Shauna O'Sullivan awarded Bantry Credit Union Scholarship for 2018

STUDENT Shauna O’Sullivan from Droumsullivan, Bantry, has been awarded the Bantry Credit Union Third-Level Education Scholarship for 2018. Shauna is the 16th winner of the scholarship, which is worth up to €6,000 over four years. 

At an informal ceremony at the credit union office recently, the chairperson of Bantry Credit Union, Anna Fitzgerald, presented Shauna with her award.

Shauna sat the Leaving Cert last June at Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí. 

All her hard work was rewarded when she got excellent exam results and was offered a place on her first-choice course, the BSc (Hons) in General Nursing at the Institute of Technology, Tralee.

Anna Fitzgerald explained that the scholarship is awarded following a rigorous process, involving a detailed application form, a written submission and an interview. The assessment and decision-making process is conducted entirely by a panel of independent adjudicators. 

These highly-experienced judges take a holistic view, recognising the applicants’ personal traits, community and voluntary involvement, and career choices as well as their academic results.

Congratulating Shauna on her achievement, Anna said that the credit union is delighted to award this year’s scholarship to Shauna. 

‘Having met her this morning, it is clear what the judges saw in her: her positive attitude to life, her determination to succeed in her chosen career and her ability to work hard to achieve what she sets out to do. 

These traits will no doubt stand to her in life.’

The chairperson thanked all the students who submitted applications and thanked the second-level schools in Bantry Credit Union’s area for their continued co-operation in the operation of the scholarship scheme. 

Anna Fitzgerald also paid tribute to the remarkable commitment over the past 16 years of the panel of independent adjudicators: James Kilduff (Cork Institute of Technology), Olive McCarthy (University College Cork) and Denis O’Sullivan (recently retired deputy principal of Maria Immaculata Community College, Dunmanway).  

Principal of Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí, Kevin Healy, was also present at the awarding of the scholarship. Congratulating Shauna on her achievement, he said she was a most deserving winner. 

Dr Healy described Shauna as a very caring student with a great work ethic, and said that these traits would make her ideally suited to her chosen profession of nursing.

The principal also thanked the board of directors, management and staff of Bantry Credit Union for their ongoing commitment to education in the Bantry area, as shown by the scholarship scheme, art competition and other events during the year and over many years.

Accepting the award, Shauna thanked the credit union, saying that the scholarship will help alleviate the financial strain of going to college and living away from home. She also thanked her family and the principal and teachers at Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí for their guidance and support over the years. 

Asked what her ideal career would be, Shauna said ‘to become a community-based nurse, located close to home.’