Michael is one of the top students with Study USA

Michael is one of the top students with Study USA

5 November 2014

CASTLEWELLAN’S Michael Sweeney has been named a runner-up in the Study USA Student of the Year initiative.

Currently studying law at Queen’s University, Belfast, Michael spent a year studying business at Missouri’s Westminster College.

The Castlewellan undergraduate was among 70 

students from Northern Ireland to successfully graduate from the programme and was honoured at 20th anniversary celebrations at Titanic Belfast recently.

Study USA, formerly known as the Business Education Initiative, is managed by British Council Northern Ireland on behalf of the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL).

Since its formation in 1994, the initiative has sent 1,800 students from Northern Ireland to all four corners of the United States where they have successfully completed a year studying business at one of 140 institutions.

To celebrate two decades of the programme, the anniversary celebrations brought together its most recent graduates, alumni from each year of the programme and their employers. They were joined by Employment and Learning Minister, Dr. Stephen Farry and guest speaker, Elizabeth Dibble, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in London.

Michael was awarded a Student of the Year runner-up prize after achieving top academic marks and for an essay highlighting how his experience has helped further his employability. He expressed gratitude to everyone who made the year possible, describing his experience as a “remarkable time.”

He continued: “In truth, it is impossible for me to describe just how much I enjoyed myself from the start to finish. Through a mixture of hard work and good fortune I was able to take full advantage of many opportunities and this allowed me to enhance and optimise the time I spent at my college.

“Furthermore, I have returned to Queen’s to complete the final year of my law degree as a more motivated student and am determined to attain as good a degree as I can get.”

The Student of the Year Award was sponsored by leading audit firm, KPMG Northern Ireland, while students interested in applying for next year’s programme can apply online at http://nireland.britishcouncil.org. 

The deadline for receiving applications is Monday, November 24.