Dr. Katriona O'Sullivan: How a poor girl raised by addicts became an award-winning academic
What A Woman PodcastShow Notes
Dr Katriona O' Sullivan is an academic and best-selling author of 'Poor' which is the story of her life growing up in extreme poverty as the child of two heroin addicts and how she survived abuse, neglect and became pregnant and homeless at fifteen before finding an access course in her twenties at Trinity College that changed her life.
We talk about:
- The gruesome reality of poverty, growing up witnessing her parents injecting and overdosing and never knowing when the next meal was coming and never celebrating Christmas
- Suffering abuse when her father went to prison and her mother was forced into prostitution
- Becoming pregnant and homeless at fifteen and the loneliness of living in a hostel with her son without support
- How the kindness of people, especially some teachers can be transformative to children in her situation
- How a chance meeting with a friend led her to the access course at Trinity College that changed her life
- Getting a First Class degree and being presented her Doctorate by Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland
- Why we all need to use what privilege we have to help others in society
Dr. Katriona O'Sullivan is an extraordinary woman but says herself, she is an anomaly and so many others in her situation cannot break the cycle of poverty which is why she has written her story to show that it's crucial to have more services in place to support people in similar situations.
Dr. Katriona O'Sullivan is a married mother of three and her family and close relationships are her definition of success after what she missed out on when she was young. She has also been hugely successful in her career as a Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at Maynooth University and she also devotes her time to promoting and creating policies around access to education. Dr. Katriona was also a research fellow of Trinity College and Oxford and she has spoken at the UN to tell her story.
Everyone should read her book - it is an amazing read!
Follow Dr. Katriona
@katriona_osullivan
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