Fátima Contreiras
"There was so much encouragement for me to keep going."
When Fátima Contreiras arrived in Ireland from Angola in 2017, she had no English and little certainty about the path ahead. Eight years later, she has graduated with an honours Bachelor of Business Studies degree from DCU and is looking forward to her next steps. “I love my journey,” says Fátima.
There have been other obstacles along the way, too, most recently with the death of her father during her final year in University. But Fátima hopes her experience “will inspire people” facing similar challenges.
Her arrival in Ireland had cut short her university education in Angola. Fátima had always been a high-performing student and wanted to keep studying. Eager to learn English, Fátima took a creative approach, learning through music, films, and daily interactions while building friendships. As she got to grips with the language, she was ready to take the leap back into education, taking on several courses in Further Education.
It was during this time that she entered the Nelson Mandela Public Speaking Competition, a contest for non-native English speakers while studying at Plunket College in north Dublin. To her surprise, she won the competition, an event that gave her a major confidence boost. She went on to take courses in financial and legal services, and Tourism and Airlines at Drogheda Institute of Further Education, where she was named Student of the Year.
The decision to opt for Business Studies emerged from the time of the pandemic when she started a small business selling phone covers. Friends kept telling her, “You're such a good business person,” which focused her mind.
When it came to choosing a college, DCU stood out. “I went to the open day, and I was like, yeah, I'm coming to this college, I'm gonna study here.”
“The course was brilliant,” says Fátima of her time in DCU. The modules she enjoyed most included Being a Manager, Business and Professional Ethics, Organisational Psychology and People Management, but she admits she was “scared” of the maths module, which she failed in first year. With the help of lecturers and the DCU Maths Learning Centre, she passed the second time around. “And that taught me a lot, that I shouldn't be panicking, even if things seem hard.”
She enjoyed all that campus life had to offer, from the resources of the library to the opportunities of DCU’s clubs and societies. Among the groups she joined was DCU Style Society, which recruited her to model in their annual fashion show. And a summer internship with Enterprise Mobility at Dublin Airport gave Fátima her first experience of a “real job” in an office environment.
Having settled into university life, Fátima faced “the hardest year of my life.” Just before the start of third year, her father died, leading her to question if she could continue.
“I was like, college is already hard when you're not grieving,” says Fátima. Her programme chair assured her that she could take a year out, but she decided to keep going.
She says the support of teaching staff, DCU counselling services and her friends pulled her through, as well as her personal faith. “I pray a lot and I believe that God helped me so much.”
In the end, her academic performance held up despite her personal grief. One of the highlights of that final year was the New Enterprise Development group project. The group came up with a futuristic concept for a “robotic hand that is able to wash people's hair at the salon,” which they pitched to real investors in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ presentation.
Fátima is looking to the next steps in her professional journey, with a focus on securing a role in HR, including opportunities within the public sector.
Speaking ahead of her graduation from DCU, Fátima reflected that her father would have been very proud of her. “That's why I continued. I just wanted to make sure I finished. There was so much encouragement for me to keep going, so I was like, ‘I have to finish and I will finish strong’. And I did, and I think it will be very emotional.”