Carla Donohoe
"In my module selections throughout my degree, I found I often gravitated towards the EU and European policy aspects."
Tell us why you chose this undergraduate degree
When it came time to fill out my CAO form back in 2019, I was conflicted. I knew as a student I was interested in everything from Politics to History to Development Studies etc. Having attended an open day in DCU, I felt IR was a good fit for my interests. The modules are extremely dynamic ranging from Political Theory to Intelligence Studies and the option to continue studying German to a small degree was an added bonus. In addition, DCU seemed like a young and vibrant university with a lot of extra-curricular opportunities for students.
What are the highlights of your undergraduate experience at DCU?
After a year of online-learning, a personal highlight for me was the return to campus in September 2021. While guidelines were still important at the time, it was so wonderfully different to be interacting with friends, peers and lecturers again and DCU really made an effort to keep everyone safe and on campus.
My final year was further enhanced by roles such as Class Rep. and committee positions with the German and International Relations Societies. Clubs and Societies are a really good way to spend your time in University and such a positive outlet to balance the intensity of your course work at times.
What are your career plans or hopes?
At the moment I still feel as I did a few years ago, a student with a lot of interest in a wide range of topics. In my module selections throughout my degree, I found I often gravitated towards the EU and European policy aspects. As such, my next step is to complete a MA European Politics and Policy in UCD, and then take it from there.
Have you any advice for incoming students?
For anyone interested in studying International Relations, I would highly recommend DCU. I think you’ll find you have a lot of opportunity to tailor your assessments to suit and develop your own interests. In addition, I would encourage anyone with even a slight interest in languages to enter the language stream and study one module of a foreign language each semester. Language skills are so useful in a field like IR and the assessment styles for a language module were often very different to IR modules and therefore a welcome break.