmes for

degree study at TCD and UCD, tell us more

about that?

Students can choose between two separate

pathways: Business, Economics and Social

Studies and Science, Engineering and

Biomedical Sciences. There are a variety of

academic modules in core subjects like Maths

and Academic English as well as elective

modules in a whole range of subject specific

areas like Chemistry and History and Urban

Landscape of Dublin. The teachers are all

highly experienced in teaching international

students at university level and we work in

small class groups of up to fifteen students

which allow a mix of seminar discussions,

tutorials and lectures to be used each day. In

terms of skills, what the programme really

tries to do is prepare students for the type of

learning they will be exposed to in university.

There are certain skills that world class

universities like TCD and UCD look for beyond

simply excellent high school grades. They are

looking for students that are critical thinkers

and can work independently but at the same

time are active and participative in college life.

Study Group partners with

universities and colleges in the USA,

Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia and

New Zealand

Brendan White

International Study Centre Group, Ireland.

4 Yeah! International Student Magazine

Study Group have developed a

global network of international

offices and education

counsellors. Why is this so

important to the success of the

company?

With a huge team of people

working around the world to

present and showcase the

programmes, Study Group is able

to offer resources and access to

potential students that even the

largest universities cannot do on

their own. This allows partner

colleges to recruit students from

parts of the world where the

universities or indeed Ireland as a

destination country, has a

relatively low profile and helps

Ireland to be regarded as a world-

leading provider of international

education.

www.studygroup.com

Yeah! International Student Magazine 5

In the long term, a high

standard of university

education provides the

knowledge necessary for

social mobility and economic

progress and the current

crisis encourages that view.

It is estimated that this year seven

million students will be studying

outside their country of birth, do

you think that these figures have

changed dramatically due of the

global financial crisis?

It is interesting that even though

the initial investment that many

students make in studying abroad

brings with it a lot of risk: Will I be

successful in pursuing a course

overseas? Will the financial

investment really help my future

career prospects? There is still this

trend in increasing

internationalisation of the student

body in higher education. Ireland

has seen a big jump in home

students numbers applying for

certain university courses and this

is a direct result of diminished job

opportunities for school leavers. I

think the same trend is in evidence

in other countries and even those

at different levels of development

to us.

50,000 students

from over 130

countries enter

Study Group

programmes.

he first Irish, Spanish & Latin

TAmerican (ISLA) literary festival was launched by the President Michael D. Higgings on November 2nd at the Instituto Cervantes, Dublin, The festival,

which brought together writers from

Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Ireland and

Spain, featured a series of readings and

round table discussions over the weekend

and was a great success.

The President spoke on Friday to an audience

of approximately 200 and them in Spanish,

Irish, and English. After greeting the crowd,

he spoke to those gathered about a recent

diplomatic trip to Latin America.

"I have recently returned from visiting Chile,

Brazil, and Argentina, a part of the world

which has a cherished place in my heart,"

said Higgins. "During these visits, I was struck

again by the depth of the engagement with

Irish culture and writing that exists in Latin

America and how our two traditions have

influenced and enriched each other."

President Higgins went on to speak about the

role that writer Kate OBrien has played in

Irish and Spanish literature, and the intense

close connection of the author to Spain.

Jane Alger, Director of Dublin UNESCO City

of Literature which is one the Festival

partners, said that ISLA was especially timely

because of the recent visit of President

Michael D. Higgins to Latin America.

"The ISLA festival has brought the best of the

wonderful culture of Spanish speaking

peoples right to the door of Dubliners. It will

also add another dimension to the holidays

of the many Irish people who go to Spain

every year as well as added interest in the

rich culture of Latin America brought to

our attention by the recent visit of President

Higgins, said Alger" Dublin UNESCO City of

Literature is delighted to partner with the

Cervantes Institute as well as the embassies of

Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Spain in

joining Irish writers with their Spanish-

speaking counterparts."

The festival was family-friendly and all events

were free to attend. It was a completely

bilingual festival due to the fact that every

participant, moderator and presenter spoke in

the language in which they felt most

comfortable while being simultaneously

translated.

Instituto Cervantes director Rosa Len,

explained that the Spanish for 'island' is 'ISLA'

and it stands for Irish, Spanish and Latin

American. She also elaborated on reasons that

have brought the Institute to organise a

literary event .

In Focus!

Literature FestivalBy Sergio Angulo Bujanda

10 Yeah! International Student Magazine

H. E. Mr Garrigues, President Higgins and Ms Garrigues

From left Mrs.Teresita Trujillo (Cuba), Mr Carlos Garca de Alba (Mexico)

Ms Ana Pisano (Deputy Head of Mission Argentina), Mr Javier Garrigues (Spain).

President Higgings, Mr Leonel Searle (Chile)

President Higgins launches f irst ISLA

Yeah! International Student Magazine 11

It does not make sense that some of the

most fertile literary figures on the planet

should live in disregard for one another,"

said Len. "It is imperative that from the

exchange of experiences and ideas and from

a better understanding between one

another, new translations, new literature

and, above all, new readers should emerge."

The festival consisted of a series of

discussions featuring several authors

followed by readings of some works related

to the topics discussed.

Friday started with a round table titled

"Poetry and Fantastic Literature" featuring

Elia Barcel from Spain, Mara Negroni from

Argentina and Irish poet Harry Clifton.

On Saturday, among the many events of the

festival worthy of note the discussion

dedicated to authors who are living or have

part of their lives abroad. Omar Prez from

Cuba and Spanish Diego Valverde Villena

accompanied by the Irish Maighread Medbh

and Lorna Shaughnessy discussed about

their personal experiences in a round table

titled "Crossing Frontiers: Poetry in the

suitcase."

The festival finished on Sunday with a

discussion about cinema and literature

featuring the Oscar-winning filmmaker

Fernando Trueba, designer Javier Mariscal

and reputed Irish author also actor Mark

OHalloran.

David Carrin, the Instituto's Chief Librarian,

who is also a poet, author and translator and

has taken a significant role in creating the

ISLA programme, espressed his enthusiasm

for the event "We've celebrated the joy of

reading. From history to mystery to poetry

or cinema, there was something for

everyone and it's free. What could be

better?" said Carrin." The festival was rich

and full; the topics were far-reaching; and

the participant authors and poets provided

not only the best literature, but also a

unique cross-cultural experience"

Lorna Walls, a 28 year-old Irish editor and

translator who is a member of the institute's

library said the festival provided an interesting

window to an amazing literary world different

to the English literary world.

"This is the first time an event like this has been

organised in Dublin and I'll make sure not to

miss the next one," she told Yeah! Magazine.

It is estimated that more than 1000 people

attended the festival which was organised in

col laborat ion with Ireland L iterature

Exchange, Poetry Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City

of Literature, DCU, UCC, Trinity College, NUI

Maynooth and Galway, and the Embassies of

Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Spain.

Teresa Alonso, Ewa Senger,Vicente Morales, President Higgins,

Enca Gonzalez, Consuelo Pan, Lola Rodriguez,

Javier Rodriguez, Lola Villaescusa, Rosa Len

Photography By RobertoZM

I.S.L.A. Guests writers:

Bernardo Toro (Chilean), Mara Negroni (Argentina)

Kate Quinn (Lecturer at Galway University), Lorenzo Silva (Spain)