Ruling the World Trinity graduate and Miss Ireland talks about working and studying in medical science during a pandemic, representing Ireland in the forthcoming Miss World, and helping disadvantaged children I haven’t actually been on Trinity campus yet! The Masters [in clinical chemistry] is taught out of Tallaght Hospital, and after the first term, it was moved online because of the pandemic. And I did plan to go and shoot some of the footage for Miss World in Trinity campus, but then COVID numbers worsened and restrictions were brought back, so that couldn’t happen…but I’m looking forward to graduating in Front Square this year!’ Pamela Uba - Miss Galway, Miss Ireland, BSc (GMIT) and MSc (Trinity) - is recounting what it’s like to complete a Masters, and get ready to represent Ireland in Miss World, during a global pandemic. It’s been an extraordinary two years for the first black woman to be crowned Miss Ireland, but then, it’s been an extraordinary life. Born in South Africa to Nigerian parents, she came to Ireland, aged eight, with her family. As asylum seekers, they entered the direct provision system, first in Dublin, then Athlone, and, finally moved to a centre in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, where she spent a decade with her mother, brothers and sisters. It was, she says, difficult – ‘more so for my mum, but also for us kids, because you’re made to feel different from other kids.’ A dedicated student and athlete, she threw herself into her studies and into GAA and was accepted to do medical science in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), a course which qualifies you to work in hospital laboratories, investigating and diagnosing disease. ‘I enjoyed my time there, both the course and the vibe on campus; the friends I made are still my best friends today.’ Money was tight – ‘since I was in direct provision, I wasn’t eligible for a SUSI grant, though I did get some support from the Student Assistance Fund. I wasn’t allowed work, but I started entering singing competitions in college and in town and it was brilliant when I started winning and that helped financially.’ At the end of her first year, the family finally got residency, the prelude to citizenship (which she got last year). ‘Getting residency was amazing and changed everything - I’d taken over a lot of the process of going to lawyers and getting references and I think because I was very active in sports and music and at college, it helped people realise we could contribute to society.’ Her brothers and sisters – she is the eldest – are equally dynamic: ‘One brother is a professional footballer – he’s played for Shelbourne and Dundalk – and another studied engineering and is into music and my sister just graduated in science.’ After her primary degree, she decided to deepen her specialisation in biochemistry, and chose Trinity ‘because it’s such a prestigious university and very strong in clinical chemistry.’ The two-year Masters is aimed at people working in laboratories and she alternated between studying in Dublin and working in Galway University Hospital. Then the pandemic hit. She felt lucky that she had done the first term in person in the Trinity facility in Tallaght Hospital – ‘I got to know other people on the course.’ The transition to online study worked well but her lab work in Galway was high- pressured: ‘We were implementing a lot of new tests for COVID and the hospitals needed the results really quickly. We’re quite understaffed in medical science anyway in this country, and when you add that to a pandemic, it wasn’t easy. I think all healthcare professionals were really conscious of not wanting to let people down, but at the same we were exhausted and overworked.’ Entering Miss Galway in 2020 was a way of exploring her other interests in music, fashion and advocacy. ‘I got the idea to enter because the previous year I was working in the bar where the pageant was being held and one of the judges mistook me for a contestant, and then she encouraged me to enter and join a model agency. Well, I’m actually pretty shy, but once I decided to go for it, I worked really hard at becoming Miss Galway, and then Miss Ireland. I started using social media more and getting better at it.’ Her focus, she says, was always ‘just to work at being myself in interviews. Miss World is about “beauty with a purpose”. You pick a cause that is close to your heart. I knew that to be my authentic self I needed to advocate for kids that live in direct provision and kids from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special
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