Advice from a 30 year old heading back to college

ed3

so i have been hanging out a while on the boards especially on the education thrends and just thought i would pass on some advice....

I did my leaving in 97...got 245 points eeekk i hear you say, but it was my own fault i didnt study....i repeated it again in 98 and got 365 which was still not near as good as what i should have gotten....i studied hard the second year around but dropped a french (honours) and went from honours english to pass...therefore dropping points before i even sat an exam!

so in 98 i accepted a couse in LIT Applied Sciences....i was also offered this in 97 as well and didnt take it as i had my heart set on earth science in UCC

---

so flash forward 12 years and i'm still as interested in the leaving cert/cao points...i swear they must have a huge file on my up in the cao office! i applied for earth science in ucc when i was in 2nd year, didnt get it, applied for home ec teaching in sligo in 3rd year didnt get it.....took a year out between my diploma and degree and did some travelling.....worked for a while.....got some valuable experience in my field.

In 2007 i left a lovely perm job to go back and do a masters in biotechnology....and this year i applied and was accepted to do a hdip in education....so i will eventually be teaching science and biology in post primary schools.

I tell you all this because....no matter what points you got on weds....no matter what you think you might want to do...no matter what you get offered on monday....life is never that mapped out for someone!!!

you have choices down the line....you really DO!!

I'm going back to college at 30 (soon to be 31!!!) and i'm sure there are a lot of people going to be in the same boat this year as well....

so please dont get bogged down on points and offers.....remember there are going to be thousands of others getting the same qualifications as you......are going to be applying for the same jobs are you etc etc.....take sometime out to work, travel and enjoy college!!

if its for you it wont pass you :):)

aoife005

Well said!!

felic

Excellent post Ed! Times have really changed. And 30 is young! You know? You're probably better off having all that life experience behind you because you now know what its all about and why u are in college. I know that sounds trivial but so many people Ive known went to college right from school doing courses they thought theyd like.. and then just stayed doing them even if they hated them.. cos it was just what they were expected to do.

And with the current situation in this country, you will not be the only 30 year old in your class! They predicted that about 20% of college places this year will be spread over the mature students and already degree holding students. Thats a lot. But fair dues to committing to go back and get what you want! Thats proof in itself that the LC, HPAT, stupid points... its not the be all and end all by any means! And now there are so many ways of graduate entry to courses too! Was amazed to see on the CAO that they have 5 courses in medicine in universities around this country devoted purely to graduate students!!!! Competition for places must still be tough, but at least its nice to know that dreams dont have to be shattered just cos you didnt get 600 points like which must have been the case back when you did your leaving cert.

Age means nothing anymore. 30 is the new 20! All the best.