Susan Nolan – BA (Hons) Insurance Practitioner

Name: Susan Nolan

School: Dominican College, Griffith Avenue, Dublin

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to choose your course. 

I was working in the insurance industry for a long time (Aviva Retail General Insurance) from 2000-to 2015. I then worked for a broker and another company for awhile but felt I needed a change. I lost my job last year and decided to retrain and started the CIP exams as I had always been grandfathered in personal lines. That led me to the Apprenticeship in Financial Lines in Aviva.

Why did you choose ATU Sligo? 

I had been doing the CIP exams with them and found them very good- especially the lecturer Brendan Mahony. It also has a very good reputation and was teamed up with Solas and the Insurance Institute for Gegree Programme.

What advice would you give someone thinking about choosing ATU Sligo?

Go for it! You will have to be prepared to put in the work, but I do find the whole support network fantastic from the lecturers to the online Yeats Library and the overall welcome I’ve received (especially considering it’s online).  We were all put into different groups depending on what day our lectures are and this was a great help especially virtually when you don’t have the support of colleagues face to face. I also believe that the Technological University status makes ATU Sligo even more attractive to prospective students

What would you say to a student thinking about studying your course? 

Go for it! You’ve got nothing to lose.

Tell us about your sporting career/success so far? 

I started out learning pole in a gym in 2010 and went on to compete in Ireland Professionally and came 3^rd in my 1^st comp in 2011. I came 2^nd in Pole Princess in the sugar club in the Professional category again in 2012.  I then won the prestigious All Ireland comp in Belfast in the over 40’s in 2015 and went on to qualify for the Worlds in Amsterdam in 2016 and then represented Ireland in the IPSF (International Pole Sports Federation) comp at Crystal Palace stadium in London and came 6^th in the world (over 40).  I then placed top 10 in World Pole Dance (Elite 39-49) category in Mandela Hall in Belfast in 2019. I recently qualified and competed in the worlds, but I had only been training for 2 months and as gyms were closed for 18 months and I have no pole at home.  I rely on them being open which only gave me 2 months to train- however they are fully open again! So training is back on for them this year in Bristol in June 2022.

Find out more about BA (Hons) Insurance Practitioner 

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