Hey and welcome to Maynooth University. My name is Lucas and I'm a second year Media student.
Tomorrow, over a hundred Lecturers and Staff are going to be available from across the University
to answer any questions you may have in a live Q&A discussion. On top of that,
all of our course presentations are going to be available for you to watch online at the
webpage your leisure. Our Student Ambassadors are going to be taking over our Snapchat and
Instagram stories over the next two days, so keep an eye out for that. It's @maynoothuni
on Instagram and Facebook and @maynoothcao on Snapchat and TikTok. If you haven't already,
head on over to openday.maynoothuniversity.ie to register if you haven't.
But today is all about what makes Student Life at Maynooth University unique. We're going to show
you our Students Union and introduce you to our Officers, who represent students in areas such
as Diversity, Equality, Welfare, and of course make up the backbone of our Clubs and Societies.
And later, we're going to give you a quick peek of what our SU is going to look like in
about two years, but keep that to yourself. We have two panel discussions for you guys today.
One on the roles of Clubs and Societies in the University, why every student should get involved
in a Club or Society in their time at Maynooth University and how to set up a Club or Society if
it doesn't currently exist. We also have another panel discussing Sports at Maynooth University,
for those who are just involved in sports for fun or those who are looking for the more elite
sports scholar scholarships. At Maynooth University we have over 100 Clubs and Societies,
it's something for everyone to try but if you do want to find out more, please do click
on the Clubs and Socs button on our Open Day webpage. We're joined now by my friend Gráinne,
who's going to be coming with us on this adventure throughout Maynooth University.
Choosing which University to study in is probably one of the biggest decisions that you've made in
your life so far. We'll find out from other students why they chose Maynooth University.
I think we'll start with Lucas, why did you choose to study in Maynooth University? Ah,
what a question. Well, one of the reasons why I chose to study in Maynooth is probably the
incredibly diverse range of subjects and course options that you have going in.
There's also world-class Lecturers and resources available to you and the fact
that students have about four weeks to choose the modules and the lectures they want to attend
before really deciding what they want to do, it's incredible. And for me personally, a big thing was
the travel lines and public transport available in Maynooth because I lived from far away and
I had to get the train to go up and down to see my family and such and Maynooth really provided
those resources for me to be able to attend. What about you Gráinne? Why are you in Maynooth? So,
when I was in 6th year, I was pretty unsure about what I wanted to do whenever I left school.
I had heard about Maynooth University and that they had a diverse range of subjects
and I decided to do the BCL which was Law with Arts. So I did Law, Anthropology and Critical
Skills. In my second year, I transferred over to the LLB Programme, which is a pure Law degree
and I found it fantastic. Maynooth University has the youngest Law school in the country and there's
such a diverse range of subjects to choose from and that was something that really appealed to
me. So let's find out why other students chose to study at Maynooth University. I actually started
out doing another course and I didn't really like that so I took a year out then to think about what
I wanted to do next and I talked to so many of my friends about Maynooth and it just really seemed
like the place for me. There was such a friendly atmosphere, I really liked the sound of the campus
town kind of atmosphere and everything just seemed to fall into place after that and I realised how
much Maynooth was the place for me. And the first thing I noticed when I came to Maynooth University
was the sense of inclusivity and openness about people. I've always had a love for Maths and
then that translated into me loving Physics and secondary school and then I started reading up
about Space and that just completely fascinated me and then I looked at Maynooth University courses
and Physics with Astrophysics seemed perfect for me because there's so many career options after it
and then you can study Meteorology, you can go to Met Éireann, there's people who've even gone to
NASA which is insane so it just seemed perfect. My personal reason for coming to Maynooth was
the exceptional Science facilities that we have here at the University and in particular
for choosing General Science was because the subject is very broad and allows you to move
into other subjects and even pick up subjects that you may not have done in Leaving Cert.
In first year I studied Biology, Maths and Computer Science and Computer Science was
very interesting because I'd never done that before and it was an introductory course
and it started from the beginning and no one was left out and everyone was able to work together.
