Thao is one of the Ambassadors for University College Cork’s CampusConnect app. Looking back on her own journey, she recalls: “I received a lot of help from friends, classmates, and professors when I started this study trip, which helped me to get over any insecurities. I understand that starting a new journey in a foreign country is not an easy experience, and students should know there’s a lot of support in place.” Here, she offers an in-depth guide for students looking to gather all of the necessary information before starting university.

• Name: Thao

• Home country: Vietnam

• University: University College Cork

• Studying: LLM Intellectual Property and E-Law

• Reason for being an Ambassador: “I want to 'pay it forward', to be part of those who lend a hand to new students at UCC.”

By Lauren Valentine

Get to know Thao…

“I like writing poems - love poems to be specific. My friends often wonder, "You have been broken-hearted a lot, haven't you? Your poems are all about sad love stories?" Actually, such stories belong to people around me, not mine. One more thing, I only compose poems when I'm sad; this may influence the general vibe of my poems. When I'm happy, I tend to participate in outdoor activities like wandering around or dancing a lot. Happy emotions create excitement for me, so I won't be able to calmly sit still and describe my feelings. In contrast, when I'm in a bad mood, it seems easier to put emotions into words. My other hobbies include cooking - especially Asian foods – as well as photography and graphic design.”

Choosing UCC with a career in mind…

“When researching universities, I had my career path in mind. That is, pursuing legal research in the area of e-laws (data protection, privacy, e-commerce, FinTech, etc.). UCC has a programme that perfectly fits my career orientation, hence why I chose it. I was also lucky enough to join the UCC e-Law Programme under the GOI-IES Scholarship, which has a partial sponsorship from UCC. That means I receive help with the financial aspect of studying abroad.

After graduation, I would like to find a job where I can use my legal researching skills and knowledge on e-laws. It could be a position like research assistant or consultant for tech companies on the privacy policy. If I didn’t succeed with such ideal jobs straight away, I would find a temporary assistant job to improve other skills such as communication and languages (I’d like to upgrade my Spanish). That would help me to find better opportunities. I also have a dream of opening a studio for Oriental-style photography.”

 A step-by-step guide to getting well-informed…

“For me, there were 3 main methods of gathering information before I started at UCC. I’ll share them here in the hope that they can benefit other students:

1. Social media: Join Facebook groups about education in the country you’re going to, or groups of people from your home country who are going abroad. Similarly, you can find student or expat groups of people who are living in your chosen city. Personally, I followed the stories of others who were on the same scholarship programme as me too, where I learned mostly about the experience related to room-finding, shopping and surviving the cold weather!

2. Friend networking: Use your networks! I was introduced to friends studying at UCC through other friends that I had. I also kept in touch with classmates that I accidentally met up with when doing some paperwork in UCC. That was useful for getting tips for the administration and travelling around the UCC area.

3. UCC information system: The university were really helpful in providing us with information about the timetable, course, Irish culture, and extracurricular activities happening in UCC or city centre area.”

As well as her practical guide for getting informed, Thao also offers some wise words to incoming students: “Everything happens for a reason. You can always learn something from all the small events that come to your life. Also, remember, have faith in yourself. After all, life is a journey of experiencing. Who knows what is waiting for us in the future, right?”

If you’d like to connect with Thao, find her on LinkedIn