The Student Success Endowment: Kieran

I am halfway through my undergraduate journey and approaching the end of my second year of studying Psychology. Being able to pursue my interests in mental health here at NTU has been nothing less of a blessing, allowing me to gain insight into the struggles faced by myself and those around me. The skills I have developed from youth coaching with NTU Shield have helped me personally as well as professionally, and I feel like I’ve rediscovered my identity. I’m incredibly grateful that I can continue to develop as an individual as a result of the support that I’ve been given.

Overall, I believe the greatest benefit from the Student Success Endowment (SSE) funding was that it provided personal stability. After I moved out and started my degree, the workload and lifestyle changes were incredibly stressful obstacles, but the funding from the SSE helped me adjust to these by providing healthy outlets.

Exercising at the gym is an important part of my life in terms of managing stress and my general well-being. With this funding, I was also able to take part in social events and de-stress with like-minded people. I also joined the drama society and developed my performance skills, which has allowed me to foster my creativity and stage presence for my future endeavours.

There have been a few times during my studies when my devices spontaneously malfunctioned and needed to be repaired on the spot. The funding from the SSE helped me to easily deal with these stresses and focus on the more important parts of my degree and my development, such as my psychological coaching role with NTU.

My experience as a learning coach for NTU Shield has been incredibly useful for improving my industry skills in psychology. Providing professional practice coaching to struggling young people helped me build my interpersonal skills, granting me a solid foundation for my future ventures in this area. Given the experience I’ve gained, I plan on volunteering through my final years of university to help cultivate my community further. After this I’d like to use my prior marketing experience to travel and explore many different cultures, to broaden my psychological and cultural knowledge.

To anyone who has donated to the Student Success Endowment, thank you very much for investing in the unsure futures of myself and others. These donations help fuel underlying passions and provide direction to many students who need it, and your investments do not just fund the person receiving them but the community around them.