Tikambechi Mwalughali
Tikambechi Mwalughali, student and Sanctuary Scholar at TUS
Tikambechi Mwalughali, from Malawi is a Sanctuary Scholar at TUS. Tikambechi lived in the Athlone Direct Provision Centre for almost five years and got residency in 2021.
Now a second-year student studying Accounting at Technological University of Shannon, Tikambechi started her college journey in TUS with the Access programme (special purpose Award) in September 2019 and applied for the accounting programme upon completing the access course. "It was a moment of happiness when I was offered the Accounting course by the CAO in 2020 because this was a course I desired all along. My happiness was cut short when I had to think of how my course was going to be funded because at that time I was still waiting for a decision on my residency application and I did not qualify for other types of grants", Tikambechi explains. "The access officer in TUS wrote me an email to say I can apply for the college of sanctuary scholarship and I was one of the students who was offered a scholarship. This was a blessing to me because it gave me an opportunity to continue with my third level education".
"This opportunity for education means a lot to me because it gave me the power over myself and the ability to control my future. As a woman it is very important to be independent. We are living in a world with different beliefs and perceptions but the only thing that matters is that you believe in yourself and pursue your dreams. Nothing is impossible and the sky isn’t the limit. I would like to encourage all women out there to go for their dreams. I believe in destiny but it won’t just walk towards us we have to pursue it and make it real".
