Denise Deegan: Returning to my old school was a real education

As the school year ends, author Denise Deegan drops in on the TY girls at St Angela’s in Cork to hear their plans for the future

THE invitation came through Facebook. It was a reader of my teenage novels inviting me back to my old school, St Angela’s College, Cork to attend a book launch. Every single student in Transition Year (TY) had produced a book. As someone who was 30 before I produced my first, I was on my way to Cork.

When I, at 16, gazed out the windows of St Angela’s, I dreamt of being a nurse.

I became that nurse, then a china restorer, then a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations officer and an entrepreneur. Becoming a writer happened by accident. I discovered while doing a Masters in PR that a book should exist that didn’t. So I wrote it.

Had I stopped to think, I’d have stalled. What did I know about writing? I was never particularly good at English at school. I hadn’t studied English at university. There were plenty of excuses.

As adults we are universally good at talking ourselves out of things. What St Angela’s have given their students is a gift — the chance to produce a book at the age of 16, chasing away the fear of the unknown. They’ve done it! They can do it again. Anytime.

Time was set aside and encouragement given, along with regular deadlines and a little prodding. Not only did the project give students a chance to produce their own books but to explore their passions and learn more about themselves in the process.

At the exhibition, the books were displayed by genre — biography, children’s picture books, fiction, cookery etc. The quality was incredible. I started at the biography stand and stayed so long I ran out of time — but not before seeing an amazing picture book by Sarah Malito, about a robot. It would sit proudly among the best in any book shop.

It was wonderful being back in St Angela’s. I looked down from the stage during the award ceremony to where I had once sat.

I wondered if any of the girls were daughters of my classmates.

My daughter is their age. There had to be at least one, if only I could spot her.

When you think about it, it is incredible the amount of time we spend at school, then go out into the world and never look back. People we shared so many hours of so many days with, we never see again.

One day, we look up from all the last minute cramming and it is all over. It’s time to move on. I asked some of today’s TY students to share their dreams for the future. The adorable Aoife O’Connell (16) who minded me for the day (and who wrote a great book on movies) isn’t sure what she’d like to do. She had thought of physiotherapy but during the year she worked in a laboratory and loved it. She may do Biology. But then she likes English.... I understand her uncertainty. How can you know you’re right for a career until you’ve tried it? I was adamant about what I wanted to do. And I was wrong. Many times.

Jeanne Forrester (16) who wrote a wonderful book introducing children to The Crawford Gallery would like to be a nurse. There is a course in UCC that allows you to qualify as a nurse then proceed to physiotherapy. I wonder if she will, like me, continue to proceed. If only I had a tracking device.

Lucrezia Severoni, (17) from Rome and visiting Ireland for a year, wrote a diary of her time in Ireland. She would like to travel, and perhaps be an interpreter or journalist. Claire O’Leary (16) is one of those girls that silences you. She has skied for Ireland.

Now she is doing one of many ski instructor courses. Her book is on skiing. Claire plans on becoming a forensic scientist, studying in Aberdeen which, she tells me, has a very good course. Her buddy Niamh O’Sullivan (16) also wants to do forensic science, but in the States where she has lived. This will not affect their friendship. (I had to ask!)

Irene Pinilla (15) from Spain is also in Ireland for a year. She wrote a guide book on Barcelona — (which I would love a copy of). She dreams of being a photographer.

What struck me most about all the girls was that, whatever their dreams, there was a striking camaraderie between them. They were genuinely excited for each other when the awards were being announced. And I wonder, when all is said and done, if that is the most important thing to leave school with – a love of your fellow human being and the ability to be a good friend.

*Denise Deegan writes a series of contemporary teenage novels called The Butterfly Novels.