They also excelled at athletics: ‘My sister She was ‘incredibly grateful’ to get support and I would train together all the time, (from DARE, SUSI and TAP), but it wasn’t on the track and in the gym. I distinctly plain sailing. remember one competition; between I appreciate what the the two of us, we won the Leinster college and alumni and ‘I had heart surgery just before I came to college, which left me incredibly Shield for our school. We got onto the Irish athletics junior team at the same donors are doing for tired. And this was during COVID. I time too. That was brilliant. Through me more than words was offered accommodation in Trinity Hall but it was judged very dangerous the orchestra and athletics, we got a lot of amazing opportunities such as free can say for me to get COVID, given my heart and trips abroad. It meant the world to us to be lung conditions, so I couldn’t risk sharing able to have these experiences and memories.’ accommodation.’ She studied at home online, until all students had to return for in- With the Junior Cert right around the corner, Inez was left person classes a few times a week. ‘My mam would drive with little time to study in between music events and training me up and back again the same day, which was amazing of to get onto the Irish team. Inez claims it was ‘a huge shock’ her.’ when she got one of the highest Junior Certs in her year. She was ‘over the moon’ at the thought of going to college: ‘I knew my family would struggle to afford it, but I thought there may be a chance of getting a sports scholarship.’ The COVID vaccination changed everything, as did the on- campus accommodation which Inez now benefits from: ‘Because my heart rate is so high, I get very tired. It makes a massive difference to be able to walk to my rooms, and get Disaster struck as within the space of a few short months the elevator up, and take a nap between lectures.’ of this, she had lost her father, been diagnosed with a life changing heart condition herself, and could no longer hope for a sports scholarship to get her through college. ‘It was hard. There was this long list of things I wasn’t allowed do: I couldn’t go to clubs, concerts or even walks with my friends, I couldn’t have energy drinks, my morning coffee or antihistamines, even. I remember just sitting there, terrified, thinking every move I made would harm me. I stopped going to school for a while.’ Despite her significant travails, the word Inez uses most frequently is ‘lucky’. She feels, she says, ‘incredibly lucky and grateful to be here. I appreciate what the college and alumni and donors are doing for me more than words can say, really. I look around and the campus is so lovely, it’s like a dream come true every day. You wake up and walk round and see the flowers and the buildings and the cricket matches, and it doesn’t feel like a college, it feels like a unique experience you wouldn’t get anywhere else.’ Fortunately, her academic ambition asserted itself. ‘I love science and maths, but I also love art, and I wanted something that would combine both. I did a day course in the Dental Hospital, here in Trinity, and I realised that dentistry is a kind of art. It’s very precise. Tiny differences in, say, the positioning or shading of a filling, can make such a big difference when someone smiles. Getting it right is science and it’s also art.’ As well as the intense study load, she is the Irish national delegate to the European Dental Student Association and loves travelling abroad for conferences. Now in her fourth year, she is thinking about her future career: ‘Next summer, I’m hoping to go to Africa to provide free dental work. I’ll need agreement from my cardiologist, but that would be amazing.’ Dentistry seemed like the perfect fit for Inez. However when she checked, the points were within the top few percent in the country. The guidance counsellor at school advised her to be more realistic: ‘She said it would be too difficult to get the points after being absent for so long and I shouldn’t put it down.’ But, despite medication that induced drowsiness – ‘I literally fell asleep during two exams in the mocks’ – Inez got 601 points in her Leaving. ‘When the offer came, I was yelling downstairs like, oh my god, you’ll never guess what! And my sister was yelling back, oh my god, I got what I wanted as well!’ (Ella is studying Physiotherapy in UCD). The offer was only the start of her academic journey. ‘I researched what grants were available to me as someone with a health condition, coming from a low income background.’ She has also completed a placement in Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, where they do special care dentistry. She was very moved by the experience and told us ‘I would like to see more supports offered to people from poorer backgrounds to access dentistry. When I’m in practice myself, Its important to me to dedicate some time to this, and also to raising awareness.’ Whatever direction her practice takes her, she will, she says, be ‘giving back’. ‘When people ask what I’m up to, and I say I’m doing dentistry in Trinity, they are always so impressed, like wow! Being in Trinity is my Olympics and I would love to support others, like me, to have this experience.’
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