Currently, I'm doing Mathematics, Statistics and Biology and I hope to major in Biology next year.
I decided to study at Maynooth University because of the area, I really enjoyed how much of a
University town it was and had a very local feel I'd been here before and I thought it was going
to be very social and I decided to specifically study the MH101 course because there's so much
choice you can study in the course and at the end of this course, I'm going to have so many
different pathways I can choose and I won't be confined at all. Now I'd like to introduce you to
our 4 Student Officers elected to represent each and every single student here at MU. Our President
Kelly. Kelly's job is to represent the student body when the University is making decisions.
Ciarán, our Vice President of Welfare and Equality. Ciarán's role is to help students in the
areas of mental health, sexual health, physical health, diversity and disability awareness.
Bukky, Vice President of Student Life. Bukky will help you become more involved with Clubs
and Socs as well as student representation. And finally, Julian, Vice President of Education.
Julian is on hand to represent all students on matters related to education so that everyone
gets the most out of their degree. MSU is run by students, for students. Every year,
Maynooth students elect a team of Officers to lead the Union and represent their interests while they
study here in Maynooth. The MSU team works across many areas to ensure you have the best experience
during your time here in Maynooth. We deliver on everything from student representation,
providing you with a platform and a voice to make a difference for those around you.
Student life activities, allowing you to develop existing talents or discover new interests.
Well-being campaigns, to ensure you're looking after yourself while studying here in Maynooth.
Social gatherings to remember, as you enjoy the entertainment on offer in our Student Centre.
Academic information and advice, everything you need to know to keep your studies on track.
Volunteering opportunities, so you can meet others while giving back to the wider community.
And most importantly, the memories you get to keep and share with the friends you make for life.
To learn more visit msu.ie or drop into our front office in the SU building.
We are your Students Union and we are here for you. So we're here at the Students Union. As
you can imagine, normally the Students Union would be buzzing with students
on their way to get a coffee, maybe get a chicken fillet roll before a lecture or even to meet
up with their Clubs or Societies. At the moment that's not really happening, but normally we would
be having loads of events happening in the Venue which is right behind me. We'd have Bingo Loco,
Games Nights, Karaoke Nights and different Clubs and Society Nights happening as well.
Within the next two years, we're going to have a brand new Student Union building, check this out.
So as I mentioned earlier, Maynooth University has over 100 Clubs and Societies ranging from
performing arts, debating, team and individual sports, social justice and much much more. But
why would you join a Club or Society? To learn a new skill, to try something new and of course,
to make new friends. The Clubs and Societies in Maynooth are entirely run by students. They're an
essential part of the college experience and they cost as little as €2 a year to sign up.
If you go to the Clubs and Societies tab on our Open Day website, you'll be sure to find
loads of information about all different Clubs and Societies that we have here in Maynooth
University. Everything from the Law Society, the Education Society, the Muck Society,
be sure to check it out. Members of our Clubs and Societies will be online today from 10 a.m
to 2 p.m to answer all of your questions about Clubs and Societies and Student Engagement.
Behind me we have the on-campus accommodation. Every year, over 1,200 students decide to stay
on campus. They decide to stay here because it's super close to your Lecture Hall and in addition
you get to meet lifelong friends. When I was in my first year here at Maynooth University,
I lived on campus. I lived with five other people and I'm still friends with them today.
If you have any queries relating to Maynooth University, such as getting onto a course,
choosing subjects, accommodation, the SU or whether or not you're allowed to feed the library
cat, please refer to our Chat Function on our webpage. To keep up to date with what's happening
in Maynooth University, make sure to follow us on our social media platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and of course TikTok. And finally, don't forget to join us for our Open
Day tomorrow, where you will have an opportunity to learn about each and every course available
here at Maynooth University. You'll have a chance to talk with our Lecturers and our Student Support
staff as well as other members of the University will help answer any questions you might have.
I hope you guys enjoyed this tour of our wonderful University and I hope to see you guys soon.