Hello,

My name is Simone Cameron-Coen and I currently sit on the USI Equality Committee as the Mature Students’ Officer.  I have just completed my degree in English and Film Studies in TCD and am beginning an M.Phil in Literature of the Americas. 

I have been TCDSU Mature Students’ Officer since 2007/08.  I’m really happy to get the opportunity to meet mature students around the country to see what their experiences are like in their colleges. 

I have a few plans for this year, which is the first of this campaign.  I would like to set up a mature students’ student services.  This would be a way of accessing and offering support to each other. Often it’s the experience that you gain as you go through college that is the most valuable, so connecting new mature students with experienced ones will hopefully be a friendly way of accessing information and a friendly face in your college. 

I am also interested in working more closely with access programmes around the country.  Many mature students experience their first taste of further education in these courses.  I would like to give as much support and information as possible to those who are considering third level as mature students.

Finally, I am working with the USI Equality Campaign to begin to tackle the issue of student parent childcare availability.  As all student parents know, childcare is often prohibitively expensive, and often pre-school only, leaving many parents in a difficult situation if they return to study when their children are school going age.

If you need any more information on my role or work in the USI, you can contact me at   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .