‘You’re never too old to further yourself’: From Canada to Castletroy for proud UL graduate

Embarking on a master’s while living in a different time zone, working a full-time job, and putting in late-night study shifts at the laptop after getting the kids to bed, is no mean feat – but it all proved worthwhile for one University of Limerick graduate.

It was a moment of joy and celebration for John Ciupa, from Alberta, Canada, as he was conferred with an MSc in Project and Programme Management from UL’s Kemmy Business School. John, who flew in specially from Canada for his conferring ceremony, joined more than 2,000 fellow students graduating as part of the University’s winter ceremonies.

A father to three young girls, John was born and raised in Fort McMurray, in the Athbasca Oil Sands region, which represents one of the biggest oil deposits in North America. For him and his contemporaries, the natural career trajectory after completing high school was to join the booming regional industry; and upon graduating, John undertook a power engineering programme, working his way up through the industry over the course of the next 16 years. 

It was when an opportunity arose at work for him to step into a project management role, with a portfolio of substantial significance to the industry there, that he began to consider further education. He was curious to explore how he could diversify his skillset and offer a fresh perspective to the role.

“I finished my second-class power engineering certification eight years ago and had been using that, along with my experience, to progress my career or open up some opportunities,” explained John.

“But it was curiosity around what’s out there for project management that drove me. It’s very trade-heavy in this region; I’m working with a bunch of folks who are doing this management role reliant on experience alone rather than formal academic training. I wondered, well, what does training look like for this? What education is actually out there? What science can back up what we’re doing in real time?”

Keen to cast the net out to European institutions, John discovered the MA in Project and Programme Management at UL’s Kemmy Business School through a PMI (Project Management Institute) website. It was the perfect pathway for him.

“The more I looked into the UL programme, from the delivery to the timing – everything was the right fit. I wanted to go somewhere outside of Canada for the international perspective, and that’s what brought me here.”

While John didn’t have a formal bachelor’s degree, the combination of his trade education and vast industry experience gained him special acceptance onto the programme. And after a visit to campus, where he made sure to get a photo outside Kemmy Business School and pick up a UL hoodie in the Visitor Centre, he was ready to get to work.

With an eight-hour time difference to navigate, along with a full-time job and being a parent to his three children, John says the flexibility and supports he received over the course of the past two-and-a-half years helped him to reach the finish line.

“I worked all day, helped my wife with the kids’ activities in the evenings; and then, from bedtime until midnight or 1am – that was my window for studying,” he recalled.

“But having the programme delivered in the way it is, and the flexibility, and being able to do some of the modules at your own pace was really helpful. The school was very accommodating, while still holding you accountable and expecting you to deliver a masters-level response to the task.”

John found endless benefits to studying course material related directly to his role and described the opportunity to apply learnings as they were coming into his job as “unparalleled experience”.

“For a lot of folks in these [project management] positions, in this region, it’s experience-based – you’re thrown to the wolves, and you figure it out as you go. So, to be able to use that experience I had to that point but also pair it with that fresh module content coming in, provided a unique outlook for my professional position,” he explained.

“And I think that now, having that accreditation and master’s certificate to go along with my power-engineering certificate, will position me very well for future advancement.” 

Indeed, having moved into a new role at work, and reflecting on the enriching – if, at times, challenging – journey to graduation, John is proud of his “very unique” resumé and professional perspective.

Constantly driven to inspire and encourage his children, John is already considering returning to education again in the future, possibly on a doctoral level, and only has supportive words for anyone considering the same.

“A big thing I have been trying to teach the kids is to never stop learning. You’re never too old to further yourself; it’s never too late to add something to your portfolio,” he said.

“For me, it’s about never getting complacent – to apply this where I can and use the learnings and accreditation to further my career.”