Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief

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Full of insight into a life lived right up against the boundaries placed on it by poverty . . . so important . . . we'd highly recommend Fi Glover, Off Air with Jane and Fi, Times Radio Possibly biased as I'm one of Katriona's ex-students circa 2012. I always remember how honest she was with us all about her experience of the Trinity Access Program etc., and I was always in awe of her. An absolute powerhouse of a woman. I never knew just how much she had been through until I read this book - and now my respect for her has just soared to levels I didn't even think possible. Katriona really built herself from the ground up. We love a rags-to-riches story, and we love to see someone triumph through sheer determination. But the story is rarely that simple. My story isn't, anyway.'

Books UK Poor - Penguin Books UK

When the letter arrived offering a place on the access programme my dad got it framed. I felt happy, sad, scared and hopeful. But who would help me, who would look after my son? My friends were supportive and one of them told me about the Vinnies (St Vincent DePaul) – a group who could help people like me. I called the number, trying to explain without sounding desperate. They came over and were kind. A little posh, but they seemed genuine. Katriona survives because she met a few good people along life’s path that turn out to be pivotal. These people saw her love for learning and inspired her but it was down to Katriona 100% to walk a different path to the one being modelled by her parents and maintained by the system.

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Throughout her life she encountered people who gave her hope by showing her she was worth more, that she deserved more and therefore raising her self-belief. Once such teacher Mrs Atkinson had a fresh towel, facecloth and clean underwear ready for her every morning before school to wash and change. It was this kindness and support from that teacher and many more that got her where she is today. I cried my way through this book. It's, to use a cliche, and emotional roller-coaster. To see that child who existed beneath the contempt of those 'others' in society.

Raised by addicts, abused, neglected, broke: how Katriona O

Being poor effects everything you do and everything you are. Thinking of poverty, we picture barefoot children in rags on the street but for me poor was also a feeling like I had no worth. It was poverty of mind, poverty of stimulation, poverty of safety and poverty of relationships. Being poor controls how you see yourself, how you trust and speak, how you see the world and how you dream" or In her newly published memoir ‘Poor’ she explains how along the way some teachers tried to help the bright student. However by 15 O’Sullivan was pregnant and homeless. The young mother struggled with substance abuse, repeating the debilitating patterns of her own childhood. She moved to Dublin aged 20 after her parents left England. Katriona speaks about the people in education and social care setting who helped her, and those who failed her. I cried when reading about her early childhood and the abuse she suffered. I cried when I read about her older brother coming home from work to find her and her siblings, hungry, with not a parent to be seen. Some chapters are truly harrowing. I found myself with a pain in my chest and thinking of that little seven year old and her brothers and sister long after I'd finished reading.It takes a special person to see beyond the wrongs that one has endured and then use one’s wounds as the basis to create something big. As you follow the story beyond O’Sullivan’s early years, she keeps doing big things: overcoming big hurdles and traumas, achieving huge dreams, and creating changes and challenges to the status quo. I think O’Sullivan would have made it anyway, but you can’t ignore the moments along the way that helped. After finishing her doctorate, Katriona was invited to become a psychology lecturer at Trinity on the TAP course. O’Sullivan, grew up one of five children in England with Irish parents, both heroin addicts, in a home environment riven with dysfunction, abuse and poverty. It was 2011 when I first met the now-published author Katriona O’Sullivan. She stood at the top of the lecture hall in Trinity College Dublin in a beige cardigan down to her knees, blue denim jeans and a pair of runners. She spoke about addiction, and I couldn’t quite tell if she had an accent like mine because of her English twang. Celebrity From Tommy Bowe to Mariah Carey: Here’s what your favourite celebs got up to (and wore) this Halloween

Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self

Coming from poverty dreams aren't sky high, most of the time they barely go past the ceiling of a council house. And being 'better' meant having a job or not selling drugs It is impossible to overstate the significance of this in Katriona's life I think - she says so herself. It was a pivotal moment in helping her understand that she was worthy of loving care and attention; that she was somebody. All children deserve love and respect and without that and the necessary societal supports and pathways to education, the cycle of poverty will continue unbroken.

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I read poor in one sitting ... I found it so complelling. An amazing story ... moving, uplifting, brave, heroic ' - Nuala McGovern, Woman's Hour, BBC Moving, funny, brave and original - just like the author ... absolutely incredible' - Roísín Ingle, Irish Times Women's Podcast

From homeless and expecting at 15 to a lecturer at Trinity

There were glimpses of other lives. At three, she remembers her friend next door being given a hug by her mum, and wondering why her own mother didn’t hug her like that. For a short time, she and her siblings were taken into care, where she “got food, and washed”. She always believed she deserved more, but over the years, she says, “hope and belief get eroded”. The effort of survival was exhausting. “As a kid, I was hopeful, vivacious. All kids are – some are quiet, some are loud, but we all have potential. And then as a teenager, with all the shit constantly, in the end, you just lean into it.” There were people, she says, “trying to keep me hopeful, but it’s very hard to battle against a lifetime of poverty and belief within a family. Eventually, it’s like your light goes out.” This is the extraordinary story - moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling - of how Katriona turned her life around. How the seeds of self-belief planted by teachers in childhood stayed with her. How she found mentors whose encouragement revitalised those seeds in adulthood, leading her to become an award-winning academic whose work challenges barriers to education. Now you all know the equation of the line so I won’t go over this for you”. My first lecture as an undergrad in Trinity Psychology was statistics. I am sure I will fail. I don’t know the equation of the line. I didn’t even finish my secondary schooling let alone memorise the equation of a line. Sh*t, I shouldn’t have come here. Despite my family drama, and the regular hunger pains, I was bright and vivacious. I loved school, I loved to learn, I read avidly. I was excellent at all sports and was, and still am, extremely determined. But when you live in a family that does not aspire to much, and you are surrounded by people who cannot see past your disadvantage, it’s really hard to dream big. I knew no one who went to university or college and dreamed of being somewhere else or someone else. I didn’t dream of a university education or travelling the world – my dreams only stretched as far as being on TV or becoming a pop star. Now an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education, Poor stands as a stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids' futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.They helped with finances, books, laptops and also gave hugs, relationship advice and so much more. TAP wasn’t just about education, it was about belonging, belief, and care. I grew there and started to believe in me. My essays were good and my work got better. I learned what I liked, what I hated, what I needed to improve. I learned that I was good enough. I still doubt that though. World News Eruption of Eurasia's tallest active volcano sends ash columns above Russian peninsula 11:33