Eilís O’Brien

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science

Galway City – Dublin Road

Where are you from?

I am from a town in County Mayo called Claremorris, and I attended Ballyhaunis Community School for Secondary School.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to choosing your course

I have always loved science and have always been curious about how things worked and why they are the way they are. I loved getting science kits for Christmas and doing little experiments at home with my parents. I loved Science in Junior Certificate so much I took classes in Biology and Chemistry for my Leaving Certificate, although believe it or not I went into First Year at ATU convinced that I would go into Biology! I loved our Chemistry classes in First Year, and I thought it was so interesting finding out that we know how chemical reactions work going right down to the electron level!

Tell us why you chose ATU

I chose ATU as I loved how in First Year we took a General Science course with Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths, and we received an incredible foundation through that course. This was the perfect course for me as I loved Science but didn’t know what I wanted to specify in, so learning what I loved the most and choosing at the end of First Year was excellent to be able to do.

Another big part of why I chose chemistry in ATU is the industry placement in Third Year. During the third year of our course, we have regular classes running from September to December, and then after the Christmas exams in January we go out on Placement for at least 6 months to get real industry experience. My placement in a Medical Device Quality Department has been incredibly educational and rewarding, and it has really guided me to what I want to do after I get my college degree.

What do you like about life in your campus location?

I think that Galway is an amazing place to go to college, I learned a lot about my own independence by moving away from home for college. I learned a lot about managing my own schedule by juggling part-time work with my classes and studies.

The ATU Campus on the Dublin Rd. is an excellent Campus, the library is beautiful and there’s always food in the canteen for those late-night study sessions! We have very impressive equipment in our laboratories, some of which I’m now using out on placement in my Third Year. All our lecturers are engaged and have a genuine love for the topics they teach which is passed on to us as the students.

What advice would you give to a student thinking about coming to ATU?

I think that ATU has really helped me to grow as a person, I’ve met so many great people from a so many different courses, we all learn from each other about college and life in general. If you have any interest in science I say, go for it!

What do/did you enjoy most about your course?

I love that there is always something new to learn about Chemistry, which is what keeps me so engaged with all my material in my courses. It is a full-on but very rewarding course. I have enjoyed all my experience so far, and I’m about to finish up my Third Year while out on Placement.

I loved how many labs we had in our course, right away in first year from the beginning we had at least 3 labs a week in Chemistry, Biology and Physics, and even more in Second and Third Year in almost every aspect of Chemistry, and this gave me so much knowledge that I will be able to apply to my future career.

If you were speaking with a first-year student about to start your course, what advice/information would you give them?

Go to all your lectures, all your labs, the lecturers are there to teach you and help you learn, take full advantage of all your class time! Make a study schedule to fit around your part-time work (if you have it), but don’t forget to leave yourself some free time and don’t be scared to try all the new things that come with college! Join lots of clubs, make lots of new friends, go out on the town and enjoy your experience!

If you are/were involved in sport, volunteering, working or have other passions you pursue outside of your academic life, can you tell us about that?

I spent time during college volunteering with the Mental Health group of Healthy Campus, it was very rewarding and at the end of the experience I received a digital badge for the hours I had done, which was very satisfying that I had stuck to something for that long and made a difference, but also an excellent addition to my CV.

I have also been the class representative of my classes for First, Second and Third Year so far, which taught me so much about effective communication in talking to lecturers and a lot about working with groups of people regarding problem solving and organisation.

What are your plans after graduating?

I hope to travel after I graduate to celebrate the hard work of getting my degree, and after that I hope to get work in a Laboratory in a medical device company somewhere in Ireland, and I feel my degree has given me the skills to achieve this goal. I hope in the future to do a master’s degree and possibly even a PhD someday, as I said earlier, you never stop learning in Chemistry!