Mostafa Darwish on taking the big steps and telling stories that matter

Award-winning visual storyteller Mostafa Darwish holds an MA in Journalism from University of Limerick. Mostafa opted for further studies to build on the self-taught journalistic skills he had developed over previous years in his native Egypt.

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For Mostafa Darwish, the desire to create emerged very early on in life.

“I was curious since I was born, I would say. I used to create a lot of things out of nothing. I loved recycling things.

“I didn't think when I was a child that I going to be a visual journalist or anything like that, I was just doing random childhood things - creating stuff.”

Once that creativity and inquisitive nature was tuned into storytelling, though, there was no looking back.

“I didn’t choose journalism. Journalism chose me.

“I was doing some photography and videographer back home [in Egypt] just before the Arab Spring. I just got my camera and I started to document what's going on, especially the consequences of the Egyptian revolution. I was doing it by myself, just publishing on social media.

“Then some news outlets reached out to me, hired me and it all came from there. I was a self-taught journalist.

“My undergrad was in social work and it came to a point where I had to decide to continue in journalism or go back to social work. I just saw myself as more successful and productive in journalism.

“I felt that is where passion was, my spark.”

With that spark now ignited, the chance to support Mostafa’s on-the-job learnings with an academic qualification came some short years later, when he moved to Ireland.

“I moved to Ireland in 2019. I was researching every university to learn more about studying journalism academically.

“Since I was a self-taught, I wanted to improve my journalistic English. I wanted to develop my skills. I wanted to integrate. And the first step of integration would be through education.

“I was in between a few different universities, but I believed UL had what I needed at that time, which is a mix of practical and academic, and teachers with that same background of practical and academic experience.

“I also felt that after covering breaking news in in the Middle East for some years, Limerick as a city suited my needs too - a peaceful, green city.

“So I went to UL, and it worked very well!”

The thought of returning to education can be daunting for most, not least as a non-native speaker of the language you plan to study in. For Mostafa, UL was a welcoming environment that supported his learning experience.

“As a non-native English speaker, I wanted to make it easy for myself. I went for the part-time option and continued doing some freelance work.

“The academics were really friendly, and well trained to deal with non-native English speakers and students. There was extra care there, and this is part of what made it very easy for me.

“I remember even during the pandemic, the course director created a WhatsApp group for the foreign students and offered us whatever help he could, even help in delivering food to our homes. It was just amazing. I was living in Limerick. None of us had a car, and he was just offering help and checking in on us very often.

“There are many examples, but the UL team were very friendly and supportive overall. It's a really nice memory.”

Mostafa found great professional success in his time in University of Limerick, being awarded Student Journalist of the year in Ireland's national student media awards in both 2020 and 2021. After a number of years working freelance with some of the biggest platforms in Irish news… what’s next?

“I have been doing this job now for 13 years. I have achieved some good, but I'm excited to achieve more and learn and improve every day.

“My next step, which I'm working on now, is to build my own news outlet, to apply my ideas and my visual agenda. And to tell more stories. And it will hopefully keep telling stories forever, even after I pass away.”

It’s a lofty goal, but a challenge Mostafa is more than ready for, empowered by his further education journey.

“Each step you take in your education, you are investing in your self-improvement and your self-development.

“Each step is going to help you to learn and improve, especially if there's something that's related to what you're already doing or something that you would love to do in the future.

“Just do it. Go ahead, and take it easy on yourself, step by step!”

If you’re curious about what you might achieve through postgraduate studies, you’ll have all the support you need at University of Limerick. #StayCurious

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