Moving to Ireland for studying

Anna Szakács Start Date: Aug 3, 2018 - End Date: Nov 30, 2018
  • Dublin, Írország
  • Galway, Írország

My Travel Story

by: Anna Szakács Start Date: Aug 3, 2018 - End Date: Nov 30, 2018
Hello everyone,

My name is Anna Szakács and I'm a 21 years old Hungarian girl. I plan to attend an Irish university from September but to do that, I need some help. In the next paragraphs I plan to share my story with you because I want you to know what kind of decisions led to the situation where I am right now and I also want you to get to know me a little before you might fund me.  So please keep reading.

I finished high school last year (May 2017) then I started to study at ELTE university in Budapest. However the course (society management) that I choose was not that appealing  in reality than it sounded online. Also I should clarify that I only started to study at a Hungarian university because at that time my parents did not support my study abroad ideas at all. They told me that it was impossible for them to help me financially and back than I did not have any money as I was studying before and not working.

But back to my story: I stayed one semester in Budapest, studying and working to be able to live there (because I'm coming from Debrecen which is the second biggest city of Hungary after the capital) but it was truly tiring. I worked as a waitress so obviously I had to be on two feet all the time which led to some serious back problems. I was 20 at that time but there were days when I could barely walk because my back was hurting like hell. Furthermore, I really didn't enjoy my studies, I could not see any future within that field, plus because I worked too much, I couldn't focus on studying as much as I'd have wanted to. So finally, in January I was determined and brave enough to quit and to start looking for something which I really want.

Fortunately, I found it after I looked through some Irish universities' site and after all, studying languages (English, French and Italian) at the University College Cork became my new dream. However, I needed two things to achieve this goal of mine: two more exams and a lot of money. It was clear that in Hungary I can't earn enough in a few month so I moved to Italy and started to work as an au pair (= a babysitter). I was with the child in the morning for an hour and in the afternoon from 4 pm but between I was studying hard every day to pass those exams that the university required. I flew back home twice to be able to take the exams and I'm not saying that it was easy, flexibility was needed a lot from everyone (from my Italian host family, from my family, from the examiners) but I made it. I passed the exams with pretty excellent results which did not leave any doubts that I will have enough points to have a chance to be admitted.

In the meanwhile, of course, I also earned some money (more exactly 2000euros) but unfortunately it's not really enough. Only my tuition fee costs 2200 euros but over this I have to pay student contribution charge (3000euros) and capitation fee (170euros). My only luck is that it's possible to pay in installments so all in all I need around 2500 euros by the beginning of September. However,  beside these expanses, I will need also some money for accommodation and food.

For us, Hungarians, Ireland is a truly expensive country but on the other hand, I know that I can get only there that high quality education that I want. I feel like I really worked a lot and I studied hard to be able to go there, my academic results are excellent, I always loved learning, I constantly crave for more knowledge and I simply can't accept that I can't have it because of some financial difficulties. Of course I plan to work in Ireland as well, as soon as I arrive there, I will look for a part time job that I can do while I'm studying. But I still need some financial help to be able to rent a room and pay the first third of my tuition fee.

Thank you so much in advance if you can help me, you should know that I am truly grateful for every euros!


Best wishes,
Anna
  • Dublin, Írország
  • Galway, Írország