Student Comment "Coming to Quinn School was the best decision I ever made"

Date: Aug 2009

Published: Irish Independent Special Supplement

When Matthew Gleeson arrived in UCD from Co. Kildare, he realised that the way to get to know people and get the best out of college was to get involved.

“I was from Naas and there were a lot of people there from Dublin. I didn’t know anybody when I went to college first, so I threw myself into everything.”
Now a final year Commerce student, Matthew (20) hopes to combine his studies with his role as auditor of QSoc, the university’s business society with 3,000 members. Although “everyone is recommending that I take the year off”.

Matthew’s rise on the college scene started in his first week “when a student came in looking for people to go forward as class representative”.
“She said it was a great way to get to know everyone, so I went for it. It was a bit of a baptism of fire; I had to go around seeking votes.”

His role as class rep put him at the heart of the student experience. His job was to keep the class informed about issues such as exam timetables, class updates or to handle concerns that students had about lectures. There was a big social side to it too. “Basically, I organised parties to get the class together.”

All the time Matthew remained focused on what brought him to UCD. “Commerce was my only choice on the CAO form. If I hadn’t had enough points, I would have repeated the Leaving Certificate. “It is a fantastic course. Coming to the Quinn School of Business was the best decision I ever made. I love it. The year is split up into classes of 50, so there is small group teaching”.

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