When Aileen O'Doherty steps forward to receive her parchment at the University of Ulster summer graduations in Derry's Millennium Forum, her parents Bernadette and Gerard O'Doherty will feel justifiably proud.
Aileen, who hails from Drumrane Road outside Dungiven, completed her BSc Business with Marketing degree and gained first class honours, despite having a major setback while on placement in the U.S.
She suffered complete hearing loss, which lasted from March to July last year and had to undergo surgery twice in the States – but still managed to return to Magee and complete her final year with flying colours.
For someone who had always wanted to travel abroad, getting a scholarship to study at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, during her placement year was like a dream come true for Aileen. She studied marketing in the fall semester at the Isenberg Business School and says the experience gave her an invaluable insight into the international business environment and the importance of adapting to new cultures.
Aileen adds pragmatically that while her hearing loss did have an adverse affect on her learning, the experience helped her strengthen and grow and provided a strong platform to build on in her final year.
She says her time at Magee was very rewarding and staff in the Faculty of Business and Management are "fantastic and very student-oriented".
In September Aileen plans to do an MSc in Marketing at UCD's Michael Smurfit Business Graduate School, after which she would to love to have an opportunity to study abroad again.