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Fiona HannaCommunications Manager

Jago Prize Winner: Niamh Doherty

All of us here at Jago were thrilled to jointly award Niamh Doherty and Lottie Kelly the Ulster University Jago Communications Prize for attaining the highest score in the Digital Media Communications module this year. A huge congratulations to you both – we are very proud to back this prize and support learning and skills in Digital Media, an important element of the communications mix.

Both winners have prepared a short blog post outlining what winning the award means to them. First up, we have Niamh…

I could never have imagined that I would behold the privilege of writing this. My name is Niamh Doherty, a second year Communication, Advertising and Marketing (CAM) student and I have experienced so much since embarking on my Ulster University journey, but this is definitely one of its highlights. Thanks to Jago Communications, my journey has carried me here.

I was given the honour of receiving the Jago Communications Prize for coming First in the Second Year Digital Communications module – shared with my great friend and classmate.

This was not something I could have anticipated, having never studied anything related to my degree prior to starting CAM. I even remember asking my course director in first year, “how do you write an assignment? I don’t think I have ever done that before; I don’t know what to do!” I felt like a child learning how to walk again, but some things helped reassure me that I was on the right path and my legs grew stronger. Soon, with the help of Jago Communications, I realised I was not learning to walk anymore… I was already running!

The journey to finding my feet was often reversed with the floor finding me instead: there were some hurdles I tripped over, the pandemic being one, and there were some rocks I fell in a heap over, mental health being another. I doubted my strength and purpose. But that is why winning this award means so much to me. It has helped me learn 3 great things:

  1. Life is not about coming first or running the fastest; it is about doing your best, not the best. What is meant for you will not pass you by.
  2. There is no such thing as failure, only a learning opportunity and/or redirection towards a different path.
  3. Be proud of your achievements, big and small. Perfectionism can easily become toxic when it takes over all that you do. The relationship with yourself is the longest, most important one you will know, so do not be so hard on yourself and accept praise.

As part of my assessment for the Digital Communication module, I was asked to write a blog post on anything related to digital strategy. I could have gone the easy route but that would have been too boring, wouldn’t it? I wrote, ‘Digital Strategy in China: The Basics,’ a guide for western companies seeking to expand into the Chinese marketplace. That is what I love about CAM: the fulfilling opportunities to personalise your coursework to your interests, and I thoroughly enjoyed tying my passion for Asian business relations and communications into my assessment – it was a joy to write!

However, an even greater joy is to be rewarded for this work. I am so grateful to Jago Communications for sponsoring this prize, it is one of my greatest achievements that will serve as a reminder to keep running. You have helped reassure me that doing my best is enough and I should not be so hard on myself. Thank you so much.

 Maybe next time I look down, I’ll be flying.

Niamh Doherty Prize Winner

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