Local Sacred Heart College Student Is Nominated For Top Entrepreneur Award
Sacred Heart College student, Michéal Mullin certainly has a bright future ahead of him.
Not only has the 17-year-old helped propel his Young Enterprise team into the grand final of the annual competition, he is also just one of three secondary school pupils in the whole of the North to be nominated for the prestigious award, ‘Entrepreneur of the Future’.
Michéal, who is from Omagh and currently studying Construction, IT and Sport at AS-Level, is the Managing Director of the Sacred Heart’s Young Enterprise Team.
The role has seen the business savvy student spearhead the team’s 2017 Young Enterprise project – a trio of booklets, entitled ‘Living in the Dark’ to help young students look after their mental health.
The comprehensively-written booklets focus on the three main transitions in a young person’s life – the transition from Primary school to Year 8, the transition from Key Stage Three to GCSE and the transition from GCSE to A-Level.
Presented in all three publications are the students’ own personal experiences and how they overcame the hardships which they faced mentally.
The Omagh student said that while his nomination for Entrepreneur of the Future came somewhat as a ‘shock’, he would very much like to win the award’s star prize – a two week holiday to Canada.
“So far, the Young Enterprise competition has proved extremely rewarding,” he described.
“The skills I have learned over the past year, such as communication and team-buildng skills have proved integral and they can be applied in every day life.
“It was these skills and the way that I have presented myself and sold my business to the judges during the competition’s semi-final which saw me nominated for the entrepreneur award.
“I have worked incredibly hard over this year to get where I am, and I am very proud of the nomination.”
He added, “At the beginning of the Young Enterprise programme, I would never have been able to speak in front of hundreds of people.
“I can do that confidently now, and I’ve learned how to lead a team, delegate work to them and, of course, run a strong business.”
School principal, Sinead McAllister described feeling ‘incredibly proud’ of this year’s Young Enterprise students who are one of only six schools to reach the competition’s grand final.
“It is first time that the Sacred Heart has got this far,” she said. “The students are a great resource to the school, and they have done themselves proud.
“Our Young Enterprise co-ordinator Michelle Donaghy has worked tirelessly to ensure their success.
“We competed with over 50 schools who entered the South West region of the competition, so to reach the top six is just excellent.
“And I truly believe that we have what it takes to go on and win.”
Michéal and the Sacred Heart Young Enterprise team will find out if they will reign successful in the competition on May 18 during a black tie Gala event held in Belfast’s famous City Hall.
• For more information about the Sacred Heart’s Young Enterprise project, visit the team’s website: www.livinginthedark.co.uk
Source: ulsterherald.com
