Nadia Prochukham achieved incredible results in her leaving cert this year, getting an amazing 615 points.
This is all the more astounding as she only moved to Ireland from Russia three years ago. Nadia was accepted to her first choice in Trinity College Dublin, to study science.
Unfortunately, as Nadia is an asylum seeker, her status mean the fees needed to attend Trinity comes to €15,000.
St Mary's Secondary School, Nadia’s school in New Ross, Wexford, has started raising money to help send Nadia to university, and thanks to an anonymous donor, she has enough to start first year.
Speaking to Newstalk, Nadia gave an emotional thank you to her school and her community for their support.
“I’m really grateful for everyone for helping me out and supporting me. My teachers and my principal and everyone in New Ross ... everyone was so helpful and really nice to me.”
Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan got in touch with the station after hearing the interview, congratulating Nadia and promising to look into her case.
“I want to look at this, I do think that where young people have come right through school in Ireland in many cases, I don’t want to see them blocked then from moving on further in their education,” the minister said.
