Following his graduation from his level 7 degree in Applied Healthcare at South East Technological University (SETU), Sonny says he will take some time out before returning to college to gain a Level 8 honours degree.
Bachelor of Science in Applied Healthcare graduate Sonny Simbarasi, who is originally from Zimbabwe, studied level 5 nursing studies at Sligo College of Further Education before moving across the country to Waterford.
Waterford chose me
I think Waterford chose me. I was just looking for counties that are more manageable and more convenient. It might seem crazy crossing all the way from Sligo given that there are many other colleges in between but I chose Waterford because of its location people, history and reputation.
A willingness to work with students
I found it good the way the lecturers work with the students, they’ll try by all means to help you with your assignments and with everything you do. I think the most important thing was the help I got from the lecturers throughout my years in college, not only myself but other students benefited a lot from our lecturers from the institute. Everyone around the college was willing to work with us. I ended up being a student ambassador for the previous year and a Peer2Peer (P2P) mentor because I wanted to share my learning ideas and skills with upcoming students. This is what stood out to me when studying in SETU.
Peer2Peer
This helped me much with my communication skills, as I was working with different groups of students every time. Being a P2P helped me boost my confidence which helped me to do class presentations, and it was a great experience working with other students from different courses. Above all, it made me a great team player through team-building exercises.
The importance of placement
I enjoyed my work experience. If you go and do your placement like mine in University Hospital Waterford (UHW) you'll certainly learn more. One fascinating department was the Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD), where they wash the instruments for operating procedures. The department makes sure instruments are safe for use so I benefited a lot and now I know how to keep things sterile and basic hygiene like hand-washing and the importance of it. I learned quite a lot within my work placement.
Ask yourself the important questions
My advice for people who want to start my course is that you need to ask yourself do you want to work in the healthcare sector, that’s the most important thing you need to ask yourself. Don’t think about how much money you are going to be getting, because if you look only at how much you are going to be getting; yeah you might say this is my job, but is it for you? Lots of people go into a course and then end up saying ‘That course wasn’t for me’. So I encourage all students who are thinking of starting my course to look further into it and make sure it’s a good decision. If they can come for the Open Day it would be great because they'll get to know more about the course.
Be an active student
Get involved in college. Find activities to participate in, being active helps reduce stress and helps to keep you organised. When you need help go get it, SETU has tutoring labs and study groups, and you have your lecturers as study advisors reach out to them and get advice they are willing to help.
A dream to graduate
You have no idea, it’s like a dream. It’s like reaching a final destination, it’s quite assuring to graduate and it’s rewarding because of the past three years hard work and the effort I put into my college work. Being here today it just acknowledges all the hard work that the students here put in and it shows how much SETU is doing for students including myself. So yeah, I’m thrilled, I am happy to be here today and to be graduating.
Plans
After graduating from a level 7 I plan to further my education in the future. I’d be happy to further my studies however for now I am taking a year off but I’ll be coming back next year to do a level 8. So this year off I want to use it to look at what’s happening in the healthcare sector and look at it as an employee, as a worker and not as a student.
I am hoping to explore the environment within the healthcare sector and to see if there are any other further research studies I can personally undertake, I’m also looking for employment which I understand there is plenty of, however, there are some things that I would like to implement with being in the healthcare sector, so I am just going to take this time to reflect on it and look at the things that I did in college and focus on the more practical side of it and maybe I can be influential within our healthcare sector in Ireland or who knows, globally.
"If you need help – go get it, SETU has tutoring labs and study groups, and you have your lecturers as study advisors – reach out to them and get advice, they are willing to help." SETU graduate, Sonny Simbarasi