Graduation was a milestone for Donna who had taken a few years away from her studies to raise a family before returning to WIT to get her honours degree
Classically-trained soprano Donna Roche has worked as a performer since she left school. Donna started her Music degree at WIT and left for a time after having two sons Sam and Ben.
“I decided three years ago to come back and finish the rest of the programme. I’m delighted to be here today. It’s a big, big milestone for me. It’s a very emotional day, it’s finally here,” she said at the 2017 conferrings.
Support for students
“I contemplated coming back and because I have my two children I anticipated it would be a lot of work. But I was so glad I came back. The family unit we have here in WIT was second to none and the lecturers and staff couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating with every need I had here, so I can only speak highly of being a student at WIT.
Donna sings professionally – in churches and has a good relationship with a lot of the brass bands and performing groups in Waterford and outside of the city.
Broadway musical
In 2017 she was on a tour with an Irish musical Find your way home which was on Broadway over the summer. “That was a huge experience for me, it was fantastic. It was a great gig to have had the opportunity to be part of.”
Professional Masters of Education
While she I am constantly singing at something, having a degree in Music makes a massive difference to Donna. “I did graded exams with the Royal Irish academy of Music in Dublin and in the RSM in London when I was a child. But I needed to have the degree to progress to a Masters level. I am currently doing a PME (Professional Masters of Education) in UL in Music. I am going down the route of becoming a secondary school Music teacher.”
SETU Waterford, Cork Road, Waterford City, 
