Sinead Keogh

I received my Morrison Visa in 1994 while living in Dublin. Life wasn’t terrible, but it felt small, constrained, just a bit humdrum. I loved being around the people I knew so well, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there had to be more. I was curious. I had two brothers living in Los Angeles, but it never really appealed to me. I wanted something different. So I took the chance, packed my bags, and moved to New York City.

That move changed everything. I spent 22 years in NYC before relocating to Seattle in 2016, and I still carry with me all the lessons I learned during those first few months of adjustment. I remember being told, “Don’t be too friendly, people will take advantage of you.” That advice stuck with me at first. I stayed quiet, observant, just soaking it all in. But slowly, I let go of the fear and opened up, and with that came friendships, support, and the real sense of community I had been missing.

The hardest part, especially in those early years, was being far from home. I had lived in London before returning to Ireland and then heading to the U.S., but this felt farther still. Vacation time was limited, and often it meant only one trip back each year, if that. Thankfully, in the beginning, I had lots of friends and family passing through New York, and their visits really helped soften the loneliness.

“Moving to the U.S. made me grow up. I wasn’t a child when I arrived, but I was still learning how to stand on my own two feet.”

With no family nearby, I had to figure things out myself. But in that challenge came great freedom. I finally had the space to explore what I really wanted, to go back to school and earn a college degree. And I did, with honors.

Now, years later, my proudest achievement isn’t a degree or a job title, it’s my little family. I have a wonderful husband and a son who means everything to me. The life we’ve built together here would not have been possible without the Morrison Visa.

The visa gave me more than just legal status. It gave me options. It gave me confidence. It gave me what I like to call “a powerful cocktail”: a portal to opportunity, a touch of anonymity, and a splash of “yes, I can.” For that, I will always be grateful